Xiecun Yellow Wine

Xiecun Yellow Wine

　　　　Xiecun Yellow Wine is produced in Xiecun Town, Yang County, Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province. According to an old county chronicle: “The people of Yang enjoy good food and drink. Those in the flatlands often brew yellow wine from glutinous rice, and small village shops either open taverns or carry the wine around to sell in the village—both men and women buy it.” This shows that the people of Yang County have loved drinking yellow wine since ancient times. As early as 3,000 years ago, the area was already capable of producing and consuming something similar to yellow wine.

　　　　Xiecun Yellow Wine is as renowned as Shaoxing Wine. It is said, “In the south there is Shaoxing’s Jiāfàn wine, in the north there is Xiecun Yellow Wine.” This accolade came about when both Xiecun Yellow Wine and Shaoxing Wine won top honors at China’s first Yellow Wine Festival held in Shanghai. Different festivals feature different kinds of yellow wine. There’s New Year’s welcoming spring wine to ward off the cold, Dragon Boat Festival mugwort wine to beat the heat, Mid-Autumn Osmanthus wine to warm the body, Double Ninth Chrysanthemum wine for richness, and even Wintergreen Yellow Wine, which requires frost-bitten wintergreen seeds as medicine for fermentation, yielding a purplish-blue color and richly fragrant taste—it was once an imperial tribute. Many families have their own secret brewing recipes, giving each brew its own distinctive character. “No festival is complete without wine” is how the people of Xiecun Town proudly speak of their yellow wine; “To visit Yangzhou without tasting Xiecun Wine is to go there in vain,” is how outsiders praise it.

　　　Yellow wine is one of the world’s three ancient wines and a national treasure accumulated over millennia of Chinese culture. Historical records and unearthed relics show it has a history of over 3,000 years, with brewing dating back to the Shang Dynasty in the 14th century BC. By the Tang Dynasty, it was famous in the capital Chang’an and listed as an “imperial tribute.” Poets and scholars of all dynasties often praised Xiecun Yellow Wine in verse: “This wine should only be had by royalty, even Heaven’s Jade Pool could not match its measure.” (Emperor Dezong of Tang, Li Kuo); “I’ve heard the ponds and pavilions here rival those of the Two Rivers, I must drink deeply to answer such splendor—urge you to pick long-grain rice aplenty, to drain the myriad springs of this pavilion.” (Song Dynasty, Su Shi). Legend has it that during the Jianzhong era of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Dezong Li Kuo, while fleeing hardship, passed through Xiecun in Yangzhou, took a sip of this wine, and turned misfortune into fortune. During the “Gengzi Incident” in the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi’an with her son, and local officials from Yang County along with the wealthy Liu family of Xiecun presented Xiecun Yellow Wine, which greatly pleased the Empress Dowager. In addition, the great Song Dynasty painter Wen Tong, as well as the eminent poets Su Shi and his brother Su Zhe, once stayed as guests in the wine country of Yangzhou, drunkenly putting brush to paper and leaving behind timeless literature. Looking back on history, it can truly be said: “Xiecun Yellow Wine, a timeless elegance.”

　　On the day Wen Tong assumed office as Prefect of Yangzhou, the courtyard in front of the yamen was packed with people. Elders and townsfolk wanted to see the grandeur of the new magistrate holding court, while literati and artists hoped to witness his painting skills. At that moment, the former prefect seized the opportunity to curry favor by hosting a lavish banquet to welcome Wen Tong, even specially inviting a Han opera troupe from Nanzheng. But Wen Tong had no interest in official duties—he ignored performances, declined banquets, and often strolled along the banks of the Han River, admiring the lush groves, tall bamboos, and clear, rushing waters, pouring his heart into the landscape.

　　Wen Tong’s ink bamboo paintings were already widely celebrated. After arriving in Yangzhou, wealthy gentry often brought silk and asked for his paintings, but he always turned them away. One day, while out inspecting, he passed by a yellow wine workshop in Xiecun Town. An elderly man with snow-white hair nodded and smiled at him, warmly inviting him inside for a drink. In conversation, Wen Tong learned the old man made a living by brewing wine, but because his workshop was located in a remote alley, sales had always been poor, making life very hard.

　　After drinking a cup of yellow wine, Wen Tong felt instantly refreshed and clear-minded. He then ordered his attendants to bring writing materials, and with a few deft strokes of ink and wash, he completed an ink bamboo painting.

　　As fate would have it, just as Wen Tong was signing the painting, his cousin Su Dongpo also arrived at the Xiecun yellow wine workshop. While sipping wine, Su Dongpo exclaimed, “A masterpiece, a masterpiece!” Then, taking up the brush, he painted a yellow ox in the lower right corner of the ink bamboo painting and composed a seven-character quatrain:

　　Han River’s slender bamboos are cheap as thatch,

　　Yet axes never spare the tender shoots;

　　No doubt the frugal magistrate is maligned,

　　For a thousand acres of bamboo lie within his breast.

　　The story spread rapidly, from one person to ten, then to a hundred. Before long, everyone in the three counties of Yangzhou knew that Wen Tong and Su Dongpo had composed poetry and painted for Xiecun Yellow Wine. People flocked to see it. The place became bustling with visitors, business thrived, and soon Xiecun Yellow Wine gained great fame across East Sichuan

　　(the ancient name for the Hanzhong region). From then on, the workshop owner hung this literary painting prominently in the central hall to attract customers. But at some point, the painting disappeared.

　　Strangely enough, during a 1960 cultural relics survey, the ink bamboo and yellow ox painting was discovered on the wall of the 48th temple, ten li north of Xiecun Town, on Daye Mountain. The Yangxian County Cultural Center mounted and framed this precious artwork for public viewing.