Soy Sauce Brewing Craftsmanship

01 · Historical Records

In the sixth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1880), Qian Jinnan, a gentleman of Pudong, founded the Wanlong Sauce Garden in Mofang Lane, Nanshi, Shanghai. In the early years of the Republic of China, the third-generation owner Qian Anbo created the "Shaijie Oil" and "Shaiwei Oil," with a mellow flavor and rich sauce aroma, producing 50,000 kilograms per year; owing to their excellent quality, their price was equal to that of soybean oil. In 1954, the Qian Wanlong Sauce Garden that remained in Shanghai was converted into the "Local State-Run Zhangjiang Brewery" through public-private partnership, and in 1984 it was renamed the "Shanghai Qian Wanlong Brewery." In the mid-1970s, the factory carried out technical renovations, organizing veteran craftsmen and technical personnel to restore the traditional craft and create the "special sun-dried soy sauce" characterized by the features of Jiangnan and Shanghai. In 1983, it was exported through the agency of the Shanghai Food Import and Export Corporation, reaching more than ten countries and regions including Hong Kong, Denmark, and Norway, with export volume reaching 1,200 tons. In 1993, the Ministry of Domestic Trade awarded the Qian Wanlong Sauce Garden the title of "China Time-Honored Brand."

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Qian Wanlong Official Sauce Garden is located in Zhangjiang Town (formerly called "Zhangjiang Zha"), Pudong New Area, Shanghai, a place with a history of over five hundred years. His son Qian Ziying inherited the family business and, in the twenty-third year of the Guangxu reign (1897), moved the sauce garden to North Street of Zhangjiang Zha, renaming it the "Qian Wanlong Sauce Garden," and set up direct-sale and consignment stores in Nanshi, Pudong, and Chuansha. The Qian Wanlong Sauce Garden in Zhangjiang Zha covered 15 mu, held more than 400 sauce vats, and employed over 20 workers. Thanks to its sound management, the garden enjoyed thriving business and a good reputation; the authorities of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces specially awarded it a black-dragon plaque bearing the three gilded characters "Official Sauce Garden" as a reward. The fourth-generation owner Qian Xianping went to Taiwan in the early years after the founding of the People's Republic to open a sauce garden. This product successively won the title of "Shanghai Quality Product" and a silver award at China's First Food Exposition, and was designated as a dedicated product for the Antarctic research expedition. For over a hundred years, the brewing enterprise based on the Qian Wanlong Sauce Garden has survived and developed at its original site in Zhangjiang Town, and the traditional manual brewing craft has continued to the present day. The "special sun-dried soy sauce" brewed with traditional craft uses non-GMO soybeans from Northeast China, and no chemical additives are added during brewing, giving the product natural and healthy qualities. The production process of Qian Wanlong soy sauce consists of 12 process steps: moving the material (soybeans), soaking the beans, steaming the beans, mixing the ingredients, making the starter culture (koji), making the moromi, sun-drying the mash, pressing the oil, frying the sauce color, blending the sauce color, sun-drying the oil, and final brewing and drawing from the vats. The essence of the entire brewing craft lies in "good materials, superior starter, refined skill, and sun-drying," and the key of the working method lies in "observing with the eyes, memorizing in the heart, feeling with the hands, smelling with the nose, and tasting with the mouth." Low-price competition within the industry has prevented Qian Wanlong soy sauce from selling at its due price, and the enterprise has suffered consecutive years of losses.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Qian Wanlong soy sauce brewing craft centers on Zhangjiang Zha in Zhangjiang Town, Pudong, Shanghai, and in former times additional sauce gardens were set up in Mofang Lane of Nanshi and the Chuansha area, with operations arranged along the Jiangsu-Zhejiang waterway network. What every household competed on was the word "sun-drying": the special sun-dried soy sauce must be fully exposed and aired on open-air vats, yet in winter when temperatures are low the sun-drying time is reduced instead. The Qing-dynasty authorities specially awarded the Zhangjiang Zha sauce garden the gilded "Official Sauce Garden" plaque precisely on account of this locale's water quality and sun-drying yards.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Soy Sauce Brewing Craftsmanship.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In recent years, owing to fierce market competition, only two of Shanghai's 27 soy sauce factories remain. At the same time, the distinctive manual soy sauce brewing craft is short of successors, and its transmission faces a crisis. The China Time-Honored Brand Qian Wanlong is facing enormous survival pressure and the severe challenge that its traditional brewing craft may be lost, and urgently needs support and help from the relevant quarters.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Chen Siwei 05-2855

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Soy Sauce Brewing Craftsmanship (Pudongxin, Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