SOY-SAUCE MANUFACTURING IN KWANGTUNG, CHINA 1 



By Elizabeth H. Groff 

 Of Canton, China 



SEVEN PLATES 



After a Chinese provides himself with rice, a little meat, 

 and some vegetables, nothing is probably more important to him 

 than the sauces which he eats with his food. In the book of 

 Chau Lai (Jj| jjjj) ,- the ceremonial rites of the Chau Dynasty 

 (JiU M ) » written before 1000 B. C, we read that the king's 

 cook used one hundred twenty jars of sauces. Thus the writ- 

 ten records of the Chinese show that they have been using 

 these sauces for over three thousand years. 



Soy sauce, known among the Chinese as Ch'au yau ( |$ $j), 

 "drawing oil," or pdk yau ( £3 $j), "white oil," is without ques- 

 tion the best liked and most widely used. Kwangtung Prov- 

 ince is famous all over China for the soy sauce which it produces. 

 Canton as its capital is naturally the center of all this trade. 

 Wholesale shops can be found in great numbers, and prac- 

 tically every food shop sells soy sauce. Each neighborhood 

 also has its peddler who goes from door to door selling soy and 

 other sauces. In Canton, jars of soy can always be seen in the 

 making, as much of it is placed on the roofs to sun. 



Sainam (gg ^), "southwest," a city of about 30,000 inhab- 

 itants, 50 miles southwest of Canton on the Samshui (>f/r ZZ ) , 

 "Three Waters," Railway, is famous for the excellent quality of 

 soy that it produces. The first-class shops in Canton all have 

 signs advertising Sainam Ch'au yau (ptj f$f Jtt jft)» "Sainam soy 

 sauce," although most of this soy is made locally in their own 

 establishments. 



The process of securing information on the making of soy 

 sauce is lengthy and difficult, and accurate data can only be 

 obtained after months of experiment carried on with the help 

 of a workman who has grown up in one of these establishments. 



1 All Chinese characters in the Cantonese are romanized according to 

 the Eitel-Genaho Dictionary, but some of the diacritical marks are omitted. 



2 Chau Lai is one of the thirteen classics of Confucius. 



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