Editing Soy sauce (section)

==== China ====
{{Infobox Chinese
| s = 酱油 / 豆油 / 豉油
| t = 醬油 / 豆油 / 豉油
| l = "sauce oil" / "bean oil" / "fermented bean oil"
| p = jiàng yóu（酱油）<!--l = "sauce oil"-->
| w = chiang<sup>4</sup>-yu<sup>2</sup>
| mi = {{IPAc-cmn|j|iang|4|.|you|2}}
| bpmf = ㄐㄧㄤˋ ㄧㄡˊ
| sic = dou<sup>4</sup> you<sup>2</sup>（豆油）
| j = si6 jau4（-{豉油}-）<!--l2 = "fermented bean oil"-->
| y = sih yàuh
| ci = {{IPAc-yue|s|i|6|-|j|au|4}} <!-- teo2 = si<sup>7</sup> iu<sup>5</sup> -->
| teo = si<sup>7</sup> iu<sup>5</sup>
| poj = tāu-iû（豆油）<!--l3 = "bean oil"--> <!-- tl3 = tāu-iû -->
| buc = siê-iù（-{豉油}-）
| lmz = jianhhiou（酱油）
| sha = [tɕiã̄ɦiɤ́]
| hangul = 간장
| hanja = 간醬
| lk = "seasoning sauce"
| rr = ganjang
| mr = kanjang
| my = ပဲငံပြာရည်
| bi = {{IPA|my|pɛ́ ŋàɰ̃ bjà jè|}} <!-- pɛ́ ŋàɴ byà yè -->
| kanji = 醤油
| hiragana = しょうゆ
| revhep = shōyu
| kunrei = syôyu
| chunom = 豉油 / 渃醬 / 豆味油
| qn = xì dầu / nước tương / tàu vị yểu <!--
| qn = xì dầu (thị du)<br/>nước tương
| hn = 豉油<br/>渃醬 -->
| tha = ซีอิ๊ว
| rtgs = si-io
| tgl = toyo
| ind = kecap
| msa = kicap
| khm = ស៊ីអ៊ីវ (sii 'iiv)
| lao = ເຕົ້າຈ້ຽວ (tao chiāu)
}}

Soy sauce ({{lang|zh|醬油}}, {{transliteration|zh|jiàngyóu}}) is considered almost as old as soy paste—a type of fermented paste ({{transliteration|zh|jiang}}, {{lang|zh|醬}}) obtained from soybeans—which had appeared during the [[Western Han dynasty]] (206 BC – 220 AD) and was listed in the bamboo slips found in the archaeological site [[Mawangdui]] ({{lang|zh|馬王堆}}).<ref name="needham2000jiang">{{cite book|last=Hsing-Tsung|first=Huang|title=Joseph Needham: Science and Civilisation in China, Vol.6, Part 5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2000|isbn=978-0521652704|page=346}}</ref><ref name="web1">{{Cite web |url=http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/www.godpp.gov.cn/wmzh/2007-10/11/content_11376810.htm |title=調料文化：醬油的由來 |date=30 January 2012 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130171757/http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/www.godpp.gov.cn/wmzh/2007-10/11/content_11376810.htm |archive-date=30 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> There are several precursors of soy sauce that are associated products with soy paste. The oldest is {{transliteration|zh|qingjiang}} ({{lang|zh|清醬}}), which appeared in AD 40 and was listed in {{transliteration|zh|Simin Yueling}} ({{lang|zh|[[:zh:四民月令|四民月令]]}}).<ref name="needham2000">{{cite book|last=Hsing-Tsung|first=Huang|title=Joseph Needham: Science and Civilisation in China, Vol.6, Part 5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=2000|isbn=978-0521652704|pages=358–359}}</ref> Others are {{transliteration|zh|jiangqing}} ({{lang|zh|醬清}}), {{transliteration|zh|chizhi}} ({{lang|zh|豉汁}}) and {{transliteration|zh|chiqing}} ({{lang|zh|豉清}}), which were recorded in the {{transliteration|zh|[[Qimin Yaoshu]]}} ({{lang|zh|[[:zh:齐民要术|齊民要術]]}}) in AD 540.<ref name="needham2000" /> By the time of the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279 AD), the term ''soy sauce'' ({{lang|zh|醬油}}) had become the accepted name for the liquid condiment,<ref name="needham2000" /> documented in two books: {{transliteration|zh|Shanjia Qinggong}} ({{lang|zh|山家清供}})<ref>{{cite book
|author=林洪|title=山家清供|url=https://zh.wikisource.org/zh/%E5%B1%B1%E5%AE%B6%E6%B8%85%E4%BE%9B|author-link=:zh:林洪 (宋朝進士)}}</ref> and ''[[Wushi Zhongkuilu|Pujiang Wushi Zhongkuilu]]'' ({{lang|zh|浦江吳氏中饋錄}})<ref>{{cite book|author=浦江吴氏|title=浦江吳氏中饋錄|url=http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=150543&remap=gb}}</ref> during the [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279 AD).

Like many salty condiments, soy sauce was originally a way to stretch [[history of salt|salt]], historically an expensive commodity. During the [[Zhou dynasty]] of ancient China, fermented fish with salt was used as a condiment in which soybeans were included during the fermentation process.<ref name="web1" /><ref>[[:zh:醬]]</ref> By the time of the [[Han dynasty]], this had been replaced with the recipe for soy paste and its by-product soy sauce, by using soybeans as the principal ingredient,<ref name="needham2000jiang" /><ref name="needham2000" /> with fermented fish-based sauces developing separately into [[fish sauce]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kurlansky|first=Mark|title=Salt: A world history|date=2002|publisher=Walker and Co.|location=New York|isbn=978-0-8027-1373-5|page=20|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kK7ec92n5x8C}}</ref>

The 19th century Sinologist [[Samuel Wells Williams]] wrote that in China, the best soy sauce was "made by boiling beans soft, adding an equal quantity of wheat or barley, and leaving the mass to ferment; a portion of salt and three times as much water are afterwards put in, and the whole compound left for two or three months when the liquid is pressed and strained".<ref>[[Samuel Wells Williams|Williams, Samuel Wells]] (1848), ''The Middle Kingdom: A Survey of the Geography, Government, Education, Social Life, Arts, Religion, &c. of the Chinese Empire and Its Inhabitants'', 2 vol. Wiley & Putnam</ref>