hengshan mutton
Hengshan District, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, a national geographical indication of China products.
Hengshan District is located in the northern part of Shaanxi Province, west of the central part of Yulin City, the transition zone between Mu Us Desert and the Loess Plateau. It is an important part of the national energy and chemical industry base under construction, as well as the “West-East Gas Transmission, West-East Coal Transmission and West-East Power Transmission”. It is also a famous ancient border town and an old revolutionary base. Hengshan is full of sunshine, rain and heat in the same season, the vast Loess Plateau breeds a wide range of green products, especially mutton, mung beans, rice, cereals and other characteristic agricultural products of the best quality, the best reputation. White cashmere goats in Hengshan have long been eating a variety of composite, leguminous and gramineous plants rich in trace elements, such as pepper, alfalfa, scallions, argyi argyi, etc. Their meat is tender in quality, alternating between fat and thin, low fat without mutton, and rich in fragrance.
On September 3, 2010, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) approved the implementation of geographical indication protection for “Hengshan mutton”.
Chinese name hengshan mutton
Origin Name Hengshan District, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province
Quality characteristics of fresh meat, fat and thin phases, rich fragrance
Product features
Northern Shaanxi white cashmere goat has the characteristics of high cashmere yield, good cashmere quality, stable heredity, many cashmere type and frequent lambing in the breeding group, etc. The fineness and length of cashmere fiber and cashmere yield have reached the advanced level in China. The average length of adult male sheep of Shaanxi white cashmere goats is 10.75±1.06 cm, the yield of cashmere is 996.76±157.83 g, the adult ewes are 8.15±1.68 cm and 703.16±36.8 g respectively, the weight of adult male sheep after fleece is 53.46±10.5 kg, the adult ewes are 47.36±3.68 kg, the fleece fineness is below 15 micrometers, the net fleece rate is more than 60%, the lamb rate of ewe is more than 120%, and the slaughter rate is more than 45%. Cross the goat
Hengshan mutton has the advantages of fresh and tender meat, fat and lean, high protein, low fat, no odor, rich fragrance and unique flavor. It has its own characteristics in mutton and is known as “the ginseng in meat”. With its unique meat quality, rich nutritional value and significant health function, it is deeply loved by people, and its series of products have become the main meal and gifts of the northern Shaanxi people to welcome guests.
Origin of environment
Hengshan District is located in the northern part of Shaanxi Province, north to the west of Yulin City, the southern margin of Mu Us Desert, the loess plateau of northern Shaanxi Province and the Ordos Grassland of Inner Mongolia. With a total area of 4333 square kilometers, the region has a vast land area, abundant water resources and abundant forage resources, so it enjoys unique conditions for the development of sheep industry.
Hengshan mutton meat quality delicious first from the regional characteristics of Hengshan. Hengshan in the Wuding River, Luhe River as the boundary, divided into the northern sand grassland area and the southern hilly gully area. It is a semi-arid continental monsoon climate in the middle temperate zone with an annual average temperature of 8.1℃. The annual precipitation is 382 mm, and the frost-free period is 146 days short. Drought and lack of rain and short frost-free period are the bottleneck restricting the development of agriculture. However, the development of sheep based animal husbandry has unique advantages. Hengshan mutton is mainly produced in the southern hilly and gully region. Due to the special climate, the temperature difference between day and night is big, and the mountain gully is deep. Most of the forage grass grows in the gully with little sunlight, so sheep need to go down the gully and up the hill to find food, and have a lot of exercise. Therefore, Hengshan mutton has a low fat content and good muscle elasticity.
