Text/Yang Xueyan
China's liquor culture lasts for thousands of years, and in the land of Xinghua Village in Shanxi, poetry and fine wine shine together, interpreting the most profound wine culture...
Why is Xinghua Village called "the first village in the world of poetry and wine"? Here, not only the poet's "wine country", but also the origin and birthplace of liquor in the geographical sense, in the historical changes, liquor from here to the whole country and carry forward!
The small-mouth pointed urn bears witness to the 6,000-year history of wine culture in Xinghua Village
In 1982, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized a Jinzhong archaeological team to carry out rescue excavations of the ruins of Xinghua Village in Fenyang, Shanxi, and after this five-year-long archaeological activity, a special container, the "small-mouth pointed urn", was presented to the world for the first time as a "wine vessel".
The small-mouth pointed bottom urn, which refers to a small mouth and a thin neck, a slanted shoulder bulging abdomen, a slender body pointed bottom, and a symmetrical amphora on the abdomen, is a landmark artifact used in the Yangshao culture from beginning to end, and has been found in various Yangshao cultural sites.
According to records, when the small-mouth pointed urn at the site of Xinghua Village was first discovered, archaeologists habitually classified it as a water extraction vessel, which did not attract enough attention. With the archaeological excavations of the second and third stages, archaeologists were surprised to find that what appeared in front of them was a museum of ancient wine-making utensils and drinking utensils - all the artifacts excavated at the site of Xinghua Village in Shanxi Were related to winemaking or drinking, and the largest number was a variety of brewing utensils.
History always has amazing coincidences: the ruins of Xinghua Village cover an area of 15 square kilometers, and the distribution range includes the production workshop of the Fenjiu Group in Xinghua Village today.
From a historical point of view, the small-mouth pointed bottom urn is not only a participant in the history of winemaking in Xinghua Village, but also the founder of the history of Chinese liquor. Bao Qi'an, a famous winemaking expert, believes that the small-mouth pointed bottom urn is the earliest wine-making vessel, limited by the technical level at that time, anti-corrosion is an important problem that needs to be solved in the brewing process. The narrow inlet of the small pointed bottom urn reduces the contact between the contents and the air, and can be fermented, clarified and drunk in a container.
Throughout the history of the world, in the three ancient civilizations of ancient Babylon, ancient Egypt and ancient China, the word "wine" is the shape of a small-mouth pointed urn, and ancient Babylon and ancient Egypt have also used the same type of small-mouth pointed urn excavated from China, and have brewed ale and wine respectively.
That is to say, not only Chinese liquor, but even in the scope of world wine culture, the small-mouth pointed bottom urn is a "tinder"! The small-mouth pointed bottom urn excavated from the apricot blossom village of Fenyang, Shanxi Province, strongly proves that in this land, the ancient ancestors opened the source of liquor development from 6,000 years ago.
Xinghua Village gave birth to baijiu in the true sense of Chinese history
In the second year of Liang Tianzheng (553) of the Southern Dynasty, the "Baiquan Wine" produced by Xinghua Village was famous in the world, at this time, the people of Xinghua Village improved the winemaking technology and upgraded the turbid wine to sake, which was called "Fenqing Wine" because it was produced in Fenzhou.
The history of Northern Qi Wucheng Emperor Gao Zhan (537-568) recommending Fen sake is included in the Book of Northern Qi in the Twenty-Four Histories. Book XI of the Book of Northern Qi: The emperor was in Jinyang, and the hand was known as "I drink two cups of Fenqing, and persuade Ru Yu to drink two cups." "The fine wine produced in Apricot Blossom Village has also been famous for generations.
During the Tang Dynasty, Xinghua Village has become a well-known winemaking center, crisscrossing the streets and alleys, large and small liquor stores, wine flags, guests like clouds. In the praise of the world, Ganhe (huo) wine as a specialty also attracted the attention of the court, after the examination of the court, included in the list of tribute wine, by the local state and county tribute. Xinghuacun Dried Hejiu was brewed in the Tang Dynasty, and the earliest distillation technology was used in China, with a history of more than 1200 years, and is the source of distilled liquor in China.
