Oils, Salt, Sugar and Honey · FFET10415
Zigong well salt
Zigong well salt comes from deep-well brine; the traditional craft includes drilling, filtering brine, and boiling salt.
Salt, powdered seasonings, cooking oils and fats, sugar, honey and syrups.
Zigong well salt is made in Zigong, Sichuan, by boiling brine drawn from deep wells. The associated traditional craft includes drilling, extracting brine, filtering it, and boiling salt. The craft of deep drilling and brine extraction for Zigong well salt entered the first national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006; the recognition covers the salt-making craft.
What
Zigong well salt is made by boiling brine drawn from deep wells. Its associated traditional craft encompasses drilling, brine extraction, filtering, and salt boiling.1
When
The craft listing says Sichuan well salt goes back to the Northern Song around Daying, and that percussion drilling in Zigong developed over about 1,900 years, but it gives no source, so that is the page's own claim. The Shenhai Well, drilled in 1835, is about 1,001 meters deep and marks the maturity of deep-well drilling. Shaanxi merchants entered the Zigong salt fields in the mid-Kangxi period, and their guild hall, the Xiqin Guildhall, was built between 1736 and 1752. None of these dates establishes when Zigong well salt began.1,2,3
Where
The salt comes from Zigong, Sichuan. Zigong is also the declaring region for the listed deep-drilling and brine-extraction craft, and the Shenhai Well of 1835 is in Da'an District, Zigong.1,2
How
The traditional process uses percussion drilling to open wells, draws up underground brine, then filters and boils it to make salt. Early zhuotong wells are said to have used bamboo tubes as well casing, with a foot-pedal lever driving the drill; this comes from an encyclopedia entry whose own basis is a web forum page.1,2
Why
The craft listing calls the percussion drilling method a living fossil of deep-well drilling. The craft links deep-well drilling and underground brine extraction with salt boiling.1
Impact and influence
The craft of deep drilling and brine extraction for Zigong well salt entered the first national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006, receiving protection as a traditional craft. The Xiqin Guildhall has housed the Zigong Salt Industry History Museum since 1959.1,3