Guizhou Renhuai Moutai has produced shochu since ancient times. In the old days, the brewing workshop in Moutai Town was commonly known as "burning house". According to the Qing Dynasty's "Records of the Old Zunyi Province", during the Daoguang years, "Moutai burned no less than twenty houses, and the cost of mountain grain was not less than 20,000 stones." In the 23rd year of Daoguang (1843), the Qing Dynasty poet Zheng Zhenyong praised Maotai as "the country of wine crown Qianren".
The history of the three burners
Among the many burning houses, "Chengyi", "Ronghe" and "Hengxing" are the most influential. The three largest wineries in Moutai Town are in a three-legged position.
Among the three burning houses, the oldest is Chengyi (founded in the last year of Qing Xianfeng), the best reputation is Ronghe, and the highest output is Hengxing, corresponding to the surnames of the three bosses, namely Huamao, WangMao, laimao.
In 1879 (the 5th year of Qing Guangxu), Shi Rongxiao (real name Wang Rong, who succeeded the Shi family), a large landowner in Renhuai County, opened a burning house with Wang Lifu and Sun Quantai, the owner of the "Wang Tianhe" salt trumpet, in Moutai Village. At that time, in 1912 (the early years of the Republic of China), Sun Quantai withdrew his shares, and the "Rong Taihe" burning house was renamed "Ronghe".
In 1915 (the 4th year of the Republic of China), in 1915, "Wang Mao" and "Hua Mao" collectively referred to as "Moutai Wine" were exhibited in the "Panama International Exposition" held in San Francisco, USA, and the result was rated as an international famous wine and won the medal award. After the award, "Chengyi" and "Ronghe" competed for the ownership of the medals, and the lawsuit was fought by the Renhuai County Chamber of Commerce all the way to the Guizhou Provincial Office, and in 1918, the provincial government finally issued a ruling in a compromise manner: the certificates and medals of the gold award were preserved by the Renhuai County Chamber of Commerce, and the two workshops of "Chengyi" and "Ronghe" could be crowned with the "Panama International Exposition Gold Medal" on their product trademarks.
In the late 1930s, another shareholder in the "Ronghe" brand withdrew from the shares, and the "Ronghe" burning house was exclusively operated by Wang Rong's grandson Wang Zesheng. After the fourth generation of Wang Bingqian returned home from study in Guiyang, he gradually intervened in the operation and management of the "Ronghe" burning house, and the production of Moutai wine also gradually increased, and the wine produced was mainly sold in Chongqing, Zunyi and other places, expanding the reputation of Moutai wine.
In 1944, the "Ronghe" house was burned down, and the plant and equipment were destroyed. At this time, his father Wang Zesheng was addicted to opium and had no intention of taking care of the winery, so Wang Bingqian did his best to raise funds to rebuild the factory, purchase brewing equipment, recruit production workers, and soon resumed production. The following year, Wang Ze died and Wang Bingqian presided over the burning of the house in "Ronghe" until 1950.
During the Republic of China, Wang Bingqian served as the mayor of Moutai Town, the principal of the National School in The Center of Moutai Town, and the principal of the Primary School in the Center of Renhuai County, and contributed to the development of Sangzi education.
Huamao was founded by the Hua family, which is a large merchant in the Yunnan-Guizhou area. In Hualianhui's generation, the salt industry business is even more prosperous. Hua Lianhui's mother is a Moutai native who grew up drinking "Maojiu". In 1862, Hua Lianhui returned to Moutai Town, funded the reconstruction of a winery, Chengyi Yaofang, and searched for lost Moutai winemakers to return to Moutai Town to make wine, restoring Moutai's unique "Huisha" winemaking process.
Hua Lianhui's son Hua Zhihong is very business-minded. He used the "Huamao" as the logo to improve the quality of the wine, widely publicized it, and sold the Huamao wine to Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming and other places through his own Wentong Bookstore.
In the era of Hua Wenqu, the grandson of Hua Lianhui, he expanded the scale and equipment of Chengyi Winery, and the annual output reached more than 40,000 jin, reaching the highest record in decades of building the factory.
Lai Mao's history is shorter than that of Wang Mao and Hua Mao, until 1929, when the banker Lai Yongchu and his friend Zhou Bingheng partnered to open the "Hengchang" burning factory. Although Lai Mao started late, he came to the top.
The Lai family has many money and silver trumpets in the Guizhou area, which can be described as a rich party. Before liberation, the Lai family's banks were spread throughout the 5 southwestern provinces and even Hong Kong. Lai Yongchu valued the unique "capital attributes" of liquor preservation and appreciation, and began to operate the liquor business.
In 1941, Lai Yongchu acquired all the shares of Hengchang Yaofang, and Hengchang Yaofang was renamed "Hengxing Yaofang". With strong financial support and the help of advanced management methods in the financial community, Hengxing Yaofang has become one of the famous wineries in Moutai Town. Later, Lai Yongchu pioneered the brand "Lai Mao" with his surname as the brand, and designed the Flying Eagle Brand Lai Mao trademark.
The end of the three shop owners
After the founding of New China, Moutai wine was particularly favored by the state leaders, and played a pivotal role in the diplomatic history of New China, and was revered as the national wine.
Ronghe boss Wang Bingqian, whose family was classified as a landlord component, Wang Bingqian refused to engage in public-private partnerships, and in 1951 was charged with "conspiracy to support the bandit armed rebellion" and shot, Ronghe Burner was confiscated, and it was merged into the Moutai Distillery for 500 yuan. However, the Renhuai County Court of that year ruled that Wang Bingqian's "Wang Mao Burning Factory" should be retained.
Chengyi's boss, Hua Wenqu, sold the burning house "voluntarily" to the new government for 13,000 yuan and became the deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Commerce, but was later overthrown in a political movement and ended in depression in 1979.
Hengxing boss Lai Yongchu disagreed with the public-private partnership, and in 1952 was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "stealing 460,000 yuan worth of national gold", and Hengxing Roasting Factory was taken over and merged into the Moutai Distillery for 25,000 yuan.
The three long-established "burning houses" in Moutai Town have been merged into the state-owned Moutai Distillery.
(Chairman Mao Zedong entertains foreign friends with Moutai wine)
In the 1980s, Moutai Distillery preemptively registered the three trademarks of "Huamao", "Wang Mao" and "Lai Mao", and since then, the true descendants of the three Moutai wines can no longer be touched by the names that their families once founded.
On August 17, 2009, the State Trademark Administration finally ruled that the complaint of Guizhou Moutai Distillery was rejected, and the descendants of "Moutai Predecessor - Wang Mao" owned relevant intellectual property rights and legally enjoyed the honor of the 1915 Panama Gold Award.
In 2013, on the basis of the 1951 Renhuai County Court Judgment and the 2009 State Trademark Administration Ruling, after years of appeal, the descendants of "Wang Mao" finally obtained the approval of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce to establish "Guizhou Wang Mao Wine Co., Ltd." in 2013, thus ending the chaos of many years of counterfeit infringement of "Wang Mao" products. "Guizhou Wangmao Liquor Co., Ltd." is the only legal person who can share the 1915 Panama Gold Medal honor with "National Liquor Moutai".