Chinese Wine Culture

Chinese Wine Culture

Wine is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented sorghum, barley, rice, grapes or other grain and fruits. In Chinese food culture, wine and cuisine are the two major themes. Excellent wine and delicious foods are the basic elements of Chinese traditional food culture. Wine is not only about the art of drinking but also the art to enrich our lives. According to the ancients, wine is holy, and Chinese drinking art is venerable which has a set of customs and styles for ancient drinking activities. In China’s 5,000 years of history, wine and wine culture have always played important roles. As a special cultural form, wine culture occupies a unique position in traditional Chinese culture, in which wine almost has come to pervade every aspect of social life. Wine is necessary for not only wedding ceremony, celebration dinner, welcome party, farewell dinner, but also for the memorial ceremony, praying, driving trouble away, pastime even for medical treatment, keeping in good health, bodybuilding, and longevity.

Wine culture is highly developed in China. When drinking, people not only take an interest in persons drinking together, drinking time, and drinking place but also mix poetry, painting, customs and games together to turn to drink for enjoying physical pleasure into advanced spirit pleasure.

Through drinking, people’s views, emotions, behaviors and interpersonal relationship are influenced thus the romantic life situation, and cultural atmosphere is created.

The Origin of Wine

As one of the countries where the earliest winemaking started, China is the hometown of wine and also the birthplace of wine culture. Chinese wine has a long history and many varieties. In China, there are many famous kinds of wines which gain a renowned reputation in the world. Wine making also has a long history. In the several thousand years of development of civilization, wine and wine culture are mainly developing along with each other. The history of Chinese wine can be dated back to the antediluvian period. So the rise of Chinese wine started from 5, 000 years ago.

About the origin of the wine, there are mainly four legends; winemaking starts from God, winemaking starts from an ape, winemaking starts from Yidi and winemaking starts from Dukang. These legends are full of interest and charm along with the parts of exaggeration and imagination which are all derived from the respect and praise for wine.

The Classification of Wine

(1)    Classified by the Brewing Process

According to the brewing process, wine can be classified into a brewed alcoholic beverage, distilled liquor, and blending type.

Brewed Alcoholic Drink it's the wine extracted or pressed from the raw materials such as fermented fruit or grain. Usually, this kind of wine is not strong. Alcohol degree is no more than 15% with weak pungency. Apart from containing alcohol, raw materials also have nutritional

Ingredients and decomposition products with high nutrition value. Yellow rice wine, beer and grape wine all belong to a brewed alcoholic drinks.

Distilled Liquor Distilled liquor is the wine made from the fermented raw materials such as fruit or grain and distilled fermented liquor. Distilled liquor usually is comparatively strong which degree is more than 30%. White wine belongs to distilled liquor.

Blending Wine The base wine of blending wine is normal juice wine or distilled wine, which is blended with alcohol or non-alcohol materials. After soaking and mixing, the blending wine is obtained. This kind of wine has the most abundant species with different edible values according to the selected wine base and auxiliary materials. For example, Yangmei shaojiu (Waxberry aquavit), Zhuyeqing liquor, Sanshe wine (made from three kinds of snakes), ginseng liquor, liqueur, and Chinese vermouth all belong to the blending types.

(2)Classified by Alcohol Types

According to the alcohol content, wine can be classified into strong wine, moderate wine, and mild wine.

Strong Wine Strong wine refers to the wine with an alcohol content of more than 40 %, for example, Maotai liquor and Wuliangye.

Moderate Wine Moderate wine is wine with an alcohol content between 20% -40% such as Zhuyeqing liquor, rice wine, and yellow rice wine.

Mild Wine Mild wine is the wine with an alcohol content lower than 20% such as grape wine, sweet olive aged wine, and champagne.

The Style of Wine

Each wine has a unique style. Not only different wine but also a wine of the same kind have different styles. Style of wine is the product of many factors, such as color, flavor, taste, and body.

(1)    Colour

The wine color comes from raw materials in the liquor-making production process (adding color or fading in color), aging color, blending color, and so on.

(2)    Flavor

The formation of wine flavor is very complicated. The winning flavor comes from liquor-making raw materials, fermentation process and aging.

The flavor styles of Chinese spirit include Fen-flavor, Luzhou-flavor, Maotai-flavor, rice-flavor, and multiple-flavor. Fen-flavor liquor is represented by Fenjiu. Luzhou-flavour liquor is represented by Wuliangye and Guizhou Maotai. Maotai-flavor liquor is represented by Maotai liquor. Rice-flavor is represented by Guilin Sanhua liquor and Guangdong Changieshao. Multiple-flavour liquor is represented by Xifeng liquor.

