Wine and Military
As is of my humble opinion, wine can also be used to inspire soldiers in the course of mobilization. Whether in ancient times or now, wine has been closely connected with war. Before an expedition, soldiers drink wine to bolster morale; having returned triumphantly, soldiers drink wine to celebrate their victory. As Lu Lun writes in a poem, `banquets are thrown in the wilderness, to treat the soldiers who have routed the Qiang people; intoxicated, the soldiers clad in shimmering armors began to...
Wine and Politics
The Confucian theory of 'rule by ritual' has resulted directly in wine's being used as a political drink. Rites must be implemented in political practice; and a state power has to be maintained by two means: one civil and the other martial. As The 13th Year in the Reign of Chenggong in Zuo Zhuan puts it, 'ceremony and war are two maters of vital importance for a nation.' In ancient China, sacrificial ceremonies were exemplary occasions on which emperors reinforced their rule by ritual over...
What Is Wine?
What is wine? To this we can reply without a second thought: an alcoholic beverage fermented of materials containing starch or sugar such as grain and fruits. However, if the question is rephrased in another way- what wine is? - then we will surely have to wrestle over it longer and the answer we provide will certainly be vastly different. Wine is a special thing open to multiple interpretations: First, it is by nature a material, a mixed drink containing such chemical ingredients as acids,...
How to keep comfortable after drinking?
Drunk people may have a headache and feel uncomfortable next day. The reaction is common after people drink white liquor, red wine, Huangjiu, sake, fruit wine or even beer with the low alcohol content. How to keep comfortable after drinking? This is a question worthy of discussion. I think there are mainly two reasons why people feel uncomfortable after drinking. The first one is related to the wine itself, and the other one is related to the way of drinking. First of all, let's talk about the...
How to spread Shaoxing Huangjiu culture?
On the afternoon of November 23rd, I went to Shaoxing People's Hospital to visit Professor Guo Hangyuan, a domestic cardiac and cerebrovascular expert and the dean of Shaoxing People's Hospital. Mr. Guo left a deep impression on me when I was a journalist. He is wise, refined, firm and diligent. He is not only a famous domestic cardiac and cerebrovascular expert, but also a famous humanities scholar. Surprisingly, he is also an expert of Shaoxing Huangjiu. Mr. Guo said that the hospital has...
Why is Huangjiu the "nostalgia wine" of Zhejiang merchants?
In a cold, rainy and red plum-blossom morning, Qian Xiaohua, the chairman of China Shaoxing Yellow Rice Wine Group Co., LTD., and I went to Hangzhou Hupan University to visit Mr. Zheng Yumin, the secretary general of Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce and the former director of Zhejiang Industrial and Commercial Bureau. And Mr. Zheng talked about the promotion of traditional industries, the revitalization of Shaoxing Huangjiu industry, and the spirit of Zhejiang merchants and Huangjiu culture with...
What are differences between Japanese sake and Shaoxing Huangjiu?
Some friends said that Japanese sake comes from Shaoxing Huangjiu. What are differences between the two? From August 21st to August 28th, I had the honor to visit Japan with the delegation during the "Shaoxing week of Japan and South Korea". I visited Gekkeikan Corporation which is one of the three major sake companies in Japan, and communicated with Mr. Miyamoto who is an expert on sake brewing in Japan, to learn the brewing process and the quality of Japanese sake on the spot. Huangjiu is the...
How to build a world wine producing area?
Shaoxing is known as the hometown of Huangjiu. The city has a history of more than 7000 years of wine making. And Huangjiu is recorded officially 2500 years ago. On June 30th, Shaoxing held a forum on revitalizing the development of Huangjiu industry. Song Shuyu, the vice president of China Wine Association, was invited and he made a speech named "Advantages and Opportunities for Shaoxing to Build a World Wine Producing Area". During the forum, I had the honor to interview Mr. song. And he said...
Why is Huangjiu praised as the national wine?
