From Jiang to Chinese Soy Sauce
Chinese soy sauce has a history stretching back more than a thousand years, but it did not appear suddenly in the form we know today.
Its roots lie in an older Chinese fermentation tradition known as jiang — fermented foods made from ingredients such as grains and beans. Over centuries, Chinese brewers learned that the flavorful liquid produced during fermentation could become a seasoning of its own.
One of the most important early records comes from Qimin Yaoshu , written by the agricultural scholar Jia Sixie around the sixth century. It is one of the earliest and most complete surviving agricultural works in China, documenting farming, food processing, brewing and fermentation.
The book repeatedly refers to jiangqing — literally the "clear liquid of jiang." Historical research into Chinese soy sauce describes jiangqing as the liquid or supernatant produced from fermented jiang and considers it an important predecessor of modern soy sauce.
This tells us something important: long before the modern bottle of Chinese soy sauce existed, Chinese cooks were already using fermented liquid seasonings in everyday cooking.
Historical reference: Qimin Yaoshu – Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People, Chinese Text Project.
From Ancient Fermentation to Everyday Cooking
The terminology continued to change over the centuries.
Historical Chinese texts used expressions including jiangqing , jiangshui and qingjiang . Later, the term jiangyou became established as the familiar Chinese name for soy sauce.
By the Qing Dynasty, Chinese soy sauce was already deeply integrated into Chinese cuisine.
A fascinating example appears in Yuan Mei's famous eighteenth-century cookbook Suiyuan Shidan , known in English as Recipes from the Garden of Contentment or The Way of Eating.
Instead of frequently using the modern term jiangyou, Yuan Mei often called high-quality soy sauce qiuyou , literally "autumn oil."
In his recipe for tofu, Yuan Mei wrote:
"A small cup of qiuyou."
The instruction is remarkably simple. Soy sauce required no lengthy explanation because it was already a familiar part of the kitchen.
Historical research describes qiuyou as a high-quality soy sauce associated with long fermentation and summer exposure before being collected in autumn.
Historical reference: Yuan Mei, Suiyuan Shidan (The Way of Eating).
From jiangqing in ancient agricultural texts to qiuyou in Qing Dynasty cooking, the history of Chinese soy sauce is fundamentally a history of fermentation, craftsmanship and time.
Jiangsu and Its Brewing Tradition
As Chinese soy sauce developed, different regions formed their own methods and flavors.
Jiangsu Province, with its agricultural landscape, waterways, warm summers and distinct seasons, developed a rich tradition of fermented foods.
Traditional jiangyuan — sauce gardens — once produced soy sauce, vinegar, bean pastes and other fermented foods for surrounding communities.
Baoying County in Yangzhou is part of this history.
Local cultural records describe traditional brewing in the Baoying area going back many generations. It was within this regional food culture that the brewing tradition connected with Kangwang eventually developed.
From Dehe Sauce Garden to Kangwang
An important chapter in this story is the historic Dehe Sauce Garden (德和酱园).
According to cultural heritage records from Baoying, Dehe Sauce Garden was established during the Qing Dynasty. It combined local Baoying fermentation traditions with brewing knowledge introduced from Zhenjiang.
By around 1870, Dehe had entered a flourishing period and its techniques gradually spread through the region.
In the late 1970s, a sauce and vinegar workshop was established in Anfeng. In 1981, the workshop invited Cai Fengxiang, an experienced craftsman from the Dehe tradition, to guide its soy sauce production.
The traditional knowledge of Dehe therefore found a new home.
The operation later developed into Kangwang, creating a direct bridge between an older Jiangsu sauce-garden tradition and a modern food company.
This is why the story of Kangwang soy sauce is not simply the history of a brand. It is also the story of how traditional food knowledge can survive from one generation to another.
Four Simple Ingredients
Traditional Chinese soy sauce can begin with surprisingly simple ingredients.
Kangwang's traditional soy sauce is based on soybeans, wheat, salt and water.
The complexity does not come from a long ingredient list. It comes from fermentation.
Soybeans provide proteins, while wheat contributes carbohydrates and aroma. During fermentation, enzymes and microorganisms gradually transform these ingredients.
