The 101st anniversary of the death of Zhang Bi Shi: The legendary life of the richest Man in China!
Back to 101 today, Zhang Bi Shi, the first Chinese wine man, died in Ba Cheng (that is, Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia), ending his legendary and wonderful 76-year-old life.
In the same era, Zhang Bushi and Hu Xueyan respectively achieved their immortal business legends, and the world also praised their achievements as "Hu Xueyan in the south and Zhang Bushi in the north". Compared with Hu Xueyan, Zhang Bi Shi, 18 years younger, is not limited to domestic business achievements, but the "combination of Chinese and Western" reputation far abroad.
With the ambition of revitalizing the country, Zhang Bi Shihuai has founded dozens of enterprises in China in his life, of which the most famous Changyu Wine Company has been brilliant so far, and has become the first wine enterprise in China and the fourth wine enterprise in the world.
An indissoluble bond with wine
Changyu Company was founded in 1892, when Zhang Bi Shi was 51 years old, in the first 30 years of his business struggle, the business business flourished, involving many important industries in Indonesia and Malaysia, and built a huge business kingdom.
According to Zhang Zancheng, the nephew of Zhang Bi Shi and the chief audit of the Bank of Communications, Zhang Bi Shi's personal wealth as early as the Guangxu years was equivalent to 80 million taels of silver, 10 million taels more than the fiscal income of the Qing government that year (70 million taels of silver), becoming a rich Hakka leader in Southeast Asia, and deserved to be the richest Chinese.
The rich Jia side is so, thanks to Zhang Bi Shi's keen grasp of business opportunities, which can be seen from its founding of Changyu.
As for the fate between Zhang Bi Shi and wine, there is such a spread: in 1871, Zhang Bi Shi attended a cocktail party of the French Consulate in Jakarta, a French consul who had been to China told him about the wild grapes in Yantai, saying that the grapes there can make good wine. The speaker has no intention, but the listener has heart. Chang Pil Shi remembered this sentence. In 1891, when Sheng Xuanhuai invited him to Yantai to discuss the establishment of a railway and the development of mines, he inspected the local grape cultivation and soil hydrology, and determined that there were natural conditions for growing wine grapes and making wine. So in the following year, Zhang Bi Shi took 3 million taels of silver and founded the first wine-making company in Chinese history - Changyu Wine-making Company.
Changyu early vineyards
Thus, Zhang Bi Shi, who was 51 years old at the time, became the "father of wine" in modern China. The establishment of Changyu Wine Company was the prelude to the industrialization of Chinese wine.
Wow the world with wine
On the bronze passage of the China Millennium Monument in Beijing, there is an inscription that reads: "In 1892 AD - the eighteenth year of Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty, Zhang Bi Shi, an overseas Chinese, founded the Changyu Wine-making Company in Yantai, Shandong Province."
The history of wine grape cultivation in China can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty BC, and the Tang Dynasty has an immortal poem of "wine in the night cup, want to drink pipa immediately", but when Chang Yu was founded, Zhang Bi Shi had searched "Tiangong Kaiwu" and "Compendium of Materia Medica" and could not find the method, he wrote in his memoir "Zhang Yu Wine-making Co., Ltd. Origin" : "Since Zhang Qian sent to the west, hid its seeds but did not pass on the brewing method; Since the Han and Wei dynasties were transported from afar, it was not easy to obtain. However, the book of Tang Dynasty Taizong broke Gao Chang harvest horse milk grape seed in the garden, and got its wine method, making wine into green, aromatic fierce, this is almost banned secret formula. Folk did not thus gain, also lost for a long time, at that time the poet was seen in the chanting, are more than the nectar, for the world rare..."
The modern winemaking history of China started with the Changyu Winemaking Company founded in 1892. Its technical signs are: introducing European grape varieties, hiring foreign winemakers, building underground cellars, aging in oak barrels, and packing with glass bottles and corks. "Changyu was a pioneer of local wineries and remains the largest to this day," according to the World Wine Map co-authored by world-renowned wine critics Hugh Johnson and Jess Robinson.
Changyu early plant area
From the Western Han Dynasty Zhang Qian sent to the western regions to bring back grape seedlings, to the late Qing Dynasty Zhang Bi Shi founded Changyu Wine Company, this journey is more than 2000 years! From 1892 to 1908, Changyu successively produced more than 20 varieties of wine, wine taste mellow, popular throughout the country, exported overseas. In 1952, "the First National Wine Evaluation Conference", Changyu Gold Award brandy, Changyu Red Rose red wine, Changyu Vermouth wine, Kweichow Moutai, Luzhou Daqu wine, Fenjiu, Xifeng wine, Shaoxing rice wine were rated as China's eight famous wines.
