In the eighth year of Kangxi's reign, Wang Zhihe, the imperial son of Xianyuan County, Anwei Province, failed in the examination in Beijing. He wanted to return to his hometown, but he had no money to travel, so he had to stay in Beijing and wait for the exam to be taken again. In order to make ends meet, Wang Zhihe, who had made tofu at home when he was a child, grinded several liters of beans every day with a small hand-pushed mill at the "Anhui Guild Hall" in the mutton alley of Yanshou Temple Street outside Qianmen, Beijing, where he lived. Tofu is sold along the street. One time, the tofu couldn’t be sold and there was a lot leftover. It was summer, what should I do? Suddenly he remembered a dish in his hometown that used tofu to make soybean curd, but he didn't know how to make it. So he tried cutting the tofu into small pieces, adding salt and pepper and sealing it in a jar, but ignored it. It was only after the autumn cool that he remembered these tofu cubes. On this day, as soon as he opened the lid of the altar, a stinky smell hit his nose. When he looked carefully, he saw that the tofu was already green. He tasted it out of curiosity, and found it tasted delicious. He gave it to his neighbors to taste, and they all praised it. From then on, Wang Zhihe’s stinky tofu became famous. Wang Zhihe's official career was blocked and he failed many times. In the 17th year of Kangxi (AD 1678), he simply built a workshop on Yanshousi Street West Road and put up a sign: "Wang Zhihe South Sauce Garden" and hired teachers and apprentices to run the business. Mainly stinky tofu, but also specializes in sauced tofu, dried tofu and various pickles. Soon, the sales of stinky tofu expanded to the Northeast, Northwest, and North China. After many improvements, the quality of stinky tofu was better and its reputation was greater, and it was introduced to the court in the late Qing Dynasty. Legend has it that the Empress Dowager Cixi also liked to eat it in late autumn and early winter. It was designated as an imperial side dish and named "Qingfang" according to its shape and color. After stinky tofu was designated as an "imperial side dish", its value doubled. The three standing plaques in front of the door of "Wang Zhihe" plus the painted dragon head symbolize the meaning of "big internal affairs"; the six characters of "Wang Zhihe South Sauce Garden" are engraved on two plaques, respectively by Sun Jiading and Lu Qiguang's inscription. From then on, the business of "Wang Zhihe" became more and more prosperous, and some people began to imitate it. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Zhenghe, Wang Zhihe, Zhizhonghe and other sauce gardens were successively opened outside Xuanwumen, Yanshou Temple Street and other places. In 1956, a public-private partnership was formed. In 1958, four private workshops, Wang Zhihe, Wang Zhenghe, Wang Zhihe, and Zhizhonghe, merged to form the state-owned Tamun Brewing Factory. It is now named Beijing Wangzhihe Fermented Bean Curd Factory

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