Abstract

This paper adopts the perspectives of terroir economy and cultural semiotics to analyze how Hungluh Chiew—a traditional Taiwanese rice wine—has continually reconstructed its cultural meanings and modes of consumption across various historical periods in response to shifting socio-cultural contexts. Known prior to 1945 simply as Red Wine (Anncyu), Hungluh Chiew originated in Anxi, Fujian, and was brought to Taiwan by Han Chinese immigrants during the Qing dynasty. It became widely used in important rituals such as ancestral worship, birthday banquets, and wedding ceremonies. Its vivid red hue symbolized festivity and health, while also embodying reverence for longevity and ancestral heritage, making it an indispensable element of Han ceremonial life. From the perspective of economy of terroir, the distinctiveness of Hungluh Chiew lies not only in its use of glutinous rice and Anka, or its unique brewing techniques and flavors, but also in its deep embeddedness within the natural geography of northern Taiwan and the local community’s practices and artisanal traditions. Following the Japanese colonial period, the advance of urbanization and colonial capitalism led to the emergence of restaurants and wine houses as key social venues for literati and wealthy merchants. Anncyu thus was gradually transformed from a locally consumed ceremonial drink into a form of urban cultural capital that signified social status and refined taste. The implementation of the monopoly system further accelerated its commodification and symbolization of Anncyu. Old Anncyu, marked by the “Golden Rooster” featured on the label, with a design that combined the rising sun symbolizing the Japanese Empire with the rooster totem, regarded as auspicious in Taiwanese culture, exemplifies the cultural hybridity of
colonial modernity. Anncyu was thus reconstructed as a consumer symbol shaped jointly by state institutions and market logic, becoming an important marker of social class, cultural identity, and group affiliation. After World War II, though Anncyu was renamed Hungluh Chiew, its cultural significance did not diminish with the political regime change. On the contrary, it became more deeply embedded in Taiwan’s collective cultural memory, particularly during the period of economic growth and social stability of the 1960s. It evolved into a multi-generational emotional link and a symbol of local identity.

Keywords: Hungluh Chiew, Golden Rooster, Anka, economy of terroir,
cultural symbol