Tianfuhaojiangzhouzi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Tianfuhao sauce-meat shop was first founded in the third year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1738). At that time Shandong was suffering a severe drought with no harvest; Liu Fengxiang, a native of Ye County in Shandong, fled with his grandson Liu Diming to Beijing to make a living, and opened a sauce-meat shop at the northeast corner of the Xidan archway, naming it 'Tianfuhao,' meaning 'heaven-bestowed blessing.' In 1993, 'Tianfuhao' was recognized as a 'China Time-honored Brand.' Since the beginning of the 21st century, for reasons such as the heavy burden on the old enterprise, shortages of funds and talent, cramped production space, the aging of skilled workers, and the outflow of technical personnel, the inheritance of Tianfuhao's pig's-trotter sauce-making craft has become increasingly difficult, with a shortage of successors.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The sauced pig's trotters made by Tianfuhao are crisp, fragrant, and delicious, superb in both quality and reputation, attracting customers from the highest officials down to common people. After tasting them, the Empress Dowager Cixi also highly praised them and bestowed a 'Tianfuhao token,' stipulating that Tianfuhao deliver a fixed daily quantity of sauced pig's trotters to the palace by token. From then on, 'Tianfuhao sauced pig's trotters' became a tribute item, and its fame grew even greater. The Tianfuhao sauced pig's-trotter making craft was developed through repeated study by the Liu grandfather and grandson in the course of their business; its saucing method is unique and unlike any other. Tianfuhao sauced pig's trotters are selected with great care, and once made are rich yet not greasy, lean yet not dry, with skin that does not lose its bite, and a deep, mellow aroma.
The sauce method worked out by grandfather and grandson
The method was worked out through repeated experiment by the Liu grandfather and grandson who ran the shop.
Selection and the standard of the finished joint
Fine selection yields a joint that is rich without greasiness, lean without dryness, and whose skin does not shrink back.
The waist token and the palace order
A waist token from the empress dowager fixed a daily quota of the shop"s braised elbow entering the palace, and the shop became a tribute supplier.
The name from the West Single Archway
Founded in 1738 by Liu Fengxiang and his grandson Liu Diming, refugees from Shandong, the shop took a name meaning heaven-sent blessing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The name of Tianfuhao sauced pig's trotters began with a small shop at the northeast corner of the Xidan archway; later, after several relocations, it always remained within the city of Beijing. As to its spread, the sauced pig's trotters traveled along the shopfronts of Tianfuhao — the sauce-meat shops of old Beijing around Xidan and Dongsi were the original channel of this tradition; today the sauced pig's trotters of this line can also be eaten outside the region, mostly local sauce shops imitating the method, and each household's flavor has already diverged somewhat. Its manner of eating is also local: the trotter is sliced cold and served on a plate, prized for being rich yet not greasy, lean yet not dry, with skin that does not lose its bite. This refinement corresponds with the plating of whole meat dishes at northern banquets, so although Tianfuhao's craft bears only a single shop's name, it in fact represents the front-of-house work of Beijing's sauce-meat trade. As to the difficulty of this line of work: the sauced pig's trotter looks like merely a pot of sauced meat, yet in truth every step must observe a measure — the meat must be simmered long enough in the old stock yet not fall apart; the skin must keep its bite yet not turn sticky; the sauce must be reduced to a shine yet not scorch. A spoiled trotter cannot be remedied and must be thrown away whole — and that is precisely the reason it is not lightly passed on. As for the episode of entering the palace: Tianfuhao delivered sauced pig's trotters by token in limited daily quantity, supplying the palate of a single household of the court; what remained was the marketplace's method and the marketplace's price. Holding these two together is what has kept this small shop, which fled famine from Shandong, standing more than 270 years later.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Jiangrou Making Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
To this day 'Tianfuhao' has been handed down eight generations, and through more than 270 years of historical change its products such as the sauced pig's trotters have always maintained their exceptional quality. To change this situation, effective protective measures must be formulated as soon as possible.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Qifei 05-2865
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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