Why do people eat tofu after the funeral?

In Singapore and Malaysia, "eating tofu" is a dirty joke between men and women, which is harmless. However, in China, every town has its own taboos, such as in Zhejiang. Please remember not to say the joke "Eat your tofu". Because in Zhejiang, whether in big cities or small rural areas, eating bean curd soup rice, also known as soup rice or bean curd rice, is a popular funeral custom: after the funeral, the bereaved will hold a banquet (nicknamed "bean banquet") to entertain those who come to attend the funeral and help the funeral in cash or in kind. So, if you say to Zhejiang people, "I want to eat your tofu!" " "It's like swearing at a funeral. It's strange not to turn against you. The cultural saying that the dutiful son eats tofu has a long history. How is this custom formed? Does it contain special culture and customs? According to Zhejiang folklore, there was a dutiful son named Le Yi during the Warring States Period. His parents like soft food, so Le Yi uses soybeans to make tofu for his parents every day. After his parents died, Le Yi invited the neighbors who attended the funeral to eat tofu and wished them health and longevity. This led to the custom of eating tofu soup rice, which has been passed down to this day. Another said: 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 people saw him stuffing white things into his mouth, they thought he was eating chicken bone marrow goat cheese, so they said he was impolite. So, Liu An held a vegetarian banquet after the funeral on the third day, thanking all the hangers-on, and specially prepared a cold tofu to show his true feelings. From then on, the dutiful son used tofu as a cold food during his funeral, and then formed the custom of thanking guests with tofu. Now in rural Zhejiang, before the tofu rice is served, all the elders in the family should bow to the main family, and only after the main family is seated can the guests be seated. There are many kinds of tofu dishes on the table, which are delicious, but the dutiful sons are not allowed to eat them. They keep vigil on both sides of the coffin until the guests finish eating. When I was a guest in a village in Zhejiang Province, I happened to meet a family in the village for a funeral, and found that the funeral customs here were quite different from those I saw in other villages in China Province. On this day, the dutiful sons put on a lot of white cloth, gray cloth, blue cloth and black cloth, in addition to linen Dai Xiao. These clothes are all from the relatives of the dutiful son. Relatives give a few pieces, and dutiful sons have to wear a few pieces. At the funeral, female dutiful sons generally go, while male dutiful sons, especially those who inherit the family business, are extremely guilty. They must lean on a mourning cane and bend down until they reach the village. If they feel tired and want to straighten up, they will be accused of unfilial. Some families also stipulate that the dutiful son who inherits the family property kneels all the way from the funeral home to the top of the mountain with a funeral stick. The mountain graves here are miles away from the village. Crying on your knees all the way is torture. Often, when the funeral procession arrives at the mountain grave, it takes most of the time to wait for the arrival of the dutiful son who kneels and cries all the way, which delays the auspicious time for the dead to be buried, and the dutiful son kneels and hurts his knee. But this generation after generation, coupled with the village's dead spirit rules and other provinces, large and small are different. Stopping the spirit means that after the hearse starts, the villagers stop at a certain distance in order to listen to the drummer. The trumpeter is also very obedient. After playing a song, let the people order the tracks, then play them, and then move on. You have to stop four or five times along the way. In this way, the coffin bearers and filial children and grandchildren will suffer, because they are bent when carrying coffins. In rural Zhejiang, every household is frugal. They only eat two meals a day. It doesn't matter if you are hungry or not, your face won't grow. Usually, they think a dime is as big as an ox wheel, but they are generous in handling funerals. Therefore, the paper labels burned to the deceased are very particular, and there are requirements for the handwork and style of the paper labels, which makes the neighbors, relatives and friends who come to pay their respects full of praise, and their faces shine brightly and feel worthy of their ancestors.