China’s wine culture has a long history like copper culture. With the arrival of the agricultural era, the wine-making industry emerged. The development of the wine-making industry promoted the corresponding development of wine utensils. The richness and perfection of drinking etiquette also made Wine utensils have developed in diversity. The development of pottery production, especially the bronze industry, provided conditions and guarantees for the production of wine sets. The ancients said, "You can't drink without a drinking vessel, and the size of the drinking vessel must be appropriate." Chinese people have always paid attention to beautiful food and beautiful utensils, and they pay even more attention to the exquisiteness and appropriateness of wine vessels when drinking. This makes wine vessels as a part of wine culture also have a long history and come in various forms.
Wine utensils refer to utensils for making wine (in the early days), holding wine, and drinking wine. After the emergence of large-scale industrialized wine-making technology in modern times, wine utensils generally refer to utensils for holding wine and drinking wine. In different historical periods, due to the continuous development of social economy, the production technology, materials and appearance of wine vessels will naturally undergo corresponding changes. Therefore, a wide variety of wine vessels have been produced.
The development and changes of wine utensils reflect the rich cultural life background, reflect the continuous evolution of wine customs, and have very rich cultural connotations. It reflects the historical process from the side. Wine utensils have rich functions: first, they can serve as an aesthetic aid for drinking. The elegant shapes and fine ornate decorations of Chinese wine sets have a huge aesthetic effect on drinkers, allowing them to be nurtured by culture and art while raising their glasses; secondly, drink sparingly and in moderation. In ancient China, wine had a jiǎ (jiǎ), a pot, a cup, and a jue. All wine utensils were designed and manufactured according to a certain capacity to show the amount of drinking. Again, reflect social etiquette. As the carrier of the etiquette system, Chinese drinking utensils show the occasion of use and the identity and status of the user. Moreover, people with different identities and statuses use different drinking utensils, and there are also strict class regulations.
Speaking of drinking utensils. We will think of the descriptions in literary works. From the idiom "gangchaoqiao", to the heroes of the world "sipping wine with ladles" or "sifting wine in large bowls"; from the calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi drinking from "Qushui Liushang", to the poet Li Bai "having to drink three hundred cups at a time" , then to Su Dongpo "one bottle returns the moonlight over the river"; Fan Zhongyan "brings wine to the wind, he is overjoyed", to Li Qingzhao "three cups and two cups, how can I defeat him, the wind comes late"... "Gin" in poems and essays "Zun", "cup", "cup", etc. are all drinking utensils. However, the times are different and the drinkers are different. People in ancient times drank from the cups in their hands at the pond, heroes ladleed out ladles and filled bowls with large drinks, and literati drank from cups and cups.
Wine is a product of agricultural society. With the rise of agriculture, people not only had the food they needed to survive, but they could also use grains as raw materials for making wine at any time. With the emergence of pottery, people began to have cooking utensils. From cooking utensils, specialized wine making and drinking utensils were developed. It is difficult to determine when the earliest special drinking utensils originated. Because in ancient times, it was very common for one utensil to be used for multiple purposes. However, as early as the Neolithic Cultural Period of more than 6,000 BC, pottery similar in shape to later wine vessels had appeared in our country. Various animal-shaped turtles were unearthed from a tomb during the Dawenkou Cultural Period in Shandong Province. Judging from its shape, it may be the earliest wine vessel.
Bronze wine set. Casting began in the Xia Dynasty and became popular in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Entering the late Neolithic Age, the earliest copper wine vessels were discovered at the Erlitou Cultural Site in Yanshi, Henan during the Xia Dynasty. Various types of copper wine vessels were unearthed, including flat-bottomed vessels and convex-bottomed vessels, some with long and slender vessels, and some with short vessels. If they are thick, it can be basically concluded that they are all wine warmers or drinking vessels. "Shiben·Zuopian" says that "Dukang made wine" and "Shaokang made mash wine", which also came from the Xia Dynasty. This shows that at least by the Xia Dynasty, artificial wine-making technology had been greatly improved. The wine vessels of the Gehua period in Longshan have a complete range of types and clear uses, and are very similar to the wine vessels of later generations. These wine vessels include: jars, urns, bowls, bowls, cups, etc. Among them, there are many types of wine glasses, including flat-bottomed cups, ring-foot cups, high circle-foot cups, high-handled cups, inclined-wall cups, curved-belly cups, goblet-shaped cups, etc.
In the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze wine vessels reached their peak, especially in the Shang Dynasty. With the development of the brewing industry and the improvement of bronze production technology, bronze wine vessels reached unprecedented prosperity. Due to the Yin people's addiction to alcohol, there were also clans such as the "Changshao clan" and the "Weishao clan" that specialized in making drinking utensils. The food culture of the Yin people is most famous for drinking, which can be seen from the wine pond meat forest of the King of Yin and the "Jiu Gao" the Duke of Zhou gave to Uncle Kang. Uncle Kang was warned in the "Jiu Gao" he received: Don't let your subjects "indulge in wine." Because the "decline" and even "death" of the Yin people were due to "the desolation was caused by wine" and "the common people were drinking wine, and the fishy smell was high, so the sky mourned the Yin, but did not love the Yin." Although the drinking culture was curbed in the Zhou Dynasty, the wine vessels basically followed the style of the Shang Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty, there were also "Zi people" who specialized in making wine sets. In the Spring and Autumn Period, with the advent of the Iron Age, bronze wine vessels began to decline.
During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, the brewing industry had reached a very prosperous level. This can be clearly proved from the relevant records of Oracle. For example, the word "浵" frequently seen in oracle bone inscriptions is the word "玵 (niè)" in later ancient books. "Shuowen" teaches that "糵" means "Yami", which is germinated rice and is used for fermentation in wine making. A raw material similar to later generations of distiller’s yeast. "Tiangong Kaiwu·Jiu Mu" has a saying that "in ancient times, rice is used to make wine, and glutinous rice is used to make wine." "Li" is a kind of sweet and thin wine, which also appears frequently in oracle bone inscriptions. It can be seen that "糵" was indeed a popular drink in the Yin and Shang Dynasties. A koji substance widely used in wine making.
Inscriptions have repeatedly recorded the use of glutinous rice flour to make wine, and there was a special official called "Xiao Zhenchen" who was in charge of wine making. What's more, sometimes the King of Yin would visit the wine making workshop in person to inspect and provide guidance.
Judging from the "new wine" and