Zhacai Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Fuling zhacai was created in the twenty-fourth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1898), and has been deeply loved by consumers since its debut, with its influence steadily growing.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Fuling zhacai is produced in Fuling District, Chongqing Municipality, located in the Three Gorges Reservoir area where the Yangtze River and the Wu River converge. The making of Fuling zhacai relies entirely on manual labor, with a complex process, high technical difficulty and labor intensity, and high production cost. Its production adopts the primitive air-drying-and-dehydration and 'three-salting' processing craft; the entire manufacturing flow includes many complex technical steps such as purchasing the raw material (qincaitou, or stem mustard), peeling, stringing, rack-drying for dehydration, taking down from the rack, first salting (adding salt), lifting from the vat and piling under pressure, second salting (adding salt), lifting from the vat and piling under pressure, trimming and inspecting the fibers, shaping and grading, rinsing, piling under pressure to drain the brine (pressing), adding auxiliary ingredients, later-stage fermentation, jar-packing, cleaning and sealing the jar mouth, fitting bamboo baskets, and finished product. Hand-made Fuling zhacai is tender, fresh, and crisp with a unique flavor, incomparable to zhacai produced by modern industrial processes. With the outflow of rural labor and the submersion of the beach areas within the Three Gorges Reservoir, the processing and making of Fuling zhacai is increasingly in decline.
Peeling, stringing and wind-drying
The kohlrabi heads are peeled, threaded and hung to dry in the river wind, a stage wholly dependent on weather and drying ground.
Three saltings and three pressings
Salt is added in three stages with a press between each, driving the brine deep into the fibre before fermentation.
Trimming and grading
The salted heads are de-fibred, reshaped and graded by hand, a slow step that keeps the finished pickle visually even.
Seasoning and late fermentation
After washing and pressing off the brine, seasonings are added and the jars are closed for late fermentation, where the flavour is formed.
Filling, sealing and basketing
The finished pickle is packed, the jar mouth cleaned and sealed, and a bamboo basket fitted for transport.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Qingcaitou (stem mustard) is the sole main ingredient of Fuling zhacai; only after the winter mustard in the flatlands and river valleys has been frosted do its fibers tighten enough to withstand peeling, stringing, and rack air-drying. The individual mustard heads are strung up and hung on wooden racks, relying on the alternating river wind and fog for dehydration—this step is the only part of the whole process that depends on the weather. The reason for the repeated 'three saltings' is that, after dehydration, the mustard heads' water content has already dropped, yet adding salt still requires osmotic pressure to push the saltiness layer by layer into the depths of the fibers. Lifting from the vat and piling under pressure, trimming and inspecting the fibers, shaping and grading, rinsing, then piling again to press out the brine, followed by adding auxiliary ingredients and entering later-stage fermentation and jar-packing—each press shapes the final crisp freshness. After the reservoir water level rose, the near-shore beaches were no longer usable in continuous stretches; the drying racks and sunning grounds retreated uphill, and the space for the air-drying-and-dehydration step was gradually squeezed away.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, the older generation of zhacai-making technicians is dwindling, and the Fuling zhacai traditional-making craft is on the verge of being lost, urgently requiring rescue and protection. Wan Shaobi (per the official archives of the associated inheritor): Female, Han, born in July 1963, from Chongqing Municipality. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Zhacai Traditional-Making Craft (Fuling Zhacai Traditional-Making Craft).' Senior technician, Fuling zhacai-making technician. From childhood she received the true family transmission and is familiar with and comprehensively masters all the traditional-making process flows of Fuling zhacai. In more than thirty years of work practice, she conducted in-depth research into key technologies such as the Fuling zhacai process, formulas, and quality-inspection methods, and in 1995 founded the 'Lameizi' (Spicy Girl) zhacai brand. She successively developed the production process technology for medium- and low-salt Fuling zhacai products, a low-salt pure-strain microbial fermentation technology for zhacai, and the recycling and processing technology for zhacai and its by-products, obtaining two national invention patents and two provincial-and-ministerial-level scientific and technological achievements.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wan Shaobi 05-2857
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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