Over time, proteins break down into amino acids, carbohydrates are transformed, and new aromatic compounds develop.
This slow transformation creates the color, aroma and savory character associated with traditionally brewed Chinese soy sauce.
The ingredients may be simple.
The process is not.
Around 300 Days of Fermentation
Time is one of the most important parts of Kangwang's brewing tradition.
According to Baoying cultural heritage records, traditional batches pass through a fermentation cycle lasting around 300 days, including the hot summer period.
Historically, outdoor Chinese fermentation was closely connected with nature.
Brewers sometimes described the process with the expression:
"sun by day, dew by night."
Sunlight, temperature, humidity and seasonal change were once part of the brewing environment itself.
During months of fermentation, the soy sauce gradually changes. Its aroma becomes deeper. Its color develops. The raw characteristics of soybeans and wheat are transformed into a richer, more balanced flavor.
For Kangwang, this is why time cannot simply be removed from the process. Time is not only part of production. Time is part of the flavor.
What Happens Inside the Fermentation Jar?
A traditional fermentation jar may look quiet from the outside, but inside it a complex transformation is taking place.
Microorganisms and enzymes gradually break down proteins and carbohydrates, helping create amino acids, sugars, organic acids and aromatic compounds.
This is why good Chinese soy sauce offers more than saltiness. It can contain layers of savory, fermented, roasted and subtly sweet flavors.
The taste commonly described today as umami is closely connected with these amino acids produced during fermentation.
Traditional brewers understood the result through experience long before modern food science could explain the chemistry behind it.
They watched. They smelled. They tasted. And they waited.
Tradition Meets Modern Production
Preserving tradition does not mean rejecting modern technology.
Today, Kangwang uses modern equipment, temperature monitoring, food-safety management and quality-control methods to make production safer and more consistent.
But technology does not need to replace the fundamental logic of traditional Chinese soy sauce.
Good ingredients still need fermentation. Fermentation still needs careful control. And flavor still needs time.
The goal is not to reproduce every old tool used in a historical sauce garden. The goal is to preserve the brewing knowledge behind those tools.
This balance allows an old tradition to continue within a modern food-production environment.
A Living Chinese Food Tradition
In 2010, the Baoying Dehe soy sauce brewing technique, continued by Kangwang, was included in Yangzhou's intangible cultural heritage system. The technique was later recognized at the provincial level in Jiangsu, with Jiangsu Kangwang Food Co., Ltd. listed as its protecting organization.
This recognition is about more than one bottle of soy sauce.
Traditional fermentation contains knowledge about agriculture, microorganisms, climate, food preservation and taste.
A museum can preserve an old fermentation jar. A working sauce garden preserves the knowledge of how to use it.
At Kangwang, soy sauce is still being fermented. Brewers are still working with ingredients, seasons and time. The tradition remains alive because it is still being practiced.
Chinese Soy Sauce for a Global Kitchen
Today, Chinese soy sauce has traveled far beyond China.
It is used in family kitchens, restaurants and professional cooking around the world — in stir-fries, braised dishes, marinades, dipping sauces and countless modern recipes.
At the same time, more consumers want to know the story behind their food: Where was it made? How was it fermented? How long did it take? Who preserved the process?
For Kangwang, the answers lead back to Baoying, Jiangsu, to Dehe Sauce Garden, to generations of brewers, and ultimately to the much longer history of Chinese fermentation.
More Than a Bottle of Soy Sauce
The story of Kangwang is only one chapter in the much larger history of Chinese soy sauce.
From jiang and jiangqing recorded in ancient texts, to the qiuyou described by Yuan Mei, and finally to the fermentation jars still standing in Jiangsu today, one idea connects them all:
Good fermentation takes time.
Soybeans, wheat, salt and water may appear simple. But when combined with craftsmanship, fermentation and patience, they become something far more complex.
For Kangwang, continuing this tradition means connecting the knowledge of an old Chinese sauce garden with a new generation of kitchens around the world.
Chinese soy sauce is more than a seasoning. It is a living part of Chinese food history.