Yenping Road in Hsiluo has for 80 years been home to the Rueichun Soy Sauce store and the factory behind it. The young Chung Cheng-wei and a coworker work together lifting off the lid of a large earthenware urn, after which they reach in and grab some black beans, which have been sitting in the urn for a long while. The two men then discuss whether they'll be able to start boiling up the mixture tomorrow.

In a large area, open to the bright sunshine, over 500 such urns sit in rows. When one is opened, the strong scent of black soy paste fills your nose. The beans spend four months being warmed by the sun and fermenting, after which they are processed, pressed, flavored with sugar and glutinous rice flour, and then boiled into sauce form. After all this, the mixture is finally ready for packaging and shipping.

That old-fashioned flavor

Twenty-seven-year-old Chung Cheng-wei, a graduate of Chinese Culture University's Department of Chemical Engineering, was called back home by his father to lend a hand in the family business three years ago, after finishing his military service. He and his older brother Chung Chung-ta, who is in charge of marketing, have become the fourth generation of the Chung family to run Rueichun Soy Sauce.

Cheng Cheng-wei, who has a deep tan from his work, says that a bottle of sauce with no added preservatives and made in the old style takes, on average, six months to produce and goes through a complex process. First the black beans are cleaned, cooked, and cooled, then they have yeast added to assist the fermentation. Next they're stirred constantly to mix the yeast in evenly with the beans, and then sifted through a large colander to help evaporate out the water. Finally the mixture has salt added to it and the urn is sealed and left in the sun to heat through.

Growing up next to the fermentation room, the Chung boys would see their father and his workers head to tend to the fermentation in the middle of the night. Chung Chung-wei says that over the seven days needed for fermentation the mixture needs 24-hour supervision; in the summer the windows need to be opened when things get too hot, and in the winter everything has to be covered with hessian cloth or have the oven turned on--the temperature needs to be kept constantly around 40°C. "That seven-day fermentation is crucial; the surface of the fermented mixture should gradually change from white to yellow, but if the temperature isn't controlled properly, it just turns yellow straight away and the taste of the beans goes off."

Black beans are also an element of traditional Chinese medicine, with a reputation as an anti-aging agent that can keep eyes bright, hair lustrous, and skin beautiful. This comes from the fact that black beans contain no saturated fats and can burn cholesterol and lower blood pressure. Black beans are also better for softening hardened arteries and preventing blood clots than ordinary soybeans.

Chung Chu-hung, chairman of Rueichun Soy Sauce, gets no rest either, having just brought 1000 earthenware urns back from Yixing in China.

"Earthenware breaths well and also keeps temperatures well. As long as they're not knocked over or broken, they'll keep going for a good hundred years," he says. The company started off by using urns made for them by a kiln in Nantou County's Shuili, which cost NT$5000 per urn. The Shuili kiln was destroyed in the 921 earthquake of 1999, and there are few other kilns large enough to make the urns--for the smaller kilns it would take around ten years to produce 1000 urns, so Chung decided it would be better to order from Yixing.

In 1935 the Japanese colonial government merged all of Hsiluo's soy sauce businesses into the Torao Shouyu Kougyou Kabushiki Kaisha. This picture shows a share certificate issued by that company.

An industry star

Hsiluo is a town full of soy sauce businesses that have been passed down from generation to generation. Hand-made sauce producers line the streets and alleys, and amidst these there are still some that run dual operations, with their store out front and factory out back. At present there are about eight places still making old-style soy sauce, including one company called Wuanchuang, which has a history that spans a century, making it the longest-running such business in the town.

Chuang Ying-yao, who took over the mantle of Wuanchuang chairman two years ago, explains that in the old days every family would have their own way of producing pickled vegetables, pickled soybeans, and soy sauce. During the Japanese rule of Taiwan his grandfather established his own business, and would shout his wares out on the street, carrying earthenware urns of the sauce on a pole across his shoulders. Once the business built a name, things started to pick up, and in 1909 the business-savvy elder Chuang established the Chuang Yi-cheng Sauce Shop. In 1935 the Japanese authorities placed restrictions on privately owned businesses, ordering every sauce maker in the Huwei district of Tainan to shut up shop, merging them to form a single business, Torao Shouyu Kougyou Kabushiki Kaisha ("Huwei Soy Sauce Manufacturing Co."). With the Chuang family being a major player in Hsiluo's soy sauce industry, Chuang Ying-yao's father Chuang Chao-tien was made the first chairman of the Huwei district company.

After the end of WW2 and the Japanese departure from Taiwan, the restrictions were lifted and the Chuang family reinvented their brand, selling under the name Wuanchuang.

Wuanchuang Food Industrial soon expanded from central Taiwan to the north. As the Taiwanese economy grew during the 1960s and business exhibitions of all kinds started being held in Taipei, the Chuangs set up an office in Taipei. From here they were able to open more sales channels and develop demand for "Hsiluo's trademark product," Wuanchuang soy sauce. Thanks to this, Hsiluo and the Chuoshui River developed a name for more than just watermelon and rice.

