Douchiniangzhijiyi
01 · Historical Records
Fermented soybean (douchi) brewing has a long history in China; records of douchi production already appeared in the "Qimin Yaoshu" (Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People) of the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. Douchi production in Yongchuan, Chongqing, began around the seventeenth year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming dynasty (1644); by the Republic-of-China era, 13 workshops were already engaged in production.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Douchi is a healthy food with effects such as lowering blood lipids, resisting aging, preventing cancer, and enhancing human immunity, and it is widely popular. It uses high-quality black soybeans as the main raw material, with five-spice, star anise, and other Chinese medicines and spices as auxiliary materials, produced through processes such as fermentation, steaming, mold-washing, aroma enhancement, and dehydration. Douchi can be divided into three types: Mucor-type, Aspergillus oryzae-type, and bacterial-type, of which the Mucor-type is the best. China's douchi brewing craft mainly spreads in Sichuan, Hunan, Chongqing, and other places. Douchi is one of the specialties of eastern Sichuan and Chongqing. The authentic place of origin of Yongchuan douchi is Yongchuan District, Chongqing. Here there is little air pollution, the temperature is suitable, the average humidity is 84%, and groundwater resources are abundant; these natural conditions promote the reproduction of microbes dominated by Mucor, making it suitable for douchi production. Yongchuan douchi belongs to the Mucor type; it uses soybeans as raw material, and its production process includes more than ten process steps such as selecting and removing impurities, rinsing, soaking, spreading to cool, making the starter, mixing, potting, and later fermentation; during production, the soybeans must be fermented under the action of microbes at low and room temperatures for as long as a year. The proteins within the soybeans, under the action of various enzymes, produce amino acids, finally forming douchi that is glossy and black, fragrant and moist, and delicious and agreeable to the palate. Yongchuan douchi is not only fresh and tasty and easy to digest, but also rich in nutrition and beneficial to health, and is widely welcomed by consumers in both domestic and foreign markets.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Yongchuan douchi belongs to the Mucor type; it uses soybeans as raw material, and its production process includes more than ten process steps such as selecting and removing impurities, rinsing, soaking, spreading to cool, making the starter, mixing, potting, and later fermentation; during production, the soybeans must be fermented under the action of microbes at low and room temperatures for as long as a year.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yongchuan douchi brewing craft takes Yongchuan District, Chongqing as its authentic place of origin; relying on air of 84% average humidity and abundant well water to nourish the microbial community dominated by Mucor, the craft spread toward the Jiangjin and Bishan areas. The Yongchuan branch adopts the Mucor type with the cycle extended to a full year; koji-making is where the various houses diverge, the key lying in the looseness and thickness of the koji mass and the rhythm of the "nourishing fire." In the present day it is carried on by Zeng Fanyu.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Douchiniangzhijiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The quality and craft of Yongchuan douchi are both superb, but its manual brewing method, under current market-economy conditions, has a higher price and weaker competitiveness, so necessary protective measures should be taken as soon as possible. Zeng Fanyu (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): female, Han ethnicity, born in August 1966, from Chongqing. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the douchi brewing craft (Yongchuan douchi brewing craft), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item. She is familiar with all the process steps of the craft and excels at the key step—koji-making; she can adjust the looseness and thickness of the koji mass according to the moisture of the cooked material, the growth stage of the strains, and the environmental conditions, and accurately grasp the fire-up period, growth period, later-fire period, and koji-nourishing period to take different responsive measures, with accurate judgment and appropriate response, producing koji that is neither loose nor tight, neither sticky nor scattered, neither soft nor hard. She began brewing work in 1990 and received careful instruction and guidance from koji-making masters Chen Zuxun and Hu Zhigang. The science-and-technology project she led won the Chongqing Municipal People's Government's Chongqing Municipal Science and Technology Progress Award.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Cengfanyu 05-2856
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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