A rice wine for every occasion in the village of Zhixi Of all the Hakka cultural staples—architecture, music, cuisine—perhaps the most influential is rice wine. For the Hakka people, homemade rice wine is a test of a housewife’s skill; it is said that you can tell how a woman runs her household by the taste of her wine. So sacred is the process and product that a Hakka saying goes: “No one dares claim mastery of brewing rice wine or grinding tofu (蒸酒磨豆腐, 唔敢逞师傅).”
The water used for washing the rice comes from the old wells in the village, giving the wine that special, local touchIf you want a deep understanding of rice wine, there is no better place than Zhixi village (芷溪村) in the south of Liancheng county (连城) in Fujian province. Zhixi’s basin terrain makes a natural wine cellar. The rich rain and fertile land yields high-quality sticky rice and the old wells provide clear, sweet water. Home to the Hakka people for hundreds of years, this small village holds a little over 10,000 residents as well as a large number of ancient temples and traditional dwellings from the Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing (1616 – 1911) dynasties, earning the name “Hakka’s Great Old Mansions” for its rich architectural heritage. On these ancient streets, rice wine shops are found every few meters, part of life in Zhixi for nearly six centuries.
Even with the conveniences of modernity, rice wine is still made in the traditional manner and with great care
It would be inaccurate to say rice wine merely follows Hakka people from cradle to grave; it starts at conception. When women get pregnant, they make “yuezi wine”; after a baby is born, “birth wine” is made; and when the baby reaches one month of age, “full month wine” is set and the “full year wine” is prepared for their first birthday. Engagement and wedding wines are necessary for a happy marriage. Then, you have your “housewarming wine” and “promotion wine,” as well as a “university wine.” In your waning years, the birthdays of the elderly are met with—you guessed it—more rice wine. A wooden rather than metal steamer is used to give the wine its distinctive fragrance
As ever, wine means stories. Despite its rural nature, the area has birthed many famous scholars. In the Qing dynasty, a local Yang family had scholars arise for seven consecutive generations. The family even had an uncle and a nephew pass the provincial civic and military imperial examination in the same year. On this rare occasion, celebrities of the age visited the Yang family. Not expecting such an onslaught of guests, the Yangs couldn’t find enough food to serve them, so they brought out their freshly brewed rice wine. The wine was so favored that the guests supposedly commented: “Ten thousand types of wine can’t compare with a cup of this rice wine.” Local wine makers pound yeast by hand during the fermentation process
Today, the village has developed, but the art of wine-making hasn’t changed much. People still brew rice wine with natural materials and simple utensils. Many visitors seek the well-preserved historical sites as well as the aroma of the handcrafted rice wine. To the villagers, it has been and always will be the smell of home.
When the rice is 90 percent cooked, it is sprinkled with cold water from the village wells
The pounded yeast is mixed with the cooked rice and put into a wine jar to ferment When the process is at an end, the wine is poured into containers and stored for special occasions Zhixi villagers still use traditional methods to sterilize the wine, boiling the liquid at 85 degrees Celsius
Finally, after a long process of straining, brewing, pouring, and mixing, the wine can be enjoyed by all
Photography by Yang Tianxin (杨天鑫)
“Wine with the Hakka” is a story from our magazine issue, “Mental Health.” Press and hold down the QR codes below to access our WeChat store and become a subscriber!
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