A court has accepted a suit from a family claiming to be the true owners of 16 fermentation pits used for brewing by state-owned distiller Wuliangye, The New York Times reported. The Yin family said its ancestors had built the pits and were making baijiu spirits as early as the Ming dynasty until they were forced to hand over the property in 1958 during a period of socialist land collectivization. The company paid the family rent off and on thereafter but halted payments in 2009, claiming its purchase of a nearby factory entitled it to ownership of the pits as well.