On June 30th, Sun Baoguo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said on the "Forum on Revitalizing the Development of Huangjiu Industry" held in Shaoxing that Huangjiu, with the longest history, deserves to be China's national wine. And Shaoxing should carry forward Huangjiu vigorously. Academician Sun Baoguo is a chemistry expert on food flavor in China. As the president of Beijing Technology and Business University and the vice president of China Food Science and Technology...
Does Wang Yangming drink Huangjiu?
Recently, the Shaoxing Kuaiji Mountain Yangming hotel is setting up and decorating a Huangjiu tasting hall. The hotel invited a professional design company and asked Shaoxing Rice Wine Group to provide relevant Huangjiu materials. The design of Huangjiu tasting hall is very good. And the history of Huangjiu, the ancient brewing techniques and the stories of famous people with Huangjiu are introduced in the hall. In the process of decoration, Mr. Ren Jiandong, the general manager of the hotel,...
Can hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia patients drink Huangjiu?
Hypertension, hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia are common in the obese middle aged and elderly people. A few days ago, Mr. Li, who is engaged in catering business, said that there are many hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia patients nowadays. And he wondered whether they can drink Huangjiu. In response, I consulted Professor Peng Fang, the director of the Department of Cardiology, Shaoxing People's Hospital and a famous doctor of Shaoxing City. He replied that drinking is an art,...
What are the differences between the new version of the national standard of Huangjiu and the old one?
The national standard of Huangjiu (GB/T13662) was formulated in 1992 and has been revised in 2000, 2008 and 2018. The new version of the national standard of Huangjiu which was released on September 17th, 2018, was officially implemented on April 1st, 2019. What are the differences between the new version of the national standard of Huangjiu and the old one? In this regard, we interviewed Zhou Jiandi, the senior engineer of the National Huangjiu Engineering Technology Center, and he analyzed...
How to distinguish high-quality Huangjiu from low-quality Huangjiu?
In the question 18, we talked about Mr. Zhou Shutao. Zhou Shutao, a great collector in the period of the Republic of China, spoke highly of Shaoxing Jiu and believed that Shaoxing Jiu was the best wine in the world (see Zhou Shutao's Wine Tickets). Many friends asked me why Shaoxing Huangjiu is so popular? And How to distinguish high-quality Huangjiu from low-quality Huangjiu? In this regard, I consulted Qian bin, a national brewing master and the director of Gu Yue Long Shan Quality and...
How to translate Shaoxing Huangjiu
There are many translations of [". At the very beginning, [" was translated as Shaoxing yellow wine or Shaoxing rice wine. And it was translated as Shaoxing chiew in the menu of Hong Kong. How to translate ["? We learned that the new national standard of Huangjiu stipulated that [" should be translated as Shaoxing Huangjiu. It is understood that the national standard of Huangjiu (GB/T13662) was formulated in 1992 and has been revised in 2000, 2008 and 2018. The new version of the national...
what is the health care value of Huangjiu?
A few days ago, a friend from Sichuan said that although Sichuan is a famous spirits producing area, he found that there were also some friends who were drinking Huangjiu with the low alcohol content. They said that Huangjiu has the health care value and they felt well after drinking Huangjiu. What is the health care value of Huangjiu? In this regard, I consulted Guo Hangyuan, the president of Shaoxing People's Hospital. He is a famous expert on the cardia-cerebrovascular disease in China. As...
How long does Huangjiu exist?
Huangjiu, as one of the oldest alcoholic beverages in the world, is originated from China and is unique to China. Before then, I wrote an article called [How long does Huangjiu exist?" and expressed that Chinese Huangjiu has a history of six or seven thousand years, which can be proved by wine sets unearthed from the Hemudu Site. And the Hemudu Site is located in the Yue State of the ancient Shaoxing. Therefore, similarly, Shaoxing Huangjiu has a history of six or seven thousand years. However,...
What are the stories about Huangjiu in Shaoxing?