(3)    Taste

The taste of wine determines its value. The main tastes include sweet, sour, bitter, hot and astringent.

(4)    Body

Body refers to the comprehensive aspect of wine style, which in China specifically means the comprehensive reflection of color, flavor, and taste while according to many experts from the international wine industry, which only refers to the abstract aspect of taste.

The Types of Drinking Vessel

The drinking vessels, which are an important carrier of the wine culture, are born with the invention of wine. Through the drinking vessels of different dynasties, we can not only learn the traditional culture but also study the long history in China. The types of drinking vessel in ancient limes are in abundance with different functions and manufacturing materials. Drinking vessels are mainly used for storage, warming, and drinking. Regarding the manufacturing materials, from ancient to now, there have been many materials, such as pottery, china, lacquer, jade bronze ware, gold and silver, glass, ivory, horn, clamshell and wood and bamboo.

Wine containers mainly have Zun, You, Ping, and so on.

Wine-warming vessels mainly have Jue(薛) Jue (角),7m, and so on.

The main drinking vessels are Gong, Gu, Bei, and so on.

The Influences of Wine

With its unique function and style, wine exists in society, and its impact pervades every aspect of social life. Even in the early Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the wine has been popular, and soon afterward it has been tied to politics, economy, military affairs, medicine, literature, art, and etiquette. Wine provides a wide variety of functions, for example, in daily life, wine is necessary for congratulation, celebration, gratitude, teacher appreciation, alleviating sadness, drowning sorrow, pastime, restoring spirit t farewell, reunion, visit, entertaining, welcome, and so on. Wine makes our lives more colorful, hence there are sayings, which go “no wine, no banquet” and “no wine, no folk custom”, which lays the foundation of unique spirits culture of China. In general, wine can be used to refresh ourselves, protect us from cold, cure our disease, help us to make friends, distract our grief, and so on.

(1)    Wine and Social Communication

As long as we live in society, social communication is necessary. Then as a medium of communication, wine plays an important role in interpersonal interaction. Wine is the bridge to exchange ideas and build friendship, and the bond to greater closeness and acquaintance between people. In human society, wine is used frequently as the medium in varieties of intercourse activities. For instance, from ancient to now, the wine has widely been used in sacrificing, celebrating a birthday, organizing a wedding party, entertaining people, making friends, speaking of ambitions, encouraging, enjoying, driving grief away, curing disease, and so on. Chinese hospitality is especially prominent in the feast. Affection between people is sublimated when they propose a toast. When Chinese people propose a toast, they all urge others to drink more to do the honors. The more guests drink, the happier the Host becomes because he feels being respected. If the guests don't drink, the host will feel losing face.

(2)    Wine and Chinese Literature

Wine can stimulate the nerve centers, dilate blood vessels, increase the heart rate and promote the blood circulation. In specific circumstances, this kind of stimulation on talented people will bring about the unexpected magical result. Wine, as the catalyst of intelligence and courage, has encouraged the emergence of numerous heroes, litterateurs, and artists and has helped their achievements and works to be immortal.

Wang Xizhi’one of the greatest calligraphers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty’ is known as “saint of calligraphy”. His masterpiece Lantingji Xu is done when he was comfortably drunk and wrote at ease. A lot of “Zhi”（之）are used in the whole passage, neither of which are the samely written. After Wang Xizhi sobered up, he can’t believe that such a brilliant work is his own. Afterward, he rewrites Lantingji Xu more than once, but never reaches perfection as the one written during drunk.

“Li Bai drinks a Dou of wine that can write a hundred poems” vividly expresses the relationship between wine and poem. Famous poets in China such as Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, Li Bai, Du Fu, He Zhizhang, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Liu Yuxi, Bai Juyi.Du Mu, Li Shangyin all drink and write about wine.

(3)    Wine and Medical Care

Wine is the remedy for treating a cold and refreshing oneself. According to Li Shizhen, an ancient medical scientist in China in the Ming Dynasty, wine heads the list of medicines. Sensible drinking can play an adjustment function for the body. Wine can dredge the channels, promoting blood circulation and remove blood stasis eliminate stagnation, warm Yang and dispel cold, disperse stagnated liver Qi for relieving Qi stagnation, enable people to express themselves freely. Sensible drinking can increase saliva and gastric juices secretion and promote primary digestion and absorption and blood circulation. Wine can also work for spiriting up, refreshing, relieving stress and facilitating sleep, and so on.

