On the other hand, Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty, advocated the art of immortals and offered beans every day, hoping to live forever. During this period, he invented the method of making tofu. After his father died of illness, according to etiquette, he had to stop cooking and turn off the fire within three days, so Liu ate cold tofu for three days. When others don't look at him, they see him stuffing white things into his mouth and think he is eating chicken bone marrow goat cheese, so they say he is impolite. Liu An gave a banquet to thank the guests after the three-day funeral, thanking all the hangers-on, and specially prepared a cold tofu during the dinner to tell the truth. From then on, the custom of dutiful son eating tofu as a cold food in mourning and thanking guests with tofu after death was formed.
According to the folklore circulating in Jianghuai, once upon a time an old man gave each of his three daughters-in-law a liter of soybeans. The first daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law get their food back. The third daughter-in-law planted soybeans in the field and harvested new beans. Three years have passed and I have accumulated a lot of soybeans. Grandfather praised Third Grandma for her ability and made her take charge of housework. The third daughter-in-law grinds soybeans into tofu and cooks many delicious dishes to honor her in-laws. Grandpa said happily, one hundred years later, you will give me tofu. After grandpa died, the daughter-in-law cooked with tofu. After the news spread, the custom of eating tofu rice at the funeral gradually formed.
Modern scholars believe that although the above legends are attached by later generations, they also reflect some factors of folk beliefs. For example, in the Wuyi River area in southern Zhejiang, there is still the traditional custom of cooking a large pot of longevity beans on the day of the last funeral of the elderly, which means prolonging life; For another example, the concept of keeping healthy with beans has a long history and has something in common with longevity. Therefore, the cultural connotation of the custom of eating tofu soup and rice can be excavated from such folk customs.
Some people speculate that the custom of tofu soup rice is a variation of the magic that the ancients used adzuki beans to ward off evil spirits. The Chronicle of Jingchu Years shows that red bean porridge can eliminate the epidemic from winter to sun, which shows that there has been an ominous custom of serving beans or bean soup to eliminate the epidemic in southern China since ancient times. The ancients believed that the cause of death of the deceased was either disease or fierce disaster, and it was inevitable that there would be plague around the body. Therefore, the undertaker was invited to eat legumes to get rid of the plague or the ominous sign. Some people speculate that the custom of eating tofu soup rice is a way to disperse Yin Qi. Tofu is made of round and hard soybeans. When it is made, its color is white, which is a symbol of Dolly. This is similar to the old Taoist's explanation of the nature of tofu. For example, the so-called "Emperor Yu Shu is too clear" said: King Liu An of Huainan has a way of soaring and changing, refining hardware into treasure, turning eight stones into water and turning vegetation into things, which is a kind of tofu. It can be seen that tofu has the miraculous effect of killing Yin Qi. In addition, it is speculated that the formation of the custom of eating tofu soup rice may be related to the custom of taking soybeans as bean leaves in local Buddhist beliefs, which contains the idea of praying for the deceased to become attached to Buddhism and spend the afterlife together, and also enhances the friendship between mourners.
All the above statements are based on indirect data or speculation, so why the custom of eating tofu soup rice is still a mystery.