Chapter 15 Chapter Five Achievements of Ancient Chinese Brewing Chemistry

There are many legends about the origin of wine making in our country since ancient times.Some say that it was a man named Yidi who invented wine during Xia Yu’s time. And Ganzhi." Some people say that a man named Du Kang or Shaokang first made wine.For example, the book "Shiben" in the Warring States Period said: "Shaokang made rice wine." It is also said that he is the fifth generation grandson of Xia Yu.Leaving aside for the time being the age at which winemaking began in our country, it would be inappropriate to attribute the invention of this art to the wisdom of a single individual.In order to clarify this issue, we must first explain the chemical process of wine formation.Alcohol is an ethanol-containing beverage. Under ancient conditions, ethanol was oxidized by certain sugar compounds under the action of alcoholic enzymes (enzymes) secreted by yeast.Sugars (or carbohydrates) include simple sugars such as starch and maltose, sucrose, glucose, and fructose.But only those simple sugars can be converted into ethanol under the action of yeast, starch cannot.So grain cannot be directly fermented into wine.But when grains (such as wheat, corn, rice) germinate due to moisture, the grain buds will spontaneously secrete a glucoamylase, which hydrolyzes the starch in the grains into maltose, which is used as nutrition for its growth and rooting.Once maltose is produced, it will produce wine when it contacts with yeast floating in the air.We can imagine that ancient humans gradually started agriculture and harvested grains, but at that time it was impossible to have a good barn, and there were no strict grain storage containers. As often happens, this will give ancient ancestors the opportunity to taste the sweetness of malt sugar and the aroma of alcohol.Then it will be concluded that malted grains are used as raw materials for conscious winemaking.This germinated and saccharified grain is called "糵" in ancient Chinese books.Therefore, brewing wine with glutinous rice dumplings is the origin and earliest method of grain wine, but its appearance is a natural process, and it will not be invented by anyone.

In view of the fact that agriculture has emerged in many places in the late Neolithic Age in our country, for example, stone sickles and clam sickles have been unearthed in many sites of the Longshan Culture (such as Longshan, Digou, and Chengziya in Shandong).Moreover, a considerable number of pottery wine vessels have been found in the ruins of this period.Therefore, some people think that winemaking was initiated in my country before the Longshan culture period, and that by the Xia Dynasty, it had already had certain experience and scale. This estimate is probably not bad. In the early stage of wine making in our country, there is another remarkable invention, which is to use germinated and moldy grains as primers to catalyze steamed or cracked grains to turn them into wine.This germinated and moldy grain is called "? (qu) 糵" in ancient Chinese books.The principle of this brewing process is roughly like this: once the germinated grains come into contact with the spores of the fungus called mucormycetes floating in the air, filamentous mucormycetes will be formed on them, and the mucormycetes can secrete saccharification In addition, moldy grains always grow yeasts at the same time, so "koji" has comprehensive functions to promote the transformation of grains into wine, that is to say, wine will be produced from germinated moldy grains when soaked in water.It can be conceived that the experience of making wine with tillers and wine with rice tillers may have been obtained at about the same time, but the saccharifying enzymes secreted by various Aspergillus species are far better at saccharification of starch than malt enzymes, so the winemaking efficiency of rice barley is relatively high. high.People use rice tillers to make wine. After a period of experience summarization, they will understand: as long as the grains are boiled and placed in the air, when the environment is right, they can become moldy and "koji" without germination first, and can be used directly. Come brew.In the Jin Dynasty, a scholar Jiang Tong wrote an article "Jiugao", discussing the origin of wine, he said: "The rise of wine originated from the emperor,...there is no end to the food, the leftovers are empty, and the smoldering is formed. Taste, long-term storage of fragrance, originates from this, can not help but strange recipe." That is to say, if the cooked grains are not eaten, they are discarded in the wild, and they will naturally mold and ferment into wine.This statement accurately describes the origin of making wine with koji.Since then, it has gradually developed to the step-by-step process of koji making and wine making with koji as an introduction.Facts have proved that making wine with koji as a primer is much more efficient and simpler than making wine with glutinous rice dumplings.Therefore, the invention of koji has greatly promoted the development of brewing technology, and it is a major breakthrough in the history of Chinese brewing.From then on, the development and improvement of distiller's yeast has become the most important link in the brewing technology.Historians of science estimate that Chinese distiller's yeast was invented around the early Shang Dynasty.However, people got used to it, and for a long time later, they still referred to the wine koji as koji.

During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, drinking was very popular.Many drinking vessels and wine storage vessels have been unearthed from Yin Ruins, some made of pottery and bronze, such as jue, jia (jiajia), zun, 盉 (hehe), you (youyou), Gong (gong) Gong], goblet [gugu], etc., are mostly very delicately made.Oracle bone inscriptions and Zhong Ding inscriptions have the characters for wine and chang [chang] at that time, and the current character for "wine" is gradually developed from the pictographic characters of the simplest wine vessel (that is, Gong, which uses animal horns as a wine vessel) at that time. evolved.It is said that the emperors, nobles, and slave owners of the Yin and Shang Dynasties were extremely licentious and alcoholic. King Zhou died of alcoholism and misconduct, so Duke Zhou repeatedly warned his descendants not to follow in his footsteps.In the Yin Dynasty, there were only two kinds of wine, one was called "Li", which was brewed with glutinous rice cakes. The ethanol content was not high, and it was rich in maltose, so the taste was sweeter. The other is called "鬯", which uses black millet as raw material, adds spices, and uses koji to brew fragrant wine, which is probably mainly used in sacrifices.

