Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica records: "The method of making tofu began with Liu An, King of Huainan of the Han dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The traditional tofu-making technique is an ancient handicraft that makes tofu through such process steps as carefully selecting soybeans, grinding the slurry, boiling the slurry, adding the coagulant and pressing; it is widely distributed throughout Chinese communities around the world. Huainan City in Anhui Province was in ancient times part of the Han dynasty kingdom of Huainan; the famous historical mountain Bagong Mountain stretches across the city, and the Huai River, a thousand li long, runs through it. Bagong Mountain is traditionally held to be one of the birthplaces of Chinese tofu. Bagong Mountain has a mild climate, abundant sunlight and rich water resources. The 72 springs in the mountain are rich in trace elements beneficial to the human body; the gypsum produced in the mountain was an indispensable coagulant in early tofu production; and Dahe Bay abounds in high-quality soybeans. The Bagong Mountain tofu-making technique of Huainan City includes such process steps as selecting materials, soaking, grinding, separating, boiling the slurry, adding the coagulant and forming; the production tools include the purple-clay stone mill, the fine-gauze straining cloth, the earthen stove with iron cauldron, the wrapping cloth, the bamboo sieve, the moulding box and the coagulant; and the main products are chiefly fresh, including water tofu, tofu skin, dried tofu, yuba, thousand-layer tofu sheets and vegetarian meat. Fourth, the soaking time is decided according to the season and the temperature. Fifth, fine cotton gauze is used as the "straining cloth" for filtering, so that the filtered slurry is fine and free of residue. Sixth, the slurry is boiled in an iron cauldron on an earthen stove with strict control of the heat, and the coagulant used is carefully processed semi-cooked gypsum. The distinctive methods of soaking the beans to remove acidity, the purple-clay stone mill, the fine-gauze straining cloth, the heat control in boiling the slurry and the use of semi-cooked gypsum as coagulant, together with control of the pressing force and of temperature and humidity, give Bagong Mountain tofu a texture as fine as congealed fat, white as jade, which does not crumble when held in the hand and does not sink when boiled for a long time in soup; it is delicate and smooth, fresh and soft, rich in trace elements and amino acids, high in protein and low in fat, ample in moisture and easy to digest, with considerable value for health. The legend that Liu An, King of Huainan, invented tofu is still current at Bagong Mountain. Liu An's accidental invention during his alchemical experiments is testimony to early culinary technology. The tofu-making technique has influenced the traditional dietary structure of the world and made an outstanding contribution to the development of human food culture. The Bagong Mountain tofu-making technique produces a great variety of products, which not only satisfy people's pursuit of good food but also reflect the richness and diversity of traditional Chinese food culture; it has considerable historical and cultural value.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The traditional tofu-making technique is an ancient handicraft that makes tofu through such process steps as carefully selecting soybeans, grinding the slurry, boiling the slurry, adding the coagulant and pressing; it is widely distributed throughout Chinese communities around the world. The Bagong Mountain tofu-making technique of Huainan City includes such process steps as selecting materials, soaking, grinding, separating, boiling the slurry, adding the coagulant and forming; the production tools include the purple-clay stone mill, the fine-gauze straining cloth, the earthen stove with iron cauldron, the wrapping cloth, the bamboo sieve, the moulding box and the coagulant; and the main products are chiefly fresh, including water tofu, tofu skin, dried tofu, yuba, thousand-layer tofu sheets and vegetarian meat.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Around Huainan's Bagong Mountain, tofu-making draws water from different intakes according to the distribution of the mountain springs, and each village's mill and workshop has its own rules about its water intake; the semi-cooked gypsum produced in the mountain and the high-quality soybeans abundant in Dahe Bay are what the households have in common. The tools form a single system: a purple-clay stone mill grinds the slurry at low temperature and low speed, fine cotton gauze serves as the straining cloth, and the slurry is boiled in an iron cauldron on an earthen stove, where the heat and the amount of gypsum directly determine fineness and resilience.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship · Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The characteristics of the technique are shown in the following six aspects: first, the materials chosen are Huai River soybeans rich in protein and vitamins; second, the tofu is made with Bagong Mountain spring water rich in trace mineral elements; third, a purple-clay stone mill is used to grind the slurry. Yang Shuntian (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in February 1947, a native of Huainan City, Anhui Province. A representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage items for the traditional tofu-making technique. A traditional tofu-making technician. He has a complete command of such crafts as the selection of raw materials, soaking and processing, coagulating with gypsum and forming, and finishing of the product. In order to improve the quality of the tofu, he has for many years devoted himself to water-quality surveys and sampling analyses of the various areas of Bagong Mountain, and has improved tofu quality through the targeted use of water. He has published papers in journals such as China's Soybean Products Industry.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Shuntian 05-2906
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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