Qin Dashi and Zhuangyuan Beans

Note: Zhuangyuan refers to the No. One Scholar designated through attending the imperial civil examination in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.
 
Under Qianlong reign in the Qing Dynasty, Qin Dashi lived by the Qinhuai River, working hard at his academic study everyday. Due to the background of a poor family, his mother boiled porridge for him to appease hunger when he read at night, the porridge in a small bowl mixed with soya-beans, coarse reddish rice and a date. It was quite nourishing since soya-beans in a complete form were mashed through boiling, with delicious juice of strong appeal as well as moderate sweetness and saltiness. In the seventeenth year (175 A.D.) under Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, he became the No. One Schloar through attending the imperial civil examination. As a result, people then called such boiled beans he ate as Zhuangyuan Beans, becoming one of local snacks in Qinhuai area. Later, Qin Dashi assumed the official position as Siduxueshi. After retiring in Nanjing, he lived at the present-day No 57, No. 59 and No. 61, Changle Road and that his former residence at Jinshajing has been changed into the ancestral hall of his family.