There is an old advertisement collected in Changyu Company: In the scene layout, there was an elegant restaurant, in which two stylishly dressed ladies were toasting. Next to them, a servant girl carrying a wine bottle was standing. Verdurous lawn was growing outside the window. Both the dining table and seat were in European style. The banner on the wall was the copied plaque of “Ying Zhou Yu Li” for Changyu inscribed by Yuan Shikai.      

With regard to the year of this inscription, theBiographical Sketch of Mr. Zhang Bishicompiled by Zheng Guanying, an ideologist of the late Qing Dynasty as well as a bosom friend of Zhang Bishi, the founder of Changyu Company, recorded that “In November of the third year of the Republic of China, namely 1914 of the Gregorian calendar, the Ministry of Agribusiness proposed the generalissimo to inscribe for Changyu Pioneer Wine Company to manifest its excellence considering its early foundation, huge capital, more products and outstanding credit.” Although Zheng Guanying didn’t mention the details of the plaque explicitly, the written characters of “In November of the third year of the Republic of China” could be dimly seen at the badging of the plaque in this advertisement. In addition, it was explicitly recorded in the advertisement ofBrewing Wine by Yantai Changyu Company with Western Methodspublished onShen Baoon May 30, 1915 that “…It was registered with the government last year and was exempted from tax for three years. Furthermore, it was inscribed by the generalissimo with ‘Ying Zhou Yu Li’ as an award …”

“Ying Zhou Yu Li” was originated from theTen States within the Countrywrote by Dongfang Shuo, a litterateur of the Western Han Dynasty, saying “In the East Sea of Yingzhou, there is a place spreading over2,000km……where is a spring tasty like wine with a bit of sweetness, which is named Yuli Spring. Only several liters can get you drunk. It also has the effect of longevity.”  It is interesting that in the one-hundred history of Changyu, it was inscribed by three generalissimoes successively: In 1912, Sun Yat-sen, the temporary generalissimo, subscribed “Pin Zhong Li Quan”, in 1914, Yuan Shikai, the generalissimo, subscribed “Ying Zhou Yu Li”, and in 1916, Li Yuanhong, the successive generalissimo, subscribed “Yun Niang Tai He”.

The above-mentioned advertisement of “Ying Zhou Yu Li” printed in color clearly shows Changyu Wine 100 years ago. On the scene, there was a bottle of “Red Rose” Red Wine and two plates of grapes (one was white and the other was red). The wine in the goblet raised by two ladies was light red, which accounted for about 2/3 of the goblet, conforming to the etiquette. What the servant girl carried in her hand was a bottle of “Dayuanxiang” White Wine, which may be just taken out from an ice bucket. The scene frame was composed by garlands with grape vine decoration, and wine bottles were placed longitudinally among the garlands. On the left side, there were “Yeguangbei” Red Wine, “Guirenxiang” White Wine and “Yishoukiang” White Wine from top to bottom in turn; on the right side, there were “Zuishixian” Red Wine, “Pinlizhu” Red Wine and “White Rose” White Wine from top to bottom in turn. There are corresponding foreign translations of the grape variety or wine type on the wine labels, for example “Yeguangbei” is Merlot (translated into “Meiluo” or “Meile” nowadays). Besides, all wine bottles are similar to the general bottle types of the existing wines in the same class, and the foil cap on the bottleneck also serves as sufficient evidence that the bottle was sealed by cork at that time. To some extent, this advertisement witnessed the production technology of Chinese wine 100 years ago.

It is learned from this advertisement that the new wine of “Zuishixian” series launched by Changyu Company in November of last year, inherits the tradition of long standing—As early as 100 years ago, Changyu began to use the name “Zuishixian”.

“Yunxian”, a name of a famous artist, appears on the right side of this advertisement, which indicates Mr. Ding Yunxian, a renowned advertisement painter inShanghaiat that time. Afterwards,N Mr. Ding also painted another widespread colorful advertisement for Changyu published on theNovel MonthlyandEastern Miscellanyin 1918.