By a lake, an attendant ladles wine from a great earthen vat into a cup, cloth-covered jars cool in a basin of well water, sour-plum drink and sweet soup are served in bowls, two friends toast, and a small still steams in the corner.
Baijiu, yellow wine, rice and fruit wines, kumis and milk drinks, sour-plum and herbal drinks, sweet soups, and the etiquette and games of drinking: the drinks of China other than tea.
1250 BCE · OriginShang oracle-bone inscriptions often record offerings of wine, and tombs at Yinxu and elsewhere have yielded many bronze wine vessels, showing that brewing and the ritual use of wine were well developed.1300 · EvolutionDistilled shaojiu begins to appear in Yuan records, and the Lidu distillery workshop site in Jiangxi and the 'arajhi wine' of the Yinshan zhengyao are often cited as its physical and textual witnesses, though its origin remains debated.1578 · ImpactLi Shizhen's Bencao gangmu of the Ming stated that 'shaojiu is not an ancient method; it was first created in the Yuan' and described distillation in detail.
Wine and soft drinks are both drunk at the table, but they serve different ends: wine is for ritual, feasting and social exchange, while soft drinks are for thirst and daily life. This class sorts drinks by type: baijiu by aroma style, as sauce-aroma, strong-aroma, light-aroma and other styles; huangjiu; rice and fruit wines; kumis and dairy drinks; beer and highland barley brews; sour-plum drink and other soft drinks; sweet soups; herbal teas; and drinking etiquette and games. Tea has a class of its own and is not here.
These drinks were recorded early. Shang oracle-bone inscriptions often record offerings of wine, and tombs at Yinxu and elsewhere have yielded many bronze wine vessels, showing that brewing and the ritual use of wine were well developed. The Offices of Heaven in the Rites of Zhou set a wine master, who told apart the five qi and the three kinds of wine, and a drinks master in charge of the six drinks, so wine and non-wine drinks already stand side by side in the Zhou texts. When distilled white spirit first appeared is still debated, and a common view places it around the Yuan.
Wines are sorted by aroma style and raw material and also by how they are made: distilled baijiu, undistilled huangjiu and rice and fruit wines, kumis made from milk, and beer and highland barley brews made from grain, each with its own method. Soft drinks are sorted by use: sour-plum drink and the like mostly for summer, sweet soups as a sweet, herbal tea as a plant drink. A drink that fits several classes is placed under each of them.
Today wines and soft drinks are still used together at banquets and in daily life, and each place has its own drinking customs. This class covers types of drink and drinking customs only, not particular famous drinks or products. General seating and manners when drinking belong to Table Etiquette, and the rules and games specific to wine belong to drinking etiquette and games in this class.
Spirits, Wines and Folk Drinks is the class for drinks in the chapter on the Cuisine. It covers the aroma styles of baijiu, huangjiu, rice and fruit wines, kumis and dairy drinks, beer and highland barley brews, and also soft drinks such as sour-plum drink, sweet soups, herbal teas and drinking customs, the drinks other than tea and the customs around them. Wine serves ritual, feasting and social exchange, while soft drinks serve thirst and daily life, and this class sets the two side by side. Tea has a class of its own.
Spirits, Wines and Folk Drinks records types of drink and drinking customs, not a single wine.
Shang oracle-bone inscriptions often record offerings of wine, and tombs at Yinxu and elsewhere have yielded many bronze wine vessels, showing that brewing and the ritual use of wine were well developed.
The Offices of Heaven in the Rites of Zhou set a wine master, who told apart the five qi and the three kinds of wine, and a drinks master in charge of the six drinks, so wine and non-wine drinks already stand side by side in the Zhou texts, each with its own officer.
The Book of Han table of officials lists a keeper of mare's-milk wine under the Grand Coachman (renamed in 104 BCE), and the commentator Ying Shao says it took the milk of nursing mares and churned it, an early hint that kumis was made in the Han.
Jia Sixie's Qimin yaoshu of the Northern Wei has chapters on making starters and brewing; Zhu Gong's Beishan jiujing of the Northern Song (preface dated 1117) sets out the making of starters and the steps of brewing in separate juan, a book given wholly to brewing.
The Dreams of Splendor of the Eastern Capital describes Bianjing's wine houses and names wines such as silver-flask wine and lamb wine, and the Mengliang lu describes the taverns of Lin'an, so drinking had become an ordinary part of city spending.
Distilled shaojiu begins to appear in Yuan records, and the Lidu distillery workshop site in Jiangxi and the arajhi wine of the Yinshan zhengyao are often cited as its physical and textual witnesses, though its origin remains debated. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming says that shaojiu is not an ancient method and was first made in the Yuan, and describes distillation in detail.
In the late Qing foreign merchants opened breweries in Harbin (1900) and Qingdao (1903), and beer began to be made in China. Today the various wines and soft drinks are used together at banquets and in daily life.
Distillation Vessel
The large steaming bronze vessel at lower left is the central apparatus for liquor distillation.
Collecting Distillate
Figures beside the smaller central vessel show the collection of distilled liquor.
Fire Heating
The fire below the lower-left vessel heats the mash and drives vapor upward.
Liquor Tasting Table
The lower dining group drinking from cups shows distilled liquor entering banquet custom.
In a distillery, fermented grain mash is heated in a wok-like still, the vapour rising to be condensed by a cold-water pan above, and clear baijiu drips from the spout as the master tastes each cut. The chemical leap from low-degree brewing to high-proof solid-state distillation.
Spirits, wines and folk drinks are like a jug with two spouts: one pours wine, the other soft drinks; what comes out differs and suits different occasions, yet both come from one jug, and whoever holds it looks at the occasion before tipping it.
Shang wine vessels and oracle-bone wine offerings, and the wine master and drinks master set side by side in the Zhou texts, show that the jug had two spouts early and has been used ever since.
Two old friends met after many years. One brought wine, the other brought sour-plum drink he had made himself.
They drank wine first and talked for a long time, from their own homes to their own children. As it grew hot they switched to the sour-plum drink, and the ice in the cups slowly melted.
Someone nearby asked them, "Which is really better?"
They said, smiling, "It depends on the time and who you are with." When they left, the one who had brought wine left what remained on the table, and the one who had brought sour-plum drink poured what was left into his own jug, saying, "Next time, then."
A year later the two met again. This time the one with the wine had also brought a jug of sour-plum drink, and the one with the sour-plum drink had also brought a small bottle of wine. Each looked at what the other had brought and they both laughed.
Many years later one of them grew old and could no longer drink wine, and drank only sour-plum drink. The other still came with wine, poured a cup and set it opposite, drank his own, and the two still talked for a long time.
Passers-by saw a wine cup and a drinking bowl side by side on the table, and the two old men talking across it, each drinking his own, neither urging the other to change.
Wine and soft drinks each have their occasions, one for gathering and ceremony, the other for thirst and daily life. This class sets them together to show that they are neither the same thing nor opposites, and the same person uses both at different times. (This is an illustrative story, not a historical account.)
Beer and Highland Barley BrewsUndistilled grain brews other than huangjiu and rice wine, chiefly beer and highland barley brew.
Blended and Infused LiquorsLiquors made by steeping or blending plants, flowers or fruit into a base of baijiu, huangjiu or another alcoholic drink.
Sauce-Aroma BaijiuBaijiu of the sauce aroma, known for starter made at a high temperature.
Strong-Aroma BaijiuBaijiu of the strong aroma, fermented in mud pits and marked by the fragrance of the pit.
Light-Aroma BaijiuBaijiu of the light aroma, made with separate steaming and distilling and a daqu starter.
Other Baijiu Aroma StylesBaijiu aroma types other than the sauce, strong and light aromas.
HuangjiuHuangjiu, fermented from glutinous rice, millet or wheat and then pressed.
Rice and Fruit WinesRice wines of the sweet fermented-rice kind, and wines brewed from fruit.
Kumis and Dairy DrinksFermented mare's milk, and the other drinks made from milk.
Sour Plum and Other Soft DrinksSour plum drink and the other non-alcoholic drinks made from plants and grain.
Sweet SoupsSweet soups served as dessert, such as mung bean soup.
Drinking CustomsDrinking etiquette, the manners of urging a drink and drinking games.