Secondly, the smell of Hengshan mutton is unique and does not have the odor, because the sheep eat drought-resistant vegetation all year round. Hengshan belongs to the semi-arid continental monsoon climate zone in the middle temperate zone, with annual precipitation of 382 mm, drought and lack of rain throughout the year, and many varieties of drought-resistant plants. Sheep to natural leguminosae, compositae and gramineae plants as the main forage grass, especially the proportion of leguminous plants such as alfalfa, relative water content is low, with these forage feeding sheep disease resistance is strong, the production of mutton high amino acid content, less cholesterol, high nutritional value, after eating with physical fitness, the effect of the kidney strong sun. At the same time, the vegetation is rich in Chinese medicinal materials, which can prevent the occurrence of diseases after sheep eat it. More than 60 kinds of herbs, such as thyme, scallion, Artemisia ironwort, scallion, garlic and sweet moxa, as well as alfalfa and soybean, which are rich in methionine, make Hengshan mutton have full fragrance, exquisite and without mutton flavor. The most important thing is that only by using Hengshan water, Hengshan seasonings and Hengshan methods can we make authentic Hengshan mutton.
Historical origin
Hengshan, stretching over a thousand li, was once the horsing farm for the Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty to herd troops and accumulate sharp stock. There were records of “the sky is green, the wild is vast, the grass is low in the wind and cattle and sheep can be seen” and the legend of “Five Elders Herding Sheep”, with a long tradition of sheep raising.
Old “county record” : “goat, sheep especially family more pasture.” Therefore, many village names and place names in Hengshan are still in use today because of sheep. For example: Du Yang Pool (ZhaoShiPan Town), Yang Pool (Shiwan Town) and so on. Hengshan people regard sheep as their totem and respect them very much. Every year, the 13th day of the first lunar month is set as “Yanggongjian (sacrificial) day” to celebrate the birthday of the sheep. Hengshan people’s respect for sheep is everywhere. People do not defecate in the sheepfold, sheepfold built warm in winter and cool in summer, install the door to ask feng shui gentleman to sit word.
In the old days, hengshan “skin hair quite a lot, Jin Jin merchants buy”, hengshan people ” its skin, eat its meat.” Generally from the lunar calendar in June began to slaughter, August and September the most, autumn and winter seasons often make the gang plate mutton, hold a bonfire party, drink a big bowl of soju, eat large pieces of mutton, men and women, old and young stroke, dance, sing the song, sing Xintianyou, not drunk, often play until dawn. In every festival, mutton is the staple food. The mutton proverb is still popular: “June 6, fresh wheat bun boil mutton”, “September 9, every family, bucknoodles 饦 goat soup……” ; Winter solstice, every family to boil sheep skeleton, eat sheep head, also known as “boil winter”; Laba in the twelfth lunar month eats steamed rice, also called mutton 6. Every Spring Festival, put a sheep feast, eat yuanxiao.
Chairman Mao in 1947 when the war in northern Shaanxi, in Hengshan County, Weijialou Township Xiaoya Village lived for 6 days, the landlord Liang Jinlan gave the chairman a bowl of stew mutton and small rice, the chairman after eating full of praise: “Oh! Hengshan mutton is really delicious!”
Starting from 1978, Hengshan introduced white cashmere goats from Gaixian County, Liaoning Province, with them as the male parent and black goats from Northern Shaanxi Province as the female parent, adopting the simple hybridization breeding method. After 25 years of hard cultivation and experience, in 2003, it was announced as a new variety of white cashmere goats from Northern Shaanxi Province by Ministry of Agriculture.
Since 2000, hengshan has fully implemented the ban on mountain grazing and house raising of sheep, and the sheep industry with white cashmere goats as the main part of northern shaanxi has developed rapidly. Hengshan district to develop into hengshan white down producing goat as the core group of shanbei white down producing goat, successively built in the marrying general tableland “shaanxi white down producing goat seed stock station” as the core, to hengshan, tower bay, on the Banks of Zhao Shi, polo, the twins, ray longwan six towns, such as Ma Jialiang, czy bay, tower bay, and water palm, lugouqiao, yong zhong 130 administrative villages of northern shaanxi white down producing goat the seed propagation and breeding demonstration base, and living based ewes 100 more than just the size of more than 60 farms, mutton processing enterprises and goats professional cooperatives 25, standardization production, scale, and initially formed a scientific pattern.
During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), Hengshan identified the sheep industry with white cashmere goats as one of the three leading agricultural industries in Hengshan District.