In the Zhou Dynasty, a wealth of winemaking experience had been summed up, and a complete set of winemaking technical regulations had been established. "Zhou Li·Tianguan Zhongzai" records: In the Zhou Dynasty, there was a "wine officer" in the court, which was in charge of the decree of wine making. There were "big chiefs" who were in charge of various matters of wine making; "Book of Rites · Moon Order" describes the seven main links that the chieftain must be responsible for supervising when brewing wine in midwinter: "Shu Dao must be prepared" (preparation of raw materials for wine making), "Qu Tier must be ready" (timely preparation of distiller's yeast) , "Zhanchi must be clean" (cleaning wine-making raw materials and utensils), "Shuiquan must be fragrant" (select pure and mellow spring water), "pottery must be good", "fire must be good" (heating is appropriate), "combined with six things "(Choose a variety of vanilla), which shows that the experience is quite complete.At that time, there were two ways to eat wine, one was to eat wine pulp and distiller's grains together, this kind of wine was called "mash glutinous rice", just like today's "wine niang" in Jiangnan, which probably belonged to sweet wine; Squeeze out the distiller's grains, and only drink the wine pulp. This kind of wine is called "湑" [xu Xu], just like today's rice wine.

The earliest record of Chinese music-making technology in ancient times can be seen in "Southern Vegetables and Trees" written by Ji Kang of the Jin Dynasty, which records the "Caoqu" of Guangdong and Guangxi.The production method is to mix rice noodles with various grass leaves, stir with kudzu (legume) juice and rice washing water, knead into a ball, put it in basil, and place it in a shaded place for more than a month.It is used to make glutinous rice wine.During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Jia Sixie, a native of Yidu, Shandong, and Gaoyang prefect of the Northern Wei Dynasty, wrote "Qimin Yaoshu", which is the earliest and most complete agricultural encyclopedia in my country, including agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, food processing, etc. , four of which are dedicated to wine making, recording a total of 12 kinds of koji making methods in the north at that time, including five kinds of "Divine Comedy" for wine making, one each of "White Mash Qu" and "Nvqu", and three kinds of "Benqu" .He divided the koji into these three grades according to the brewing efficiency.They are rice wine koji made from wheat. "Divine Comedy" has the highest efficiency, and one bucket can "kill rice" (saccharify and wine the raw material wheat), ranging from one stone to eight buckets to as many as four stones.The book has made a very detailed description of the production methods of these wine koji.Jia Sixie also summarized the main conditions of winemaking, such as raw materials for winemaking, pretreatment of raw materials, control of brewing temperature, water quality and ratio of raw materials to water, etc.It is emphasized that the raw materials should be cleaned ("If the rice is not clean, the color of the wine will be heavy"); when brewing, raw materials should be added in batches and fermented step by step to control the temperature of fermentation, especially when the fermentation heat is high. Stretch out the mash; use river water with stable veins as the first water for brewing, followed by sweet well water, and avoid using alkaline water; the ratio of raw materials to water must be determined according to the quality of the koji.He had learned that too high a fermentation temperature made the wine sour.It can be seen that 1400 years ago, my country's koji-making method and wine-making technology had a very rich experience and a very high level.In addition, Zhu Gong, a native of the Song Dynasty, wrote a "Beishan Wine Classic", the second and third volumes of which are dedicated to introducing the southern music-making and wine-making methods.It records the preparation methods of 13 kinds of music.The first type is called "罨 [yan eye] song", which is to put raw koji in the pile of wheat straw and turn it regularly; the second type is called "fengqu", which is to wrap raw koji with leaves or paper and hang it in a ventilated place. The third category is called "Song Qu", which is to put the raw koji balls in the grass first, and then remove the grass cover after the moldy mildew grows.These kojis are made of wheat flour, japonica rice, and glutinous rice, and are mixed with some herbs, such as Chuanxiong, Atractylodes macrocephala, Guangui, pepper, melon pedicle, etc., which can adjust the flavor of the wine.

Before the Han Dynasty, my country did not seem to use fruit to make wine.Of course, after the wild fruit falls to the ground, it is easy to ferment into wine, because yeasts are generally attached to the peel, and they multiply in the juice, which will promote the conversion of glucose and fructose into ethanol; It is easy to become wine.However, before the Han Dynasty in our country, there was no record of this aspect.The legend of apes brewing wine was mentioned in the later notebook novels, which is obviously inaccurate.Of course, it is natural for monkeys to taste wine-flavored fruits in the wild before humans.

