Traditional Distilling Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-144Traditional CraftsmanshipGulin, SichuanBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

In ancient times distilled liquor was called "shaojiu" (burnt liquor) or "chunjiu" (mellow liquor); it evolved originally from low-alcohol rice wine, took shape around the Song dynasty, and has a history of more than eight hundred years. During the Northern Song period, Gulin County began producing Fengqu-style liquor. In 1933 Huisha Langjiu was renamed "Langjiu" (Lang liquor).

02 · Core Techniques & Process

In the brewing of distilled liquor, starchy or sugary raw materials such as grains and tubers are first made into fermented mash (unfiltered liquor) or fermented into a cloudy fermented liquid (muddy liquor), which is then distilled into spirits. Distilled liquor is white or slightly yellow and transparent, and is therefore commonly called "baijiu" (white liquor). Its aroma is fragrant and pure, it is smooth, sweet and clean on the palate, and its alcohol content is relatively high, making it a strong liquor. Judged by the raw materials used and the saccharifying and fermenting agents, distilled-liquor brewing involves different techniques using daqu (large qu), xiaoqu (small qu) or fuqu (bran qu). Distilled liquor is made mainly from grain and can be divided into sorghum liquor, maize liquor and other types; sorghum, being high in starch and moderate in protein, is the most suitable for brewing distilled liquor. China's distilled liquor is produced mainly in Sichuan, Guizhou, Henan, Hebei, Shenyang, Jilin, Beijing and other regions, and the formation of its brewing methods is closely related to the local grains (abundant sorghum), climate (cold or humid), water quality and living customs. From 1903 onwards, distilleries making liquor on a large scale by the huisha (repeated-mash) process appeared in Erlang Town in the county, represented by the Huichuan and Jiyi distilleries, whose product was named "Huisha Langjiu", a name that summed up the features of both the place of origin and the technique. Langjiu brewing has the marked characteristic of the "four highs and one long", namely high-temperature qu-making, high-temperature heaping for saccharification, high-temperature fermentation, high-temperature distillation, and long-term storage. In production it requires two grain charges, eight rounds of qu addition and fermentation, seven distillations to draw liquor, and more than three storages in caves, and finally careful blending and seasoning by traditional techniques. The traditional Gulin Langjiu brewing technique is adept at cultivating distinctive microbial communities, displaying a high level of traditional technical means and providing a useful reference for the brewing of sauce-aroma baijiu.

The huisha process and the Huichuan and Jiyi workshops

From 1903 the workshops at Erlang town brewed huisha wine on a large scale, and the product was named after both the place and the method.

Qu-making at Duanwu and grain loading at Chongyang

The brewers work to the almanac: handmade qu at the Duanwu festival, grain loading at Chongyang, one brew year after another.

High-temperature stacking and saccharification

The second of the four high-temperature stages: the fermented grains are stacked to build heat and wake the microbes in the qu.

Two grain loadings and eight qu additions

Grain is loaded twice and qu is added eight times; each addition waits until the previous batch has fully taken it up.

Seven distillations

Seven separate distillations yield base wines of different colour and strength, each graded into its own jar.

Cellar maturation

Three or more cellar restages, the longest stretch of the four-high-one-long rule, let the acids, esters and alcohols settle into balance.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

By aroma type, distilled liquor can further be divided into sauce-aroma, light-aroma, strong-aroma, rice-aroma, composite-aroma and other types. The traditional Gulin Langjiu brewing technique was handed down among local folk brewing craftsmen from generation to generation by oral instruction and personal example; the techniques that have continued for more than a century — hand-made qu on the fifth day of the fifth month at the Dragon Boat Festival, grain charging on the ninth day of the ninth month at the Double Ninth Festival, high-temperature production, and cave storage to hasten the ageing and mellowing of new liquor — are highly individual in character, and hold high historical value in the development of brewing culture in southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The traditional Gulin Langjiu brewing technique is current in Gulin County, Sichuan Province, and is a traditional craft transmitted for a century by the Gulin Langjiu distillery. Yang Dajin (as recorded in the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in August 1951, a native of Gulin County, Sichuan Province. A representative inheritor of the traditional distilled-liquor brewing technique (traditional Gulin Langjiu brewing technique) in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects. From 1970 to 1979 he worked at the Gulin Langjiu distillery in Sichuan Province in brewing (sauce-aroma Langjiu, strong-aroma daqu and xiaoqu liquor) and in the blending and tasting of all the factory's products. From 1979 to 1988 he worked at the Gulin Langjiu distillery in Sichuan Province in the blending and tasting of all products and in quality liquor warehouse management. From 2007 to 2014 he worked at Sichuan Gulin Langjiu Distillery Co., Ltd. in liquor-body design, blending and tasting, product quality control, personnel training and process-technology improvement. In 2011 he obtained two invention patents, respectively "A Production Method for Sauce-Aroma Seasoning Liquor" and "A Method for Preparing Sauce-Aroma Baijiu".

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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