Red Rice Alcohol in Southern China: Two Ways of Traditional Brewing and Their Implications for Archaeological Research

Abstract

ABSTRACT China has a long history of making alcohol using different cereals. Recent archaeological studies demonstrate that people began producing hongqujiu (red rice alcohol) in the early Neolithic. However, because this product is produced and consumed in limited areas today, there is limited information about how it is made. This article reports ethnographic observations of the process of making hongqujiu in two villages in Zhejiang Province, China, where local people practice two different brewing methods–wet and dry. Samples from an abandoned jiugang vat, used in the production of red rice alcohol by a local villager, were studied microscopically to provide reference data on starches, fungi, and other microresidues. By providing reference information on the traditional alcohol-making processes, circumstances of consumption, and morphological changes of starch and fungal elements, this study will improve our understanding of alcohol making and consuming practices in archaeological contexts in China and beyond.