I once heard the old Yuci people say that Baozi wine is not inferior to Fen wine. There are even old Yuci people who say that Baozi wine is better than Fen wine. Listening to this kind of remarks, the author always feels weird. Because the difference between the reputations of the two is too great, Fenjiu is a national famous wine, while Baozi wine is just a local famous wine, can the two be compared?

However, when looking at the history of Baozi Liquor, it was found that Yuci Baozi Liquor is a historical wine. In 1900, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, and the Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an. According to the 16th article of the "Yuci County Chronicles" compiled in the 18th year of the Republic of China, Volume 6, Livelihood Examination, and Special Products: "Shochu is fragrant and fragrant, and it is marketed far and near, and it is known as Baozi Liquor by those who produce Gaojiabao and Qiaojiabao. In the fourth year of the Republic of China (1915), the Panama Race of the United States won the first prize". Before liberation, Baozi liquor was exported to Northeast China, HB Inner Mongolia and other places. There used to be a "Baozi Tavern" on BJ Qianmen Street, and it is said that the plaque was inscribed by the Empress Dowager Cixi herself. It turns out that Baozi Liquor, like Fenjiu, was also a national famous liquor, and also won awards at the Panama International Competition, and once had a reputation comparable to Fenjiu.

However, the author checked the "List of Chinese Liquor Awards" in the book "Documentary of China's Participation in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition" compiled by Chen Qi, director and supervisor of the Preparatory Bureau of the Panama Competition in China that year, but could not find the name of "Baozi Liquor". According to the "Yuci County Chronicles" of the Republic of China, Baozi wine won the first prize, that is, the first-class medal recorded in the book. However, the list of first-class medals is: Zhili (Guanting) Gaoliang Liquor, HN Guanting) Gaoliang Liquor, SX Guanting) Gaoliang Fenjiu, GD Guanting) Fruit Wine, SD Changyu Brewing Company. Why did the organizers of the conference not record the participation of Baozi Wine in that year?

Later, the author found out the reason when I looked at the award process of Moutai. When Moutai participated in the Panama Expo, there were no names such as "Moutai Liquor Company" or "GZ Moutai Distillery". The officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Beiyang Government, who were in charge of the meeting, found that the two burning houses were in the same place, and the term "burning house" did not conform to international practice and was not easy for foreigners to understand. Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry simply combined the wines of the two families and gave them the name of "GZ Office Wine".

This situation is not a special case among the products participating in the conference that year, and other products should also have this situation. In the list of first-class medals won by China at the Panama Expo, in addition to "SD Changyu Brewing Company", which is a clear manufacturer's name, Zhili and HNSXGD are both called "Guanting Liquor", which is similar to the title of "GZ Office Liquor". If the "GZ Liquor" is provided by two firing houses, is it true that these "Guanting Liquor" are provided by a sake brewery? If it is provided by a producer, the recorder will list the name of the producer, such as "SD Changyu Brewing Company". At this time, there was no longer a problem that the term "burning houses" did not conform to international practice and was not easy for foreigners to understand, because this "documentary" was written for Chinese. In other levels of awards, regardless of whether the name of the manufacturer is "company" or "time-honored", the compiler has faithfully recorded their name. For example: "SD Sun Minqing Yutang", "JS Taixing Taichang", "ZJ Shaoxing Qian Yucui" and so on are obviously not modern commercial company names. It can be seen that other "official wines" should also be provided by multiple wineries.

The author believes that there are two reasons for this: one is that China in the early 20th century, which had been poor and weak for a long time, wanted to show the world its rich and broad side. In 1915, the Republic of China had just entered its fourth year, and the Beiyang government, which represented China, was eager to seek international recognition. Therefore, the Chinese people regard participating in the Panama Games as a major event for China to enter the world stage, and they want to show their talents in this competition. The Beiyang government organized a wide variety of products to participate in the conference, with a total of more than 100,000 exhibits. However, because the Beiyang government wants to show the national image, it does not pay attention to protecting the rights and interests of enterprises. The selected products only care about the quality of the products, but do not care about which production. The second is that there was no brand awareness at that time. In the book "Documentary", the liquor produced in the northern provinces is collectively referred to as "sorghum wine", and SX's only has one more word "Fen". In the "Yuci County Chronicles" of the Republic of China, the wine produced in Gaojiabao and Qiaojiabao is called "shochu", but at the end it is stated that "people call it Baozi wine". It can be seen that "sorghum liquor" or "shochu" was the official name of northern liquor at that time, and what can distinguish it is the origin of the liquor or the liquor production workshop. When the liquor selected by each province was called "sorghum wine", Beiyang government officials had to distinguish them according to their origins. There are many wineries in a province that choose to give "sorghum wine", but the term "winery" is not in line with international practice and is difficult for foreigners to understand. Therefore, Beiyang government officials combined the "sorghum wine" produced in the same province and participated in the meeting in the name of sorghum wine from a certain province (official office).

In addition, from a historical point of view, China's participation in the 1915 Panama Exposition was organized by the government and was an act of the government. The "official wine" of each province is naturally selected and sent by the provincial government, and it will be taken into account when the government selects and sends it, and will not only choose one product, so as not to have the suspicion of favoritism.

On February 6, 1918, the SX Overseer and Governor Yan Xishan issued a directive regarding the award won by Fenjiu at the Panama Exposition. In the third article of the instruction, it is said: "All households that manufacture Fenjiu should designate this medal as a trademark." It is recorded that in 1915, the Fenjiu workshop in Xinghua Village had been merged into the "Yiquanyong" family, but the instruction issued in 1918 did not specify that Quanyong "should be designated as a trademark", but said that "the household that manufactures Fenjiu". It shows that in addition to Yiquanyong, there were other wineries that participated in the conference that year. However, due to the fact that the official records at the national level are too brief, not all the names of the participating businesses have been preserved. Fortunately, in some local county records, we can also find the participation records of local merchants, which provides a basis for us to understand the details of China's participation in the Panama Expo that year. The record of the "Yuci County Chronicles" of the Republic of China has witnessed for us the glory and honor that Baozi wine once had.