Wu Runwei

01 · Lineage & Regional School

At the age of 21 he entered the vinegar-making industry as a technician at a vinegar factory, learning the aged vinegar brewing technique under the master brewer Li Dengmao. Within the regional tradition and school record of Qingxulaochencuniangzhijiyi in Qingxu, Shanxi: This technique with its distinctly local character has been passed down from generation to generation in Qingxu, and through continuous improvement and refinement has formed a complete process for northern-style gourmet vinegar brewing. Qingxu's vinegar-brewing lineage has two turning points: in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period the ancients already used vats and urns for liquid fermentation, and by the Northern Wei this was changed to solid-state fermentation; only after that did the combination of red sorghum, rice bran and red-hearted daqu come into being. In the Western Han, commercial vinegar workshops appeared in Qingxu, showing that this craft had early on moved beyond the scope of household drinking; from the Ming dynasty onward, the fame of "fragrance penetrating the bottle" fixed in place this northern-style gourmet vinegar technique. The list of techniques inherited by Wu Runwei — earthen-vat alcoholic fermentation, artificial cooling on hot summer days, multi-vat smoked starter, high-density leaching and household-style aging of old vinegar — are precisely the critical junctures that settled out along this lineage.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Born in March 1955 in Qingxu County, Shanxi Province, he is of Han ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of Qingxu Laochencu Brewing Craftsmanship, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a senior arts and crafts artist. He sought instruction from the masters of the influential local vinegar workshops and collected relevant documents and artefacts. From these elder vinegar makers he inherited a range of core brewing techniques that were on the verge of being lost, including alcohol fermentation in earthen vats (digang), artificial cooling of the fermentation workshop during the hottest days of summer, multi-vat smoking of the fermented grain (xunpei), high-density leaching and filtration, household-style ageing of aged vinegar, and fermentation with red-heart daqu starter; through continuous improvement and refinement he formed a high-standard ageing process. Over the years he has devoted himself to training successors, has passed the traditional aged vinegar brewing technique on to twelve disciples, and has organized a teaching class on the traditional Qingxu aged vinegar brewing technique. Within the documented technical tradition of Qingxulaochencuniangzhijiyi in Qingxu, Shanxi: Shanxi aged vinegar is one of China's four great famous vinegars; its main production area lies in the townships of Mengfeng, Qingyuan, Xugou and Xigu within Qingxu County. Qingxu lies in the south of Taiyuan City, with mountains behind and plains before; legend has it that "southwest of the city of Emperor Yao there was a Jade Spring, where King Yao went in person to brew vinegar". In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period the people of Qingxu were already brewing vinegar with vats and urns by liquid fermentation, and this vinegar-brewing technique has continued to this day. In the Western Han, commercial vinegar workshops appeared in Qingxu. In the Northern Wei period, the vinegar-brewing technique was changed from liquid to solid-state fermentation — a milestone innovation that laid the foundation for the formation of the distinctive style of the Qingxu aged vinegar brewing technique. Qingxu aged vinegar takes locally grown red sorghum as its main raw material, various rice bran as auxiliary material, and red-hearted daqu as the fermenting agent, using the starter in place of grain; through rational ingredient proportioning and material steaming, it employs dilute-mash anaerobic alcoholization, manual turning of the solid acetic-acid starter, deliberate variable-temperature fermentation as required, and is finished by high-temperature smoked starter, high-density leaching and high-standard aging. Unlike the West, which has long consumed fruit vinegar, China's ancients mainly ate vinegar fermented from grain, which gives Chinese vinegar more amino acids and other nutrients essential to the human body. Shanxi aged vinegar is bright in color and clings to the bowl's walls; it integrates brewing aroma, ingredient aroma, mellow aroma and ester aroma into one, and in folk usage has long borne the elegant name "fragrance penetrating the bottle". Its sourness is pure and mild, its taste full-bodied, faintly sweet and refreshing, with a long finish; it has the unique effects of removing fishiness, gaminess and mutton odor and killing bacteria; it is a refined seasoning for cooking all kinds of fine dishes, and can also nourish the body, cure illness and beautify. At present, however, driven by economic interests, some workshops cut corners, dismember the traditional technique and produce inferior goods, distorting and damaging the technique and reputation of Shanxi aged vinegar; thorough rectification and strict prevention should be carried out. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Steaming and thin-mash anaerobic fermentation": Sorghum and bran are steamed with cake in place of grain, then fermented as a thin mash under anaerobic conditions to set yield and density. "Turning the solid vinegar mash by hand": In the solid stage the mash is turned by hand for air; how often and when decides both the rate of acetic fermentation and the evenness of the mash. "Smoking the vinegar mash": Hot smoking drives off moisture, turning the mash from black to brown and releasing its aroma; the multi-vessel method is among the key techniques he inherited. "High-density leaching": Leaching works on a thick, slow bed; the first run off is the strongest, and later fractions must be graded separately.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2012, Wu Runwei was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Qingxulaochencuniangzhijiyi, with Qingxu, Shanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Qingxulaochencuniangzhijiyi in Qingxu, Shanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Qingxu, Shanxi as its declared area, and Shanxi Shui TaCuYe Co., Ltd. as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Wu Runwei · National Representative Bearer Archive