Japanese tofu

Li Shizhen, a great pharmacologist of the Ming Dynasty, recorded in the 25th volume of "Compendium of Materia Medica" "Gubu": "The method of tofu began with Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Han Dynasty", and The method of making tofu is introduced in detail. In 164 BC, Liu An succeeded his father and was named King of Huainan, making Shouchun his capital. Liu An was a good Taoist. In order to seek the medicine of immortality, he recruited thousands of alchemists. The famous ones were Su Fei and other eight people, known as the "Eight Masters". They often gathered in Chu Mountain, now known as Bagong Mountain, to talk about immortality and Taoism, and to write books and refine elixirs. In alchemy, soybean juice is used to cultivate elixir seedlings. The soybean juice occasionally meets gypsum to form fresh and smooth tofu. Liu An invented tofu before he could make alchemy. After that, the tofu technique was introduced to the people.

Tofu had many names in ancient times, including "载肉", "李祁", etc. Tao Gu of the Five Dynasties said in his "Qing Dian Lu": "There are several tofu in the daily market, and the people in the city call tofu a small slaughtered sheep." After about the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was called tofu. After Monk Jianzhen of the Tang Dynasty traveled east to Japan in the 10th year of Tianbao (757 AD), he introduced tofu technology to Japan. Therefore, the Japanese tofu industry has always regarded Jianzhen as the ancestor of tofu making. Tofu was introduced to North Korea in the Song Dynasty and to Europe, Africa and North America in the early 19th century, and gradually became a global food.

China’s cultural feeling towards Japan is like a similar feeling between men and men or women towards women. Japan and China have been communicating with each other for thousands of years. It is precisely because they are separated by a strip of water that they face each other across the sea. Boats and ships come and go, exchanging what is needed. In the Eastern world, no other country has such a profound cultural connection as China and Japan. Most Chinese people who have never been to Japan are ignorant and regard Chinese culture as a "mother culture" and Japanese culture as a "child culture". Chinese culture is the chicken, and Japanese culture is the egg. Why should the Chinese take another look at the Japanese? As for culture, what else do teachers need to learn from their students?

This is really a huge misunderstanding and a huge misunderstanding. During its lactation period, Japanese culture indeed sucked large gulps of milk from the early-maturing, strong, and plump body of Chinese culture. But as early as the "Heian Period" 1,000 years ago, Japan digested the huge Chinese culture in its strong stomach, forming a unique Japanese culture filled with the Yamato national spirit. One of the important components of Japanese culture is "food culture".