According to historical records, "huanggua" (cucumber) was originally called Hugua in Chinese. It was brought to the Central Plains by Zhang Qian after he returned from the Western Region as an envoy. It was renamed cucumber later due to the probable bloody accident.

In the late Western Jin Period, the Han Chinese in the Central Plains referred to all minorities as "Hu People" and added the character "Hu" to the names of all foodstuffs and articles passed from regions inhabited by ethnic minorities. For example, cucumber was passed from the Western Regions, thus called Hugua. "Hu" was a symbol of inferiority at that time.

After Shi Le ascended the throne in Xiang State (present Xingtai in Hebei Province), he strictly forbad the use of "hu" in speaking or articles. And anyone who violated the rule would be beheaded. One day, when Shi Le were enjoying meal, he pointed at a plate of Hugua and asked official Fan Tan,

"Do you know what it is called?"

"Yupan Huanggua (Jade cucumber)," Fan Tan replied respectfully.

Shi Le was very satisfied with the answer.

It is from then on that "hugua" was renamed "huanggua".