Winemaking from grapes is relatively easy and can also be fermented naturally.Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire are the birthplaces of wine, and they have always been famous far and near, enjoying a high reputation; Central Asia and West Asia also have a long history of brewing wine.According to the "Book of Han", it was Zhang Qian who was sent to the Western Regions during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and brought back grape seeds and wine from Dawan (now the Fergana Basin of Central Asia).Of course, a book written in the Eastern Han Dynasty mentioned that "grapes...can be made into wine and grow into valleys".But it only said that it could be used as wine, but it didn't clarify whether it was based on the wine imported from Yumen Pass, or whether it meant that the Chinese nation had already started to brew wine at this time.So it can only be said that grapes were known to make wine at that time.In the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Pi, Emperor Wen of Wei, wrote a letter to Wu Jian: "Grapes are made into wine, sweeter (that is, sweeter) than koji, good at getting drunk and easy to wake up." Probably at that time, people in the Central Plains really Wine is being made, but it's still not widespread, and it doesn't necessarily taste good.Until Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, a fine variety of horse milk grape was transplanted from Gaochang (today's east of Turpan, Xinjiang), and the brewing method of the Western Regions was directly absorbed, so the wine with "strong aroma and strong taste" was brewed.Since then, fine wine has become popular in the Central Plains.

The concentration of ethanol in the brewed wine will not be too high, because when the concentration of ethanol in the wine exceeds 10%, the activity of the yeast will be inhibited, and the fermentation will stop.Strong alcohol must be obtained through the process of distillation.So the emergence of distilled wine is another leap in the history of wine making progress.When did our country start to manufacture distilled spirits? It has always been a question of great interest to the field of history of science, but there is still no consensus on it.According to the information currently available, among the opinions, it seems more secure to think that it came from the Song Dynasty.In "Wu Shi Xiang Gan Zhi" written by Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, there is a saying that "the flame in the wine is blown with a green cloth, and it will extinguish itself", this kind of flammable wine should be a kind of distilled wine; Song Ci, a forensic scientist in the Southern Song Dynasty "Xie Yuanlu" said: When a poisonous snake bites a person, it can make people swallow shochu and suck the wound to absorb the poison. This sterilizable shochu seems to be distilled wine; The copper-bodied still pot is estimated to be used for steaming wine.But while distilled alcohol may have been available in the Song Dynasty, it was certainly still very rare.Even in the late Ming Dynasty, Song Yingxing did not mention distilled alcohol in "Heavenly Creations".Although Li Shizhen mentioned a kind of shochu called "Alaji wine", it was a kind of wine introduced to my country from Southeast Asia in the Yuan Dynasty, and it was brewed from palm juice and rice.Li Shizhen only said that his distillation method is to "put strong wine and grains into a retort, steam it up, and use a vessel to bear dew".But this is the experience passed on, but he did not mention the distillation device designed by our country.After the Qing Dynasty, it became more common for folk distilleries in my country to adopt distillation techniques.Figure 5-1 is a kind of alcohol distilling device commonly used in the north and south of the Yangtze River since the Ming and Qing Dynasties in my country drawn by Mr. Fang Xinfang, a famous microbiologist in my country, after referring to the literature records and after repeated scrutiny.

In ancient my country, there is another proud achievement in music making technology, that is, the cultivation of red yeast rice.It is also called Danqu, which is produced by the red rice mold on indica rice, and grows through the inside and outside of the rice grain.Because it reproduces very slowly, it is easily suppressed by other molds with strong vitality and rapid reproduction in nature, so this kind of koji is not easy to make and difficult to find.Even if it is discovered, it is often thought that the composition has failed because of "not knowing the goods".However, because it is a high-temperature acidophilic bacterium, at higher temperatures, especially on rancid rice, most other fungi are inhibited, but its advantages are revealed.Therefore, the successful cultivation of red mold koji must be the result of Qu Gong's long-term patient observation and summing up experience. "Tiangong Kaiwu" has very detailed records on the production of red yeast rice.From its description, it can be seen that when making red yeast rice in the Ming Dynasty, Qu Gong also added acidic alum water to the rice to facilitate the growth of red mold, which shows how rich their experience is.There are many uses of red yeast rice. In addition to brewing red wine, the greater use is as a food preservative. Applying red yeast rice on fish and meat will keep the flavor unchanged even in the heat of summer, and maggots and flies will not dare to approach it. Because red rice mold can secrete antibiotics with strong bactericidal effect.So Song Yingxing said it was a "wonderful medicine", and Li Shizhen said "this is the coincidence of looking at nature".It is also an ideal food coloring agent, which is non-toxic and bright, and red fermented bean curd is colored with it.Red yeast rice is also a very good medicine. Li Shizhen has pointed out that it can treat red and white dysentery, bruises, digestion and blood circulation, and invigorate the spleen and dry the stomach.In the "Qing Yi Lu" written by Tao Gu in the early Northern Song Dynasty, "cooking meat with red yeast rice" has been mentioned. It can be seen that my country's successful production of red yeast rice was before the Song Dynasty.