In the Tang Dynasty, the solid mixture, distillation and wine that appeared in Xinghua Village and the fermentation of the daqu and the earth tank that appeared in the early period were the necessary processes for the production of liquor, which was the prototype of the modern Fenjiu process. Dry and distillation technology has achieved the transformation of extremely low alcohol content to extremely high, completed the leap from Chinese brewed wine to distilled wine quality, and the official birth of Chinese liquor began in Xinghua Village.
The Tang and Song dynasties are the molding period of China's winemaking technology, in this regard, fenyang xinghua village winemaking with sorghum as the main koji fermentation, iron steaming, pottery tank storage, the use of two steaming, fermentation, distillation of the "steaming secondary Qing" This unique brewing method can be said to be the indiscriminate pursuit of shochu production technology.
And what really makes Xinghua Village a symbol of wine country is due to a poem by the late Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu": During the Qingming Festival, the rain is pouring, and pedestrians on the road want to break their souls, asking where the restaurant is, and the shepherd boy refers to Xinghua Village.
Since then, in Chinese culture, "Apricot Blossom Village" has become synonymous with fine wine. When people think of "Apricot Blossom Village", what comes to mind is the fragrance of apricot blossoms in the spring rain, the liquor stores are lined up, and the fragrance of fine wine drowns everything...
Xinghua Village is the birthplace and disseminator of Chinese liquor
In the Yuan Dynasty, the fine wine produced in Xinghua Village became the essence of the country and was sold across the ocean to exotic countries, which was also the first time that Chinese liquor was labeled and exported in history: export special ceramic wine bottles, and the three characters of "Xinghua Village" were fired on the bottle. There is also a couplet on the bottle: "The golden pedal horse steps on the grass, and the Yulou people are drunk with apricot blossoms." ”
By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the wine produced by the various wineries in Xinghua Village, as the most important specialty of Fenzhou Capital, almost became synonymous with Fenzhou Capital, so the shochu of the various wineries in Xinghua Village began to be collectively referred to as "Fenjiu".
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Fenzhou was an important winemaking base in the country, and Xinghua Village became a concentrated area for winemaking in Fenzhou. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the people began to call Fenzhou shochu "Fenjiu", so "Fenjiu" also became a resounding brand in the wine industry. In the Qing Dynasty octagonal drum song "Ruixue Pile", there is a lyric that "the wine flag in the apricot blossom village flies, and it is written that the altar is incense for ten miles, even the gods and immortals must be drunk".
Fenjiu really went to the whole country, more precisely, it began in the Ming Dynasty, flourished in the Qing Dynasty, and continued to the Republic of China period.
According to records, from the third year of Ming Hongwu (1370) to the fifteenth year of Yongle (1417), the Ming government successively immigrated to all parts of the country through the big locust tree in Hongdong County, reaching as many as one million people, and its length, scale and deep influence were not only unprecedented in Chinese history, but also rare in the history of world immigration.
With the footsteps of migration, the immigrants of the large locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi, not only brought their living habits and farming methods to all parts of the country, but also brought the winemaking skills of Xinghua Village to the north of the Tiannanhai Sea.
Nowadays, the brewing process of fragrant liquor is all over the north and south of the great river, Qinghai's Qingqing barley wine, Inner Mongolia's stuffy donkey, Northeast's roasted knife, Beijing Erguotou, Niulanshan Erguotou, Hubei Yellow Crane Tower, Henan Baofeng Liquor, etc. are all fragrant products, covering more than 1 billion people, and many brands have jointly composed the glory of the "Great Fragrance" era.
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the rise of Jin merchants dominated the Chinese business community, and the winemaking skills of Xinghua Village extended all the way with the routes pioneered by merchants, going to the whole country and the world. Apricot blossom wine and Jin Shang are full of foam, relying on each other, and witnessing the vicissitudes of the years together. This great process has made Xinghua Village have the reputation of China's "Baijiu Ancestral Garden".
Along the way, Xinghua Village with the fragrance of fragrant liquor, has made indelible contributions to the development of Chinese liquor, from 6,000 years ago Yangshao culture opened the source of liquor, to the Ming and Qing Dynasties to travel all over the north and south of the river, Xinghua Village This magical land is destined to have an indissoluble relationship with liquor...