Xian Shi Soy Sauce Brewing Workshop Complex

Xianshi Soy Sauce Brewing Workshop Complex

The Xianshi Soy Sauce Brewing Workshop Complex is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located in Xianshi Town, Hejiang County, Luzhou City, at the convergence of southern Sichuan and northern Guizhou along the Chishui River, the Xianshi Brewing Food Co., Ltd. (originating from the century-old "Jianghanyuan" soy sauce workshop established in 1893) practices the traditional Xianshi soy sauce brewing technique, which is recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The century-old workshop and sun-drying fermentation vats are Key Cultural Relics Protected at the Provincial Level in Sichuan Province.

It is understood that the raw materials for Xianshi soy sauce brewing are soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. Locally traditionally grown soybeans and wheat have long growth cycles, plump grains, high protein content, and high oil yield. The groundwater by the Chishui River is clear and cool, rich in a variety of trace elements beneficial to human health and natural minerals such as metasilicic acid, providing an excellent material foundation for brewing high-quality soy sauce.

Ma Chao, the inheritor of the traditional Xianshi soy sauce brewing technique, introduced that this traditional method inherits and promotes the classic ancient rules, norms, and generations-passed-down manual brewing skills of traditional Chinese soy sauce production. It mainly includes: whole soybean steaming and stewing, natural wild microbial koji-making, long-cycle sun-drying fermentation, natural leaching method for oil extraction, and sun exposure to concentrate the oil.

In 2014, the traditional Xianshi soy sauce brewing technique was included in the Representative List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the State Council.

On October 7, 2019, the Xianshi Soy Sauce Brewing Workshop Complex was selected for the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Scope of Protection: extending northeast to the Chishui River bank, southwest outward by 20 meters, southeast and northwest to the surrounding walls.

Construction Control Zone: extending 10 meters beyond the protective boundary.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Key Cultural Relics Protection Units in Sichuan Province

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units