According to the records of ancient books and the investigation of historical sites, it can be known that about 4300 years ago was the era of Emperor Yao. At that time, Emperor Yao and his courtier Peng Zu (both Yao and Peng Zu are descendants of the Yellow Emperor) had conducted in-depth research on the way of keeping in good health. According to legend, Emperor Yao was a respected emperor. He lived a simple life, ate coarse rice, drank wild vegetable soup, shared joys and sorrows with the people, and was deeply loved and supported by the people. At that time, the world was flooded, people were displaced, and many people lost their lives because of disease. In this regard, Emperor Yao saw it in his eyes and kept it in mind. He decided to try his best to find a good medicine to alleviate the suffering of the people and save their lives. So he told Peng Zu what he thought. At that time, Peng Zu was already an accomplished master of health preservation, but although he tasted all kinds of herbs in the world, after several efforts, he was still not as good as the medicine that could cure all diseases. Later, he changed his mind and tried to improve people's resistance to diseases from diet. After repeated experimental research, he chose five kinds of vegetables to cook soup. These five vegetables are blue, red, yellow, white and black, which correspond to the five elements of wood, fire, earth, gold and water respectively. They have a good nourishing effect on human internal organs and can greatly enhance the body's resistance. Emperor Yao named this soup "Yangming Soup" and mobilized all his people to drink this soup, so that his people seldom got sick and lived longer. At the same time, he and Peng Zu must drink this soup every day. Yao lived to 1 18, and Peng Zu died to 146. Later, Peng Zu became the originator of cooking and health preservation, which was widely praised by the people.

Since the Yao Dynasty, "Health Soup" has spread, especially in Pengcheng, Peng Zu's hometown (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu), and the legend of "Health Soup" is well known to women and children. Today, the local people have made appropriate adjustments and improvements on the basis of inheriting the ancestral formula. They choose white radish (white, which belongs to gold and enters the lungs), mushrooms (black, which belongs to water and enters the kidneys), white radish leaves (cyan, which belongs to wood and enters the liver), carrots (red, which belongs to fire and enters the heart) and burdock (yellow). In view of the fact that this soup is made of five kinds of vegetables according to the golden ratio, its soup is golden in color, fragrant in taste and outstanding in health care, so it is also called "Five Elements Golden Soup".