The Other Milk: Reinventing Soy in Republican China

Abstract

Among the historical gems that Jia-Chen Fu has unearthed in her intricate study of the transformation of soymilk in modern Chinese history is a postcard of skinny Granny Soybean and her four soybean grandkids, armed with sticks, chasing a fat Madame Cow into the front gate of a museum. Printed by the China Nutritional Aid Council, a social welfare organization active from 1939–42, which attempted to produce and distribute soymilk and soybean cakes to children across southwestern China during World War II, the postcard hints at a world where dairy would be doomed to historical obsolescence, while the vigorous and energetic Granny Soybean and her many derivative products would rule the day. Yet this quirky postcard offers more than just an unforgettable image: it also suggests the broader context of national rivalry that underlay all Republican era (1912–1949) attempts to refashion the traditional Chinese drink of soymilk as a nutritious, scientific, modern Chinese beverage. After all, Granny Soybean was not just any generic soybean lady: she was recognizably Chinese, and looked less like a granny than a young, modern Chinese housewife, with her trim black hair coiffed just so, and high-heel wedge sandals at the end of her slender legs. Moreover, the spots on Madame Cow’s back bore a striking resemblance to a map of the Pacific rim, with the East Asian coastline facing off against North America. For Chinese audiences, the postcard drew upon the close association between Western diets and the heavy consumption of dairy products such as cow’s milk, while the soybean was considered a native foodstuff. Fu’s fascinating book examines the scientific worldviews that gathered momentum in the Republican era to create not only the Granny Soybean postcard, but also social welfare organizations, such as the China Nutritional Aid Council. These artifacts and activities resulted from the work of a pioneering generation of nutritional scientists in China, including men like Wu Xian (1893–1959), Chinese biochemist