Liu An
According to the legend, Liu An developed soy milk for his old, ill mother. She wanted to taste soybeans but couldn't chew, so Liu An ground the soybeans into milk, apparently upon her suggestion. No historical evidence supports the legend. In the Ming Dynasty reference work "Bencao Gangmu", author Li Shizhen describes the development of bean curd but does not mention a particular inventor. The attribution of the invention of tofu to Liu An was also made by another Ming dynasty writer, Li Yi (李翊). During the Song dynasty in the 10th century, Zhu Xi had already written of the method of Huainan in "Song of Bean Curd" ("豆腐詩"). It is also mentioned in a book which called bean curd "Lai Ki" in the Han dynasty, and the word appeared in an early Song dynasty writing. Other Chinese sources discredit the Liu An invention theory, however, and state that Liu An lived with a lot of vegetarian monks and the method was taught by them. The Chinese Daoists that he recruited used "alchemical" methods to make both soy milk and bean curd, perhaps as a medicine for eternal life. As the only powerful noble at that time, Liu An could order the (relative) mass-production of such items and spread them around, thus making him famous for soy milk and bean curd. Still, many place Liu An as the inventor of both bean curd and soy milk.