Production situation
In 2007, the number of sheep seeds raised in Hengshan District reached 1.04 million, of which 582,000 were stored and 458,000 were sold, a double increase compared with 2000. The annual production of wool and cashmere was 480 tons and 225 tons, an increase of 123.5%. 4,524 tons of mutton, up 50.8 percent. The average income of farmers raising sheep is more than 1,000 yuan. Six towns including Hengshan, Tawan, Zhaoshupan, Leilongwan, Polu and Shuangcheng, and 160 administrative villages including Majialiang, Caoyangwan, Shuichang and Luhe, have been built to breed and expand the breeding base of white cashmere goats in northern Shaanxi, raising more than 650,000 white cashmere goats, with an average household of more than 40. The large-scale and standardized production pattern has been initially formed, and the scale efficiency is remarkable. The average income of professional households is more than 20,000 yuan, and the average income is more than 4,000 yuan.
In 2011, the number of sheep seeds raised in Hengshan District reached 1.41 million, of which 87% were white cashmere goats from Northern Shaanxi. The output value of sheep industry reached 771 million yuan, accounting for 62.5% of the output value of animal husbandry and 42.8% of the total output value of agriculture. The per capita income of sheep raising was 2,340 yuan, accounting for 34.9 percent of the per capita net income of farmers. Sheep industry with white cashmere goats as its main product has become the leading industry for increasing agricultural efficiency and farmers’ income.
In 2013, the output value of raising sheep in Hengshan District reached 1.18 billion yuan, accounting for 74.9% of the output value of animal husbandry, and the per capita income of farmers was 3,576 yuan.
In 2014, the output value of sheep industry in Hengshan District increased to 1.18 billion yuan, accounting for 74.9% and 52.9% of the total output value of animal husbandry and agriculture, respectively. Among them, the annual net income of professional households and family sheep farms reached 20,000 yuan and 60,000 yuan respectively, with an average per capita income of more than 5,000 yuan.
In 2016, the number of sheep seeds raised in Hengshan District was 1.69882 million, up by 4.4 percent; The number of sheep seeds was 985,400, an increase of 1.07% over 2015. 712,800 units were sold, up 9.4%; Mutton production of 11,700 tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.10%; The output value of sheep industry reached 1.018 billion yuan, accounting for 74.9% of the output value of animal husbandry and 42.2% of the total output value of agriculture.
In the first quarter of 2017, the inventory of sheep seed reached 1.16 million, up 18.51% year on year. 170,000 units were sold, up 16.1 percent year on year, with 2,395 tons of mutton sold.
Products honor
Hengshan District has been named as “National Goat Sliver Production Base County”, “Cashmere Goat Standardized Production Demonstration County”, “Northern Shaanxi White Cashmere Goat Production Base County with the Advantage and Characteristics of one hundred counties (cities) in China”, and “Northern Shaanxi White Cashmere Goat Breeding Base County and Main Production Area”.
On September 3, 2010, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) approved the implementation of geographical indication protection for “Hengshan mutton”.
Geographical indication
Territorial protection area
Hengshan mutton geographical indication product scope of protection for the hengshan hengshan town, high Zhen Town yulin city of shaanxi province, the party branch town, polo town, tower bay town, the town of SAN shek wan, wu Zhen Town, xiangshui town, town house, ZhaoShiPan Town, Wei Jialou township, kill implements ditch township, South Korea branch township, ai good Mao township, dual urban and rural township, south tower, white township, ray longwan township, stone horse farm 19 villages and towns, such as jurisdiction administrative areas.
Use of special mark
Producers within the scope of protection for Hengshan mutton products with geographical indications may apply to the Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision of Hengshan District, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province for the use of “special marks for products with geographical indications”, which shall be examined and verified by the Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision of Shaanxi Province and approved by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. The legal testing institutions for Hengshan mutton shall be designated by Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision.
