Daoist Liu An Accidentally Invented Tofu

Beancurd. Fotolia

Liu An, the King of Huainan (in today’s Anhui provinces) lived in the Western Han Dynasty. He was keen on practicing Daoism through which he accidentally invented Tofu more than 2,100 years ago.

Liu An spent a fortune to host many talented people to discuss how to attain sainthood and the Dao, to write books about Daoism, and to cultivate energy clusters called Dan. 

One day, according to legends from that time, Liu An used spring water to produce soya bean milk for keeping Dan. The soya bean milk was accidentally mixed with gypsum powder and salt and formed something like bean curd - the initial “Tofu”.

So many people found the bean curd delicious, it gradually became a popular food. Today, Tofu has become a common word in English.

Liu An is also the author-editor of “Huainanzi”, a respected collection of essays resulting from a series of scholarly debates.

Song dynasty imprint of "Huainanzi" or "Huai-nan-tzu" held in the collection of the National Palace Museum, is said to be the sole surviving Song dynasty edition. National Palace Museum, Taiwan