Douban Paste Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In the eighth year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing dynasty (1803), Chen Yixian, a grandson of the Chen family, opened the Shuntianhao sauce garden on West Street in the county seat. In the third year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing dynasty (1853), Chen Shouxin, grandson of Chen Yixian, merged Shuntianhao with another shop on South Street and opened the Yifenghe sauce garden. After the thirty-first year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1905), Chen Zhuan (son of Chen Shouxin) carefully studied the proportioning of chili, broad beans, and salt; through repeated practice he improved the original douban-making craft and developed varieties such as black douban, golden-hook douban, and sesame-oil douban. In 1956, under public-private joint operation, the Pixian Douban Factory was established with Yifenghe sauce garden as its main body. During the Republic of China period, Pixian douban was widely sold in Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, as well as Shaanxi and Gansu; in 1916 it was awarded an excellence prize by the Sichuan Provincial Industrial Promotion Association.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Pixian douban is an important cooking condiment in Sichuan cuisine, known as 'the soul of Sichuan cuisine.' Pixian is located in the middle of the Chengdu Plain in Sichuan Province, and produces abundant broad beans (fava beans) and chilies. In the late Ming and early Qing, a man surnamed Chen drifted to Sichuan and, under unusual circumstances, mixed moldy broad-bean mash with chili and ate it, only to find it remarkably delicious. After the Chen family settled in Pixian, they began operating a brewing business. Chen Shouxin devoted himself to studying the douban-making craft and summed up the twelve-character formula 'sun-dry on clear days, cover on rainy days, turn over by day, dew by night,' bringing the traditional handmade Pixian douban craft to completeness.
Sunny days spread, rainy days covered
The twelve-character rule governs sunning: spread on fine days, cover in rain, turn by day, dew by night.
The balance of chilli, broad bean and salt
Chilli sets aroma, broad bean sets body and salt sets taste; shifting the ratio creates the dark and gold-oil varieties.
Turning the beans on the drying floor
Once turned out of the jar, the beans must be spread thin; the size of the drying floor caps output.
From Shuntian to Yifenghe
Two generations moved the craft from the west street to the south street, and the workshop later became the county bean paste factory.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The craft core of Pixian douban lies in the area of the county seat of Pixian County, Sichuan Province; Shuntianhao was on West Street and Yifenghe on South Street, and these two sauce gardens upheld the sauce trade of the street. Pixian sits in the middle of the Chengdu Plain and abounds in broad beans and chilies, so the raw materials for douban need not be sought elsewhere. During the Republic of China period, Pixian douban was widely sold in Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, Tibet, as well as Shaanxi and Gansu; together with Sichuan salt and Sichuan tea it left Sichuan along the Yangtze and the northwest routes, so the name of Pixian douban belongs both to Sichuan cuisine and to the kitchens of the provinces along the way.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Pixian douban is rich in nutritional value and holds an important place in Sichuan culinary culture; its traditional brewing craft should be well inherited and carried forward. Lei Dingcheng (per the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han, born in July 1953, from Pixian County, Sichuan Province. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Douban Traditional-Making Craft (Pixian Douban Traditional-Making Craft).' He entered the Pixian Douban Factory in 1977 and successively studied brewing craft under Pixian douban masters Qin Ziyun and Zhou Haiqing. He has gained a fairly comprehensive grasp of the traditional Pixian douban-making craft. In 1979 he was transferred to the production section of the Pixian Douban Factory, taking charge of the factory's overall production scheduling. In 1980 he served as a judge for the brewing-condiment quality-evaluation work of the Sichuan Provincial Food Association. In 1983 and 1985 he was twice appointed by the Ministry of Light Industry as a national judge for brewed condiments, participating in the national superior-product evaluation for condiments in Taiyuan and Xiamen respectively. In 1983 he took part in the national superior-product evaluation organized by the State Economic and Trade Commission, and Pixian douban was awarded the title of superior product by the Ministry of Light Industry.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Lei Dingcheng 03-1424
- Zhang Anqiu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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