(4)    Wine and Politics

There are plenty of politicians and heroes being related to wine. For instance, Qinmugong, a duke of Qin State, offers wine to people who stole his horse. Chuzhuangwang, a duke of Chu State, is good at wine strategy. Goujian, a king of Yue State t pours the wine into the river and asks his soldiers to drink their fill to enhance troop morale. Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, sang Song of the Big Wind when drunk. Cao Cao, the founder of Wei Regime in the Three Kingdoms Period, invited Liu Bei to drink together and discussed who the hero is. Yang Guang, the emperor of the Sui Dynasty, asks for drinking when dying. Zhao Kuangyin, the first emperor in the Song Dynasty, removes from the military position using cups of wine. Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, uses wine to sound his ministers. Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu, arranges Hongmen Banquet; Jing Ke, a warrior, wants to kill King Qin after drunk. Huo Qubing.a famous general in Western Han Dynasty pours wine into spring. Guan Yunchang.a famous general of the Shu Regime in the Three Kingdoms Period, kills Huaxiong, a famous general in Wei Regime before the warm wine became run. Wang Anshi, a famous prime minister in Western thousand cups of wine, is not too many when drinking so on.

The Drinking Etiquette

As a kind of diet culture, drinking has had a serried of etiquette that everyone should abide by since ancient times. In ancient China, the etiquette is as follows.

When host and guests are drinking together, they should kneel mutually. When drinking in front of elders, young people should serve and accompany the elders to drink. Usually, young people should make prostration and then lake a secondary seat. Only when the elders asked them to drink, they can raise their glasses, and they can’t drink off the whole glass before the elders finish his wine.

There are four procedures in ancient drinking etiquette, Bai, Ji, Cui, and Zujue. First, a guest makes a courtesy call to express respect. Then he spills a little wine to the ground to thank the earth for its virtue of breeding. Next, he tastes and praises the wine to please the host.

Finally, drain off the whole glass.

In the banquet, the host should propose a toast to the guest ( known as Chou), and in turn, the guest should also propose a toast to the host ( known as Zuo) and exchange their best wishes for each other. Guests also can propose a toast mutually (known as Lvchou). Sometimes people should propose a toast one by one ( known as Xingjiu). When proposing a roast, people should Bixi, stand up. In general, three glasses of wine are appropriate.

Jiuling( A Drinkers, Wager Game)

Jiuling is the game in a banquet to make fun. Usually, one person is elected as Ungguan (commander), and the rest will follow his order to read poems, supply the antithesis to a given phrase or play other similar games. People who disobey the order or lose in the game will be punished for drinking. So it is also called “play game and drink" which appears in the Western Zhou Dynasty and develops in Sui and Tang Dynasties.

To sum up, Jiuling is used to penalize people to drink. But the main purpose is to provide a lively atmosphere when drinking.

(1)    Yaling

First, one person is chosen as the commander to offer verses or antithetical phrases; then other people should supply the rest parts based on orders. The following part should conform to the given one in content and form, or the person will be punished for drinking. It’s the part in which people can show their intelligence and talent.

(2)    Tongling

Tongling, which is also called Suling, mainly includes playing dice, drawing lots, finger-guessing and number-guessing games. Tongling can easily warm up the atmosphere in the banquet, so it has been relatively popular. But when playing Tongling people always shake lists, swing arms, make noises that sometimes seem to lack grace and be vulgar, dull and noisy.

(3)    Chouling

Chouling is the Jiuling with playing chips. People should draw the chips in tum, and act and drink based on the orders on the chips. Chips should be prepared beforehand, and they are usually made by paper bamboo, card even bone and ivory.

The Representative Wines from Different Provinces in China Guizhou Province Maotai liquor Dongjiu

Sichuan Province Five golden flowers ( Wuliangye), Luzhou laojiao, Jiannanchun, Ijingjiu, and Tuopai Yeast liquor.

Shanxi Province Fenjiu, Zhuyeqing liquor.

Shaanxi Province Xifeng liquor.

Hu’nan Province Wuling wine.

Hubei Province Huanghelou wine.

He’nan Province Baofeng wine.Songhe liquor.

Guangxi Province Guilin Sanhua liquor.

Fujian Province Chen, gang wine.

Jiangsu Province Yanghe liquor, Shuanggou wine.

Zhejiang Province Shaoxing rice wine.

Anhui Province Cujing wine.