Niuyangroupengzhijiyi

01 · Historical Records

According to legend, when Princess Wencheng of the Tang dynasty entered Tibet, a Pingyao beef-processing craftsman accompanied her, which shows that Pingyao beef had already reached a very high level at that time. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Shanxi merchants (Jinshang) rose to prominence and Pingyao merchants did business in all directions; their homeland of Pingyao became a distribution center for goods from every region, and so Pingyao beef spread across the north and south of the great rivers along with the development of local commerce. From the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty through the late Qing and early Republican period, Pingyao beef workshops such as 'Xingshenglei,' 'Zilicheng,' 'Yuanshengchang,' and 'Longshengwang' were all widely renowned within Shanxi province.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Pingyao beef is a meat product unique to Pingyao County, Shanxi province, famous throughout the country for its color, aroma, and taste. This beef is red and lustrous in color, fine and tender in texture, and pure and mellow in flavor; it is not only rich in nutrition but also has the effect of strengthening the stomach and invigorating the spleen, making it a fine product of Chinese meat foods. The producing area of Pingyao beef, the ancient city of Pingyao, is a national-level historical and cultural city; the local people kept and used draft oxen in large numbers, providing the conditions for the development of the traditional beef-processing craft. The accumulation of more than a thousand years of history has brought the traditional processing craft of Pingyao beef to increasing perfection. The Pingyao Beef Group Co., Ltd. was named a 'China Time-honored Brand' (Zhonghua Laohao) by the Ministry of Commerce; the brand and processing scale of Pingyao beef have also been greatly enhanced and developed, and it has become a leading industry of the regional economy. However, the traditional making craft of Pingyao beef is entirely a handicraft-workshop-style process, passed down by old master craftsmen through oral teaching and personal demonstration. At present, as the craftsmen grow old, the traditional craft is showing a break in transmission, and the traditional processing craft of Pingyao beef is on the verge of being lost.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The traditional processing craft of Pingyao beef is rooted in the ancient city of Pingyao. This national-level historical and cultural city then kept and used draft oxen in large numbers; beef was both a beast of burden and a gift for guests, and the two bound together gave rise to its own line of processing. Its spread outward was directly connected with the Shanxi merchants. In the Ming and Qing dynasties the Shanxi merchants rose to prominence and Pingyao merchants did business in all directions; their homeland of Pingyao became a distribution center for goods from every region, and Pingyao beef spread across the north and south of the great rivers along with the development of local commerce. From the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty through the late Qing and early Republican period, workshops such as 'Xingshenglei,' 'Zilicheng,' 'Yuanshengchang,' and 'Longshengwang' were all widely renowned within Shanxi province. The ancient city, the trade routes, and the workshops linked in sequence form the earliest transmission network of this craft.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Niuyangroupengzhijiyi · Niuyangroupengzhijiyi · Niuyangroupengzhijiyi · Niuyangroupengzhijiyi · Niuyangroupengzhijiyi · Niuyangroupengzhijiyi.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

As the years passed, Pingyao beef has now been handed down to the seventh generation. Pingyao beef is both an economical and delicious food and imbued with the professionalism and the tradition of integrity of the Shanxi merchants, and thus has fairly high cultural research value. Rescuing and protecting this precious traditional food-processing craft is a responsibility and duty that contemporary people cannot evade. Wang Tianming (per the official archives of the associated inheritor): male, Han nationality, born in February 1968, a native of Pingyao County, Shanxi province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item 'Beef and Mutton Cooking Craft (Guanyun Pingyao Beef Traditional Processing Craft).' On the basis of comprehensively inheriting the time-honored brand's traditional process steps of slaughtering, curing, and stewing, he further innovated and refined the many intricate steps — the knife work in cutting, control of time, the temperature of the water, seasonal differences, fierce versus gentle heat, and sealing with the old stock — enriching the processing craft of Pingyao beef and improving its qualities of ruddy color, lingering aroma, being rich yet not greasy, and lean yet not dry. Having toiled for many years on the production line, he has trained a large number of professional technical personnel, and in 2015 formally took on two employees from the boiling workshop as seventh-generation inheritors at an apprenticeship ceremony held by the company.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Man Yunlai 03-1430
• Zhao Tiesuo 03-1431
• Chen Lixin 05-2862
• Wan Chunsheng 05-2863
• Wang Tianming 05-2864
• Ma Guoqiang

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Niuyangroupengzhijiyi (Guanyunpingyaoniuroujituanyouxiangongsi, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Tianming · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