Home> News> Is the success of Huangjiu in China mainly credited to Shaoxing private advisers? (2)
March 08, 2021

Is the success of Huangjiu in China mainly credited to Shaoxing private advisers? (2)

When the Ming Dynasty started, the new country had a task of rebuilding. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to abolish all government institutions in the Mongol-Yuan Period and replace them with government institutions controlled by Han officials. He was bound to establish a huge political entity, which required a large number of scholars. Therefore, scholars in Shaoxing who did not get an official title regarded the career of assisting chief executives in government departments at all levels as their second official career, which once became an ideal job for Shaoxing scholars.

Although Shaoxing private advisers did not have prominent titles, they had real power. Many things that were inconvenient for the officers were done by them. Therefore, they became the middle men in communication with businessmen and gentry. They were in a favorable position and could contact various people. Therefore, they had a lot of useful information. Shaoxing Wine merchants, tea merchants, salt merchants and other merchants could communicate with various departments through their fellow Shaoxing private advisers when they encountered difficulties in customs, transportation, trade and other aspects.

After the Ming Dynasty, Manchu were foreigners and they needed native scholars to take on important administrative positions in local government offices. Therefore, there were more private advisers. In the Qing Dynasty, all governors employed private advisers. And private advisers usually came from eight counties in Shaoxing, so they were also called "Shaoxing private advisers". Later, "Shaoxing private advisers" became another name for private advisers. Most Shaoxing private advisers were used to drinking their hometown wine. When they wanted to communicate with officials at all levels, the famous Shaoxing Aged Wine is the most ideal gift.

Wang Shixing, a Linhai native of the Ming Dynasty, has a statement about Shaoxing private advisers in his book Guangzhi: "Shaoxing people were responsible for the nine senior official positions of the central government and the unimportant idle official positions", which confirms the saying that "without Shaoxing private advisers, there would be no government". Xu Wei, Shen Wenkui and Wu Sidao were famous Shaoxing private advisers in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. They played an important role in the development of local culture and economy, and played a positive role in promoting Shaoxing Huangjiu.

Share to:

LET'S GET IN TOUCH

We will contact you immediately

Fill in more information so that we can get in touch with you faster

Privacy statement: Your privacy is very important to Us. Our company promises not to disclose your personal information to any external company with out your explicit permission.

Send