Tofu originated from

There have been many theories about the origin of tofu. In ancient times, there were different opinions. When it comes to tofu in Confucius' time, it begins with Liu An, the king of Southern Han Dynasty. There are not many supporters of the former statement, and the latter statement has been circulating for a long time since the Song Dynasty. Zhu wrote in the poem "Tofu" in the Southern Song Dynasty: "Growing peas is exhausting. If you know Huainan, you will get spring cloth. " And since the note "handed down tofu was originally the king of Huainan" (3); Yang Wanli, a contemporary of Zhu Tong, wrote an article entitled "Doulu Rouzhuan" (4), subtitled "Tofu", and also mentioned that tofu existed in the Han Dynasty. Many people hold this view afterwards. For example, Li Shizhen also thinks that "the method of tofu began with Liu An, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty" (5). There is a saying in Ye Ziqi's Mu Muzi in the Ming Dynasty that "Tofu began with the skill of the king of Huainan", and Wuyuan in Luo Qi in the Ming Dynasty also said that there is a record of "tofu made in Liu An" in the ancient books of the Western Han Dynasty. It can be said that since the Song and Ming Dynasties, people have always believed that the invention of tofu began in the Western Han Dynasty. Strangely, the existing Han and Tang documents, such as Huai Nan Zi, Qi Yaomin Shu, and even various literary works, have no record that tofu and tofu originated from Liu An, the king of Huainan (6). Therefore, many scholars have questioned the theory of tofu in the early Han Dynasty and put forward some different views, such as the theory of tofu in the early Tang Dynasty by Japanese scholar Shinoda Tong (7) and the theory of tofu in the early Five Dynasties by Yuan Hanqing (8).

At present, the earliest recorded document about tofu is Qing Louis written by Gu Tao in the Five Dynasties (903~ 970 AD), in which the article "Gate of View Slaughtering Sheep" says: "It was Qingyang (now Qingyang County, Anhui Province), clean and diligent, and no meat was given. There are several tofu in the Japanese market, which are locals. Gu Tao was born in Xinping (now southern Anhui) in the Five Dynasties. In the Five Dynasties, Jin, Han, Zhou and Northern Song Dynasties were officials, while in the Northern Song Dynasty they were pawns. According to his records, it can be explained that at least in the Huainan area of the Five Dynasties, tofu has been a daily food for the public, and the production technology seems to be quite mature. Since the Song Dynasty, there have been many records about tofu. Song. Kouzong's "Materia Medica" contains: "Raw soybeans can rot"; Su Shi's Empathy: "Fried tofu with soybean oil is delicious"; Southern Song Dynasty. Lu You's Notes on the Old Learning Temple: "Jiaxing people ... open tofu soup shops" and so on. Based on this, many scholars limit the origin of tofu to the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties (9), which is no different in academic circles. But when tofu originated is still inconclusive.

During the period of 1959- 1960, archaeologists excavated two Han tombs in Dahuting, Mi County, Henan Province, belonging to the site of the late Eastern Han Dynasty (around the second century AD), and there were scenes of making tofu on the stone reliefs in the tombs (10). According to experts' on-the-spot investigation, the excluded pictures reflect the scene of brewing wine or making soy sauce vinegar, but only making tofu (1 1). Therefore, the origin of tofu is determined to be the Han Dynasty. It seems that the legend of tofu making in Liu An is not all false (12).

As for the origin of tofu, few people mentioned it, because the origin time has not yet been determined. According to the available data, the origin of tofu involves three places. One is Bagong Mountain, now Shouxian County, Huainan, Anhui Province; The second is to fight the tiger pavilion, which is now the county seat of Zhengzhou, Henan Province; The third is Qingyang, now Qingyang, Anhui. At present, it seems that the origin points to Bagong Mountain. Bagong Mountain is located in the southern suburbs of Huainan City, near the foot of water in the north of Shouxian County, and Huaibei Plain is at the foot of the mountain. It has always been rich in soybeans. There are many springs containing various minerals on the mountain. Soybean milk is ground with this spring water, and the pulp is even, and the tofu is white and delicate, and it tastes delicious. The unique conditions provided a material basis for the invention of tofu. Of course, where the origin is, further evidence is needed.

Why tofu was created by people is still inconclusive. Su Dongpo wrote the poem "Tofu" in the Song Dynasty, "It is ingenious to have poverty in ancient times, and it is naive to accept leave." It is believed that this "chaotic and naive" bean product is made by the poor. Mr. Yuan Hanqing, a famous chemist in China, pointed out: "The founders of tofu are farmers, and they got this wonderful food in the long-term practice of boiling and grinding beans." (13), attributed the invention and creation of tofu to farmers. Mr. Li Zhihuan, on the other hand, put forward that "the method of making tofu is closely related to Taoist alchemy" (14), thinking that Taoist alchemy is to cultivate Danmiao with soybean milk and inadvertently invented tofu. The legend of Liu An, the king of Huainan, making tofu is the most recorded in the literature, which is related to Liu An's practice of alchemy. More pertinently, although many inventions come from the wisdom of the masses, people always want to find a recognized figure to worship as the original author. Such examples are not uncommon in ancient times.