History and culture
Hengshan has a long history and profound mutton culture. Nine emperors were born in Hengshan, grew up in Hengshan and fought in Hengshan. They were full of praise for Hengshan mutton. The king of the Western Xia Lian Lian full one day lead the army to the southern edge of the Mu usu Desert of the bank of the river as far as the eye can see, a “lush water and grass, cattle and sheep cut way” of the magnificent scene so that he was overwhelmed by the surge of emotion, sighed with emotion: “beautiful, sifu! There are so many places I have traveled from the north of Matzen to the south of the river.” After the capital “tong wan cheng”, meaning the king of the world, the command of all states.
The old County Annals recorded: Hengshan “goats, sheep, especially the family more grazing.” Therefore, many village names and place names are still in use today because of sheep. Hengshan people regard sheep as their totem and respect them very much. Every year, the 13th day of the first month of the lunar calendar is designated as “Yanggongjian (sacrifice) day” to celebrate the birthday of the sheep. During the day, rice tea is rolled for the sheep, and in the evening, the sheep are given to drink before returning to the herd. Women are forbidden to do needlework on this day for fear of “poking out” sheep’s eyes.
Hengshan people with the word “sheep” said very much. Call herding sheep for “shepherd”, said the very narrow twists and turns of the mountain road for “sheep intestinal path”, towel for “sheep belly towel”, eat a meal called “sheep grandma rice”……
Entertainment fun do not forget the “sheep”. In the slack time or leisure time, the herdsman picks up four sheep dung beads and draws a pattern of “Gang” on the ground. Two people take turns to move the dung beads until one person’s dung beads are hopped and can’t move. This is called “jumping sheep’s feet”. Many farmers also use sheep dung beads or small stones to play “tiger eating sheep”, “sitting toward” and so on. In the countryside, it is common to hear people put forward riddles “grow beard from small to big, wear a robe from spring to winter, wear boots from birth to death, eat table from head to foot” for people to guess. Some young shepherds, having fed their RAMS fat in summer and autumn, gathered together to “fight sheep”. The ram retreated far to the rack, for a long time without deciding the outcome, often attracting a lot of onlookers Shouting and cheering. Shepherd “training sheep”, singing to the sheep, roaring Xintianyou. When the young king Li Zicheng also sat on the mound of the sheep compared to do “civil and military generals” exercise “sitting toward” in advance. Rural girls play “billiards” with sheep knuckles, little boys play “grinding yards” with sheep knuckles, blowing sheep urine bags to play “balloons”.
“Eat only mutton”. Farmers in Hengshan usually start to kill sheep to eat meat in the sixth lunar month. There is a saying that “on the sixth of the sixth lunar month, the new wheat steamed bun is boiled with mutton”. After July 15, sheep are fat, farmers also hoe out of the land, a rainy day wet, village “flat gang”. “September 9, every family oil.” In the north, people eat “gang dish mutton”. People walk in the wild, light a bonfire, drink soju and eat mutton. At the temple fair in the mountain field, people rush to buy “bowl of meat” and drink mutton chop, saying “bucknoodles mutton soup, his big brain is so sweet”. On October 1, the villages celebrate the harvest, “fried cake dipped in mutton.” On the winter solstice, every family to boil mutton, eat sheep’s head, called “boil winter”. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every family must eat “mutton and dinning rice”. Around the Spring Festival, there is a big sheep feast, stewed mutton, steamed mutton, large pieces of meat, big bowls of wine, until the Lantern Festival.
Rural people in order to pray for rain and cure also worship god, “get”, the sheep pulled in the temple gods before, to the sheep splashing water, if the shaking of the sheep is that God test up (otherwise must be heavy splashing water or sheep), and then the site slaughter base cooking stove is done, in turn, the sheep bone, meat, soup points worship god. At the funeral of the elderly, most of the dutiful sons would “offer sheep”, and some would offer “two pigs and two sheep”, that is, the “animals” would lie in front of the funeral with their heads and hoofs after being killed and skinned. Mutton is a great tonic, usually mother-in-law to serve the daughter confinement must take mutton, more one, less one (a cut of four).