Wuliangye History

From Tang Dynasty to the modern age, Wuliangye represents the Chinese traditional craftmanship, history and culture.

In the first year of Yongtai of the Tang Dynasty (765 A.D.), the famous poet Du Fu was greeted with a special liquor by the local government when he arrived at Rongzhou (today’s Yibin) by a boat. Inspired by the beautiful liquor, he wrote a poem titled Poem for East Tower, which expressed the praise for this predecessor of Wuliangye liquor. It became well-known nationwide after Du Fu’s departure and was then named “Liquor of the County”.

In the Song Dynasty (960 A.D. to 1279 A.D.), gentleman Yao Junyu in Yibin made the successor of Wuliangye - “Yaozixue Liquor” by mixing corn, sorghum, rice, glutinous rice and wheat. In 1098 A.D., the famous poet Huang Tingjian wrote 17 poems to praise the liquor. In Ode to the Spring of Eternal Peace, he described it as “clean and sweet with balanced aroma”.

In early Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D. to 1644 A.D.), Chen family living in Yibin inherited the business of Yao family, further improved the recipe and created ‘Chen’s formula’. It soon became a very popular drink for local residents.

In 1909 A.D., scholar Yang Huiquan attended a local banquet and spoke very highly of this local liquor. He renamed it as ‘Wuliangye’ as of ‘five grains liquor’. The name has then been used since.