Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Historical records state that when Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices he began observing a fast to express his sincerity, and that when Emperor Zhenzong of the Song performed the same rites he fasted for three days; tofu thus took on a special role in the Fengshan sacrificial culture. This laid the foundation for the formation and development of the traditional tofu-making technique and of the associated customs of eating tofu, which reached their height in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The traditional tofu-making technique is one of China's traditional culinary craft techniques. The traditional tofu-making technique of Shandong Province is chiefly distributed in Taishan District and Daiyue District of Tai'an City and in the areas around Mount Tai. Tai'an City lies in the central part of Shandong Province; its urban area stands at the foot of Mount Tai and was built along the mountain, so that mountain and city form a single entity. The subordinate Wenyang Town of Feicheng City has fertile land, its soils being brown earth and brown forest soil, which strongly favours the cultivation of soybean as a crop. Tai'an is rich in water resources, and its water is clear, sweet and mellow and contains many trace elements, so it readily coagulates the protein in tofu; excellent water and soybeans are the natural raw materials of tofu making. The making of Tai'an tofu comprises such process steps as crushing the soybeans, removing the skins, soaking, grinding them into a slurry, skimming off the foam, filtering the slurry, boiling the slurry, coagulating it with a setting agent, and wrapping it in cloth. The finished tofu has a fine body and a high water content, is tender without running, white as snow, sweet in taste and springy, and does not toughen or scorch however long it is boiled; it is a dish on the tables of Taicheng residents in all four seasons. More than 180 dishes are cooked with tofu as the main ingredient, among them "Mount Tai tofu balls", "Yipin tofu" and "Furong tofu", all of them dishes that ordinary people love. Further processed products such as fermented bean curd, dried tofu, stinky tofu, five-spice tofu, spicy tofu, frozen tofu and tea tofu are deeply loved by the people. In daily life, on important festivals or at ceremonies, local people express their blessings and good wishes by cooking tofu dishes, and there has thus formed a distinctive custom of eating tofu. In ancient times, emperors who performed the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai traditionally observed the custom of "eating vegetarian food to revere Heaven". The Records of Tai'an County, revised during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, records: "At dawn the clappers sound in every street, in the evening the fragrance of tofu fills every household; every family in Taicheng keeps a tofu workshop." The traditional tofu-making technique concentrates the life wisdom of working people over several hundred years; the tofu-eating customs and culture that have grown up around it are an important vehicle and component of Qilu culture and Mount Tai culture, and are of great significance for the study of the food culture and folk customs of the Tai'an region. The transmission and practice of this technique can not only strengthen local people's sense of identity with their own food-processing tradition, but also drive economic development and broaden the range of employment.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The making of Tai'an tofu comprises such process steps as crushing the soybeans, removing the skins, soaking, grinding them into a slurry, skimming off the foam, filtering the slurry, boiling the slurry, coagulating it with a setting agent, and wrapping it in cloth.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
A local saying goes, "Tai'an has three beauties: tofu, cabbage and water." Tofu has now become a delicacy on everyone's dining table, and eating tofu has become part of the everyday life and dietary custom of local people.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship · Traditional Tofu Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Through collective transmission and master-to-apprentice transmission, the tofu-making technique has been handed down from generation to generation.
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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