Zhenxiong Cili Wine

Zhenxiong Cili Wine

　　Cili — A deciduous shrub about two feet tall, with thorny branches and fruits. Its leaves are oval-shaped, opposite each other, and have serrated edges. It blooms yellow flowers in spring, and its fruits also turn yellow when ripe in autumn. The fruits are large, sweet, and thick-fleshed. According to tests, the vitamin C content of fresh cili fruit is about 50 times that of sweet oranges, 10 times that of kiwis, and 5 times that of pears and apples. In the early 1940s, the famous chemist and nutritionist Luo Dengyi experimentally proved that besides being rich in vitamin C, cili is also abundant in vitamin E. As for its medicinal value, Li Shizhen recorded in the *Compendium of Materia Medica* that it "can relieve depression and dissolve food stagnation." From a modern medical perspective, cili has preventive and therapeutic effects on diseases or symptoms caused by deficiencies in vitamins C and E.

　　 　　According to the *Dading Prefecture Annals* and the *Zhenxiong Prefecture Annals*, brewing wine with cili has a history of over a thousand years in Zhenxiong. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the *Bamboo Branch Lyrics* widely circulated in the Mangbu and Shuixi areas described: "Pointed shoes with delicate floral trim, visiting the neighbor to call the maiden out. Half a mile away, umbrellas like clouds, parasols like cover, carrying baskets and bringing wine to send off the bride." — This depicts the scene of the Miao people living in Mangbu and Shuixi inviting their female friends, carrying sunshades and cili wine to accompany the bride. This highly distinctive local and ethnic folk custom could still be commonly seen in areas like today’s Zhenxiong and Weixin as late as the 1950s.

　　 　　The brewing of Zhenxiong Cili Wine mainly uses cili, glutinous rice, rock sugar, and fresh pork lard as key ingredients, supplemented by specially made fermentation starters. Following the unique traditional process historically formed in Mangbu, the wine is then stored in specially made earthenware containers in constant-temperature cellars. The aging period is generally three years, or at least more than one year. When the time comes to unseal the cellar and retrieve the wine, it appears brownish-red and emits an enticing, rich fragrance. Regular moderate consumption has health benefits such as clearing heat, promoting urination, aiding digestion, invigorating the stomach, dispersing stasis, and regulating qi. Since it also contains the active substance superoxide dismutase, it can help prevent cancer and combat aging.

　　 　　As far back as the Ming and Qing dynasties, Zhenxiong Cili Wine was quite famous. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi periods, Chen Weizhou, a native of Zhenxiong who served as Vice Minister of Personnel, often transported the cili wine he brewed in Zhenxiong Prefecture to his private residence in Beijing to entertain nobles and ministers of the Qing royal family. These connoisseurs, accustomed to tasting fine wines, were also deeply enamored with Zhenxiong Cili Wine, praising it endlessly and often making excuses to visit and “cadge” a drink. This became a well-known anecdote at the time. After the 1950s, wild cili resources were damaged, and cili wine has remained at the stage of homemade self-sufficiency to this day.