Soy sauce
Soy sauce (醬油, "jiàngyóu") is considered almost as old as soy paste—a type of fermented paste (Jiang, ) obtained from soybeans—which had appeared during the Western Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and was listed in the bamboo slips found in the archaeological site Mawangdui (馬王堆). There are several precursors of soy sauce that are associated products with soy paste. Among them the earliest one is "Qingjiang" (清醬) that had appeared in AD 40 and was listed in "Simin Yueling" (). Others are "Jiangqing" (醬清), "Chizhi" (豉汁) and "Chiqing" (豉清) which are recorded in "Qimin Yaoshu" () in AD 540. By the time of the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), the term "soy sauce" (醬油) had become the accepted name for the liquid condiment, which are documented in two books: "Shanjia Qinggong" (山家清供) and "Pujiang Wushi Zhongkuilu" (浦江吳氏中饋錄) during the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD).