Laolongkou---Jiuqiang: Jiuqiang

Author: Zou Changshun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-08-01
Features: During the Kangxi era, Zong Minjing, the owner of a liquor workshop in Taiyu County, Shanxi, faced the challenge of drought and lack of grain for brewing. He came to Shengjing, the birthplace of the Qing Dynasty, to resume his old business and established the Yilongquan Liquor Workshop. Thanks to the mellow, sweet, and lingering flavor of the wine he brewed, he won the admiration of Qing officials. In the 45th year of the Kangxi reign, Emperor Xuanye visited Shengjing to pay homage to the founding emperors. After tasting the wine, he greatly praised it and issued an imperial decree, proclaiming Yilongquan Liquor as the imperial tribute wine. He also personally inscribed the signboard for Zong Minjing's tavern—Yilongquan Tavern. Zong Minjing's success was not without challenges. He abandoned his family and left for twenty years, experiencing love and hatred for most of his life, and engaged in business struggles for decades. These trials honed his unyielding character, leaving everyone in awe.
The work takes the unique Qing Dynasty liquor culture as its main thread, vividly portrays Zong Minjing's life intertwined with sweetness, bitterness, sorrow, and joy, and tells the legendary story of Zong Minjing. The plot is full of twists and turns, deeply moving, and incorporates poems praising wine by famous figures throughout the dynasties, seamlessly blending them into the story. With its fluent language, it presents itself to readers in a perfectly fitting manner.