Traditional Distilling Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-144Traditional CraftsmanshipBozhou, AnhuiBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Gujing Gongjiu brewing craft has a long history and took shape in the Ming and Qing dynasties. According to the Bozhou City Annals, during the Wanli reign of the Ming there were over 40 distilleries in JianDian, and the leading representative of "Jian wine" brewing was the Huaishi Gongxing Fermentation Workshop. The beneficial microbial strains in the Gujing Gongjiu cellars of the Ming and Qing period number over 600 species, making it one of China's extreme-sample libraries of baijiu microorganisms, and it has become a research base for relevant universities. In the process of generational transmission, the craft's evolution and development have merged with the lifestyle, ideas, and customs of Bozhou-area residents, forming Bozhou's distinctive wine-culture and longevity-culture phenomena, with considerable historical and cultural value.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

This triangular area lies at the southern end of the North China Plain; the local staple crops abundantly produced there—wheat, soybeans, corn—are quality brewing raw materials, and the weakly alkaline mineral water suits brewing. Coupled with convenient transport, it has been the main producing area of Gujing Gongjiu since ancient times. The Gujing Gongjiu brewing craft can be summarized as "mud-cellar fermentation, mixed steaming with continuous zha (fermented grain), and the old five-zeng operation." Relying on the Ming–Qing cellar groups and adopting the old five-zeng process, the craft takes "water of the Supreme Ultimate" (wuji zhi shui), matches it with five-grain raw materials, and brews with multiple qu using the "two flowers and one fu" method. After 60–180 days of fermentation, it employs the unique techniques of "three highs and one low" (high starch entering the cellar, high acidity entering the cellar, high slurry-addition temperature, low temperature entering the cellar) and "three clarifications and one control" (steaming the raw materials, steaming the adjuncts, steaming the cellar-bottom ferment, and controlling the slurry to remove impurities); it then selects layers to take the ferment, selects the time to draw the liquor, and stores it by grade. Aged in ceramic jars at constant temperature, and after tasting-evaluation, analysis, blending, and packaging, it becomes Gujing Gongjiu. Local wheat is an important raw material for making qu; plump and uniform in grain, not easily damaged by insects or mildew, with high starch content, it suits serving as a precursor substance for forming baijiu's aromatic components. Liaoxi sorghum is the main raw material for brewing Gujing Gongjiu; small-grained with thick skins, it withstands steaming, boiling, and repeated turning, and is characterized by not mushing up after multiple mixings. Gujing Gongjiu is as clear as crystal in color and as pure as a hidden orchid in aroma; it is sweet, mellow, and harmonious on the palate with a long-lasting aftertaste, and is a typical representative of China's strong-aroma (nongxiang) type of baijiu. The Gujing Gongjiu brewing site, on which the craft relies, is an important witness to the emergence, formation, and development of brewing activity in the Central Plains region.

The Huai clan Gongxing workshop

In the Wanli era the Jian settlement had over forty distilleries, the Gongxing workshop of the Huai clan being the best known for Jian wine.

Mud-pit fermentation

Mud-lined pits harbour their own flora on the wall; fermentation is slow but steady and gives the wine its full-bodied base.

The five-layer still operation

Five grain types are steamed in five layers, each layer drawn off separately and labelled by height for aroma and weight.

Two rising and one falling qu blend

Several kinds of qu alternate in a two-rise one-fall pattern so that the five grains each keep their own aroma.

Three distillations and one control against three highs and one low

Raw grain, adjuncts and pit-floor lees are all steamed clean and the water addition controlled, balancing three high figures against a low pit temperature.

The microbial library of the Ming-Qing pits

More than six hundred beneficial strains have been identified in the Ming-Qing pit group, a living microbial library studied by universities.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Gujing Gongjiu brewing craft is one of the representatives of China's traditional distilled-liquor brewing crafts. Its core distribution area is in Qiaocheng District, Bozhou City, Anhui Province, mainly the triangular area of Weigang, Zhangji, and Gujing (anciently called "JianDian") centered on present-day Gujing Town—that is, the bend of the Guo River and the loop of the Xiao Hong River. The water used for brewing is also drawn from the locally unique high-quality underground mineral water.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, on one hand the project continues the traditional master–apprentice transmission mode, with the qu-making, grain-crushing, and brewing workshops holding master-takes-apprentice activities every year; on the other hand it emphasizes building a cultivation system, carrying out strategic cooperation with universities such as Jiangnan University and Beijing Technology and Business University for research, training, and other activities.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Traditional Distilling Craftsmanship (Bozhou, Anhui) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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