Today, the "Facing the City" team of the CCTV international channel came to Shaoxing. It's quite pleasant to meet my former colleagues. The topic of Shaoxing is definitely Huangjiu. Thus, Let me tell the stories of Shaoxing City and Huangjiu, which are also the concern of the TV audience. We can say that every inch of land in Shaoxing is full of the fragrance of Huangjiu, because the city has been closely connected with Huangjiu since it was built. Let me tell the stories from ancient times to...
How to distinguish the four varieties of Huangjiu?
A few days ago, Mr. Ruan from Shanghai left a message on "Morning Reading of Huangjiu". What is the difference between the four varieties of Huangjiu, namely, Shanniang, Xiangxue, Yuanhong and Jiafan. In this regard, we immediately consulted Qin Bin, the director of the National Huangjiu Engineering Technology Research Center. And he said that Huangjiu can be divided into four varieties according to the sugar content: Dry Huangjiu (Shaoxing Yuanhong Jiu) (sugar content ≤ 15 g/l) Semi-dry...
How to investigate and deal with fake Huangjiu?
Shaoxing Huangjiu represents the national image and embodies the national standards. There was a detailed introduction to the aged wine in the previous [Morning Reading of Huangjiu". One reader left a message after reading the article. He said that there were numerous requirements of the aged wine. However, the market of Huangjiu was disturbed by some illegal enterprises. And some consumers said that there were not only fake Huangjiu, but also many fake trademarks. In this regard, I consulted...
How to determine the age of Huangjiu?
A few days ago, my friend Mr. He said that 500 ml of ten-year-old Huangjiu which was filled in a porcelain bottle only cost 10 Yuan or more in the market. And he thought that the cost of the porcelain bottle was around 10 Yuan. Therefore, he suspected that the Huangjiu was fake. There is a common understanding that the flavor and taste of Huangjiu will be improved as the years roll on. However, apart from aged Huangjiu, there is also aged white spirits and wine. Not long ago, I saw that...
Does Huangjiu have any effect on improving human intestinal health?
A few days ago, Mr. Li, who lives in the Shaoxing city, said that he began to drink Shaoxing Huangjiu three or four months ago and found that the intestinal function had been improved. Mr. Li used to have diarrhea. However, after drinking Shaoxing Huangjiu for three or four months, he found that he was gradually getting well. And he said that drinking Huangjiu everyday may be good for intestinal health. In this regard, I consulted Ms. Zou Huijun, the chief engineer of Gu Yue Long Shan and a...
How long does Shaoxing Huangjiu exist?
A few days ago, a dealer of Shaoxing Huangjiu said that everyone knows that Huangjiu is one of the three ancient wines in the world. However, there are different views about the history of Shaoxing Huangjiu. Some say that Huangjiu has existed for more than 6000 years and some say that Huangjiu has existed for 2500 years. How long does Shaoxing Huangjiu exist? First of all, let`s clarify two concepts. What is Shaoxing wine? What is Shaoxing Huangjiu? In a general sense, Shaoxing wine is the...
why do people call Huangjiu the aged wine?
We always call Huangjiu aged wine in many occasions. Once a friend asked me that why Huangjiu is called aged wine. However, It's rarely used in other kinds of wines. For this question, I consulted the experts of wine culture. It is understood that the aged wine is not an exclusive name of Huangjiu. In fact, it is a general term for the wine with a long storage time. It generally refers to all kinds of aged high-quality wines, including the white spirits, red wine, Huangjiu, wine, sweet wine,...
Only the people who live in the south of the Yangtze love Huangjiu?
In the cold and humid winter in the south of the Yangtze, people will invite a few friends, warm a pot of Huangjiu and enjoy it slowly for an hour. However, some people wondered that if Huangjiu, a product with the humanities complex, is only drunk by people who live in the south of the Yangtze. Perhaps, in some crazy occasions, spirits with the high alcohol content have become the choice of many people. However, with the pursuit of the "healthy and good life", the health Huangjiu with a low...