After the establishment of the Republic of China, on August 21, 1912, Sun Yat-sen came to Yantai to visit the Changyu Wine Company and specially gave the four characters of "Pinzhong Li Quan" to the Changyu Wine Company to express his appreciation for the character of Zhang Bi Shi and the quality of his wine.
He was received by President Wilson
Changyu wine is not only fragrant in China, but also striking overseas.
In 1915, Zhang Bi Shi served as the head of the "China Travel United States Industrial Group", Huang Yanpei served as secretary, and 50 people participated in the "Panama Pacific World Exposition" held in San Francisco, the United States. At the World Expo, Changyu products finally beat many old European wines, and the "Koya brandy", "Red Rose wine", "Gewurztraminer" and "Riesling White wine" produced in Yantai, China, won four gold MEDALS.
On May 26, 1915, U.S. Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan (second from left, front row), Minister to the United States Xia Kai Fu (fourth from left, front row) and Zhang Bi Shi (third from left, front row) led the Chinese tour of the United States industrial group pose for a photo at the White House. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Redfield (second row, fourth from left) and West American Chamber of Commerce Robert Dollar (back row, fourth from left)
This trip to the United States, not only Changyu wine became famous, Chang Pil Shi also attracted the attention of the American media. On June 6 and June 13, 1915, The New York Times published two articles about Zhang Bi Shi. One was an exclusive report entitled "Dialogue with" China's Morgan ", which introduced him as the richest financier in China. The other is entitled "China's Rockefeller", which gives a comprehensive report on it. In addition, Chang was invited to lead a delegation to visit the White House, and was received by President Wilson of the United States.
Business acumen shines in many fields
In his early years in the Dutch East Indies, Zhang Bushi made remarkable achievements in reclamation and mining. The Changyu Brewing Company he founded has become a best-selling overseas Chinese wine, but his business wisdom is not only here, in the financial industry, the maritime industry and other aspects, but also has made many achievements.
In 1897, with the recommendation of Li Hongzhang, Zhang Bi Shi participated in the establishment of the Commercial Bank of China and became the general director of the bank. The Commercial Bank of China is the first commercial bank set up by the Chinese themselves and also the first bank to issue banknotes in China. The right to issue banknotes of the Commercial Bank of China was not canceled until the implementation of the "legal currency policy" in 1935, and it has the longest history of issuing banknotes in China's modern history, playing an active role in resisting foreign banknotes.
Robert Daley, American shipping king
In 1911, Zhang Bi Shi, Zhou Jinzhen, Shen Zhongli and other people with the American shipping king Robert Dalai joint venture to establish the Sino-US shipping company, the shares of the Chinese and American half, in order to show Sino-US cooperation, all ships will fly the dragon flag. Some people commented that Sino-American shipping Company said: "High hanging dragon flag, sailing in Europe and the United States, for the first time in the Chinese shipping industry found in the Atlantic, Pacific, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean initiative."
The red-roofed merchant of Cixi
Zhang Bi Shi was awarded a top, is the late Qing Dynasty very red "red top merchant", once enjoyed the privilege of not kneeling on the occasion of Cixi's birthday. From the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, Zhang Bi Shi held an important official position, so that when he died, it caused a sensation.
When Chang Bi Shi passed away in 1916, when he passed through Singapore and Hong Kong from Ba Cheng, the British and Dutch colonial governments all paid their respects at half-mast, and the Hong Kong Governor paid his respects in person. When the Han River from Shantou goes up, the people on both sides of the river set up their sacrificial rites; Dr. Sun Yat-sen even sent a special representative to the elegiac couplet after learning the bad news: "Wine won the gold medal, fragrance of the world; The grinch wins hearts and minds and lives forever."
Obituary issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China
When Zhang Bi Shi died, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China also issued an obituary for this purpose, one in Chinese and one in English, signed by the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Lu.
In May of the sixth year of the Republic of China, the soul of Zhang Bi Shi returned to his hometown, and Zhu Qinglan, governor of Guangdong Province, was sent by President Li Yuanhong to pay tribute to the spirit of Zhang Junzhen Xun, a former member of the political Council, and sent a memorial to the president.
The former "red-top businessman" and "father of Chinese wine" has died 101 years ago, and his huge business empire is only left Changyu Wine Company.
After 125 years of development, Changyu has become the largest wine production and operation enterprise in China and even Asia. In the latest "Top 10 Global Wine List 2017", Changyu ranks fourth. In addition, Changyu also made Interbrand's 2017 "Best Chinese Brands List" this year, becoming the only Chinese wine company to make the list. With the promotion of its own brand influence, as well as international mergers and acquisitions and cooperation in recent years, Changyu is becoming a global wine brand operator with a number of international excellent brands.