Guzhu National Liquor Handmade Brewing Technique (Selected into the first batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage list of Tangshan in 2009) Tangshan Guzhu National Liquor Co., Ltd. is located in the Luanhe Delta, the former site of Guzhu State, and is located in Leting County, Hebei Province, beside the old course of Luanhe River. The territory is the Luanhe alluvial plain, with Yanshan Mountain in the north and Bohai Sea in the south. It has a 102-kilometer coastline. The Luanhe River runs through the north and south. It has a warm temperate coastal semi-humid continental monsoon climate, which is suitable for the growth of a variety of plants and microorganisms. It has been known as the "Yandong Granary" since ancient times, and now it is full of students all over the world. The superior geographical environment, unique biological flora and natural good water have laid a good environmental, material and biological foundation for the excellent quality and unique style of Guzhu National Liquor, and also provided unique natural conditions for the development of Guzhu National Liquor Handmade Brewing Technique. The hand-made brewing technique of Guzhu National Liquor is the essence of the traditional liquor production technology of Tangshan Guzhu National Liquor Co., Ltd. It is a unique hand-made brewing technique of northern strong-flavor liquor and one of the earliest typical representatives of hand-made brewing techniques of liquor in my country. It is a complete hand-made brewing process system of liquor that integrates steaming and mixing, old cellar, Daqu, and multiple rounds of fermentation. The whole production process has more than 40 processes. Its main manifestations are: sensory selection of materials, batching, inspection and control of fermentation environment, manual steamer distillation, wine picking, aging, blending, packaging, etc. The inheritance of hand-made skills depends entirely on the teacher-apprentice relationship, and it takes long-term practical experience to comprehend. It has been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years, all relying on the teacher-apprentice relationship. The hand-made brewing technique of Guzhu National Liquor originated from the ancient Guzhu State and was nurtured in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. After thousands of years of folk creation and development, it has developed into a modern distilled liquor (i.e. liquor) in the Song Dynasty. According to research, the hand-made brewing technique of Guzhu National Liquor was created by the Yang family in Guanxi, the former site of Guzhu State in the early Ming Dynasty. According to the county annals of the Republic of China, "Yang's family is from Guanxi, Shanyou, who moved to Luanzhou, Zhili in the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty. In the early Qing Dynasty, there was a man named Zhirong, whose name was Tinggui. He moved from Yangjiazhuang in Luan to Xinzhai, Leting, and his son Yu's family began to be famous." That is to say, Yang Zhirong is a descendant of the Yang family who moved from Guanxi to Luanzhou, Zhili in the second year of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty, and moved to Xinzhai, Leting County and settled there in the early Qing Dynasty. According to the county annals, in the 12th year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1748), Yang Zhirong, the great-grandson of Xinzhai Yang, Yang Derun, passed the military examination and was appointed as the imperial guard of Emperor Qianlong. According to legend, in 1755, Yang Derun accompanied Emperor Qianlong to visit the former site of Guzhu State in the lower reaches of the Luan River. Qianlong watched Leting shadow puppets and tasted Yang's Shaoguo Liquor, praising "the wine is fragrant and the people are more virtuous". He immediately selected Fuquan Shaoguo Liquor to worship the two sages of Guzhu State, Boyi and Shuqi, and wrote the eternal quatrain "Luanshui River winds around the island, and the towering platform is a hundred feet high and rests on the clear stream. The ancient sound of the tall pines brushes the clothes and falls, and I am happy to sing with the predecessors." From then on, Fuquan Shaoguo became famous, and Guzhu State Liquor got its name. After Yang Zhirong moved to Xinzhai, Leting, he inherited the winemaking skills of the Yang family and built Yang's Fuquan Shaoguo during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty (1728). By 1898, it was passed down to the eighth-generation descendant Yang Rongxing (the seventh-generation heir). The Yang family operated the company for 218 years until 1946, when the Supply Department of the 13th Military Division of Jidong of the Chinese People's Liberation Army took over and established Fuquan Liquor Company. Since then, the family inheritance has been broken. After nine factory directors, three generations of brewing technicians (i.e. inheritors) and fourteen name changes, it was restructured and established Tangshan Guzhu National Liquor Co., Ltd. in 2000. The original Yang's Fuquan Distillery was located in the courtyard of Guzhu National Liquor Co., Ltd. The old site was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Only the original cultural relics such as Fuquan Well, gate stone pier, safe, stone mill, porcelain and wooden wine vessels and some related text materials are still available. The hand-made brewing technique of Guzhu National Liquor has typical uniqueness and distinct local characteristics. It is the crystallization of the wisdom of the long-term exploration and practice of the working people in northern my country. Guzhu National Liquor Culture is an important part of Guzhu National Culture. It played an important historical role in the integration of the Central Plains culture of the Shang and Zhou dynasties into the cultures of the northern ethnic groups, accelerating the formation of the Chinese Han culture, especially in the political, economic and cultural development of the eastern Hebei and western Liaoning regions. It showcases the northern ethnic wine culture style, reflects the outstanding creativity of the Chinese nation and the continuity of the history of winemaking civilization, and is a witness to the long history of winemaking in my country. Researching, protecting and inheriting this intangible cultural heritage has important historical significance and practical value. Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government Information source: Tangshan Municipal People's Government