In 1969 the elder Chuang passed on, and five days later Chuang Chao-tian unexpectedly followed due to an undiagnosed liver problem. Having lost two leaders, the mantle of company chairman was then passed on to the second son, who was only 28 at the time. Chuang Ying-yao, then just out of military service, headed north to take over responsibility for the Taipei branch, returning to study at Chung Hsing University's Department of Business Administration at night.

Under the leadership of these two brothers, Wuanchuang grew larger and bought up land around the old home on all sides. However, usable land was limited. In 1986 demand led to the company setting up another facility in Erhlun, an hour's drive away. This not only led to a reduction in costs, but also gave them the chance to modernize management and upgrade production capability. Wuanchuang continues to have 30% of their business in fermenting black beans and creating black bean soy sauce, but they've also expanded into a sauce which is a mixture of wheat and soy, and sauces to go with dishes like fermented tofu and pickled cucumber.

Hsiluo's Wuanchuang Food Industrial has been passed down the generations for over a century. This photo shows the current chairman of the company, Chuang Ying-yao (right), and his younger brother Chuang Ying-chih, the third generation to be in charge of the company.

Worth every dollar

The traditional soy sauce production process is complex and time-consuming, and ordinary soy sauces that are made using hydrochloric acid can be produced in a short seven days. Traditional sauces, though, are naturally both more costly to make and more expensive to buy than those chemically produced sauces. Rueichun and Wuanchuang's sauces, for example, sell for about NT$240 per 500-gram bottle, around ten times the price of popular artificial competitors.

These artificial sauces, with their low prices and large-scale advertising exposure, have seized much of the market, while the ordinary consumer rarely sees hide or hair of advertising from Hsiluo's sauces. So who exactly are these black bean sauces targeting?

Traditional sauces sell mostly in chain stores and supermarkets, and with the rise of malls over the last few years changing the shopping habits of the public, Wuanchuang has responded by moving into this market.

"As long as the products have something that makes them stand out, they won't get mixed up in the pricing morass, and won't get caught up in price wars and low profit margins," notes Chuang Ying-yao. Wuanchuang's sauces have been particularly warmly received in Hong Kong, where they sell for the equivalent of almost NT$400 a bottle. From Hong Kong they've gone on to tackle the Southeast Asian market, and at present overseas sales account for 15% of the company's total sales.

"There's a huge number of local brands in supermarkets in central and southern Taiwan," says Juichun marketing direction Chung Chung-ta, "but supermarkets take a cut for stocking your product, and the profits from it are low. Most of our products are directly sold to chain stores." Right from the early years Chung's father was unwilling to countenance supermarkets charging him to sell his own product, because customers were already snatching up his sauces. Business was so strong for him that the family even had to eat Chinese New Year's dinner in shifts. The flow of customers was constant, to the point that they could hardly close their doors.

Although the economy as a whole is in a slump at the moment, makers of traditional soy sauces are an exception, and are even expanding production. Due to the need for large open spaces to sun-bake the sauce mixture and in order to set things up well for his heirs, Chung Chu-hung has purchased a two hectare production space in Hsiluo Industrial Park, where 2000 urns will be set up. In two years time he expects to have moved all of the company's production from the home factory to this new facility.

Soy sauce, known as the best of the "eight treasures" of Chinese cooking, is a major element of traditional cooking throughout the Chinese world, with no other taste that can compare. The addition of soy sauce can transform garlic pork, boiled chicken, and even fried eggs into a delicate, mouthwatering, and fragrant dish.

Just as black beans must go through a long process to become a bottle of treasured soy sauce, so has Hsiluo's soy sauce industry built itself into a success after the long, hard toil of those who have gone before. Maybe it's everyone putting their heart and soul into their work, their not coveting growth of their businesses, and their concern for the tastes of the consumer that have seen Hsiluo's traditional soy sauce industry blossom into the mighty force it is today, and has let the township continue to enjoy glorious times.

Once the black beans are cleaned and boiled, then had yeast and salt added, they are sealed in urns, where they are left to mature in the heat of the sunlight. Handmade soy sauce such as this can take a good half a year to fully complete.

Once the black beans are cleaned and boiled, then had yeast and salt added, they are sealed in urns, where they are left to mature in the heat of the sunlight. Handmade soy sauce such as this can take a good half a year to fully complete.

Once the black beans are cleaned and boiled, then had yeast and salt added, they are sealed in urns, where they are left to mature in the heat of the sunlight. Handmade soy sauce such as this can take a good half a year to fully complete.

Once the black beans are cleaned and boiled, then had yeast and salt added, they are sealed in urns, where they are left to mature in the heat of the sunlight. Handmade soy sauce such as this can take a good half a year to fully complete.