Jiujing 酒經

There were several books with the title Jiujing 酒經 "Classic of wine", the largest of which is Zhu Yizhong's 朱翼中 Beishan jiujing 北山酒經 from the Song period. Another significant writing is the Jiujing of Su Shi 蘇軾 (Su Dongpo 蘇東坡, 1037-1101).

Su Shi's book is also known as Dongpo Jiujing 東坡酒經. It is only relatively short and speaks of various themes like the production of predried yeast (bing 餅) or fresh ferments (qu 麯), and the process of fermenting wine. It is to be found in the series Shuofu 說郛 (Wanwei Shantang 宛委山堂 edition), Chongding Xinshangbian 重訂欣賞編 and Jiu xiaoshuo 舊小說.

The chapter on wine in the early Qing-period 清 (1644-1911) encyclopaedia Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成 provides a list of early texts on wine, of which the most significant part is lost. These are:

Zhu Yizhong 朱翼中 (jinshi degree 1088), actual name Zhu Hong 朱肱 (Yizhong is his courtesy name), style Dayinweng 大隱翁 or Dayin 大隱, was famous as a physician. Zhu was granted the title of erudite (boshi 博士) by the imperial court and was made a court gentleman for consultation (yilang 議郎). Because he had misused a poem by Su Dongpo, he was exiled to Dazhou 達州 (modern Daxian 達縣, Sichuan). In his later years, he run a wine factory near Hangzhou 杭州, Zhejiang.

The 3-juan-long Jiujing (also known by the title Beishan jiujing 北山酒經) begins with a general introduction into the topic, in which he also clarifies the merits and evils of wine. He says that, in ancient times, people only used wine for sacrifices delivered to Heaven, Earth and the spirits (wei si er yi 惟祀而已), and only later the consumption of wine out of pure enjoyment spread in the world. This part ends with a description of the production of wine and alcoholic beverages. The middle part of the Jiujing is dedicated to producing more than ten kinds of ferments (qu 麴). The last chapter explains concrete matters related to the manufacture of different types of alcoholic beverages.

The author quotes from numerous ancient texts, from the Classic Zhouli 周禮 "Rites of the Zhou" and the chapter Yueling 月令 in the Liji 禮記 "Records of Rites" to the dictionaries Shuowen jiezi 文解字 and Shiming 釋名, and also extending to the agricultural text Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術. He quotes from a pharmacopoeia in which it is said that wine is "sweet but strong; hot; poisonous". "Although it can liberate from sorrows, it can make sick and may cause rotting intestines, festered marrow and ragged muscles."

The Jiujing is the oldest book in which red-fermented rice (hongqu 紅麴) is mentioned. It was manufactured in a process where temperature must be higher than for other ferments. Zhu Yizhong divides ferments into three types, namely "covered ferments" (yanqu 罨麴), "aired ferment" (fengqu 風麴) and "exposed ferments" (qubao 麴{酉+暴}). For the production of "covered ferment", the yeast was enclosed in wheat straw (maijie 麥稭) and turned from time to time. The most crucial production method of covered ferment was called dundici 頓遞祠. For this method, hop (shema 蛇麻) was used. For the production of "aired ferment", leaves or paper were used, and the package was hung up in a place where the air went through. "Exposed ferment" was produced with the help of grass that could be taken off when "hair" had grown.

Each single step of the fermenting process is described, like preparing steep water from wheat and allow it to turn sour (wojiang 卧漿), washing glutinous rice with running water till clean (taomi 淘米), boiling steep water until the right acidity and consistency is obtained (jianjiang 煎漿), soaking cleaned rice in hot steep water for several days (tangmi 湯米), steaming sour rice and spreading it on a table to cool (cheng cumi 蒸醋麋), preparing inoculum with ferment and steamed rice (yongqu 用麴), taking leaven yeast from active fermentation or using predried material (hexiao 合酵), preparing fermenting batch by mixing sour steamed with with malt, yeast and ferment in a jar and layer in some rice steep water (tumi 酴米), steaming clean, prewashed sweet rice and cooking it on a table (cheng ganmi 蒸甜麋), adding additional charged of steamed rice as needed depending on the seasons (touru 投醹), preparing pottery jars by washing and curing with oil (jiuqi 酒器), transferring fermented mash on trough for pressing (shangcao 上槽), draining, pressing and collecting wine in jars (shoujiu 收酒), steaming jars to stabilize the wine and cooling slowly (zhujiu 煮酒), and fire-pressuring wine in a sealed jar (huobi jiu 火迫酒).

From this product, other types of alcoholic beverages might be manufactured, like exposed wine (paojiu 曝酒), white sheep wine (baiyangjiu 白羊酒), earth-yellow wine (dihuangjiu 地黄酒), chrysanthemum wine (juhuajiu 菊花酒), tubaojiu 酴䤖酒, wine from grapes (putaojiu 葡萄酒), "hedgehog" wine (weijiu 猥酒), immortals' wine (shenxianjiu 神仙酒) and cold well wine (lengquanjiu 冷泉酒). The author also provides recipes for many types of wine or beer, with exact quantities of many additives and flavouring substances.

The transmitted version of the Jiujing included an appendix with quotations of Yuan Hongdao's 袁宏道 (1586-1610) Shangzheng 觴政 and Wang Ji's 王績 (585-644) Zuixiangji 醉鄉記. This appendix is left out in the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 version of the Jiujing. The Beishan jiujing is also to be found in the series Zhibuzuzhai congshu 知不足齋叢書, Chengshi congke 程氏叢刻, Sui'an Xushi congshu xubian 隨盫徐氏叢書續編, Xu guyi congshu 續古逸叢書.

Li Bao 李保, also from the Song period, has written the supplement Xu Beishuan jiujing 續北山酒經 with 46 methods of fermenting alcoholic beverages. Still, its scholarly quality does not reach that of Zhu Yizhong's original. It is included in the series Shuofu (Weiwan Shantang 宛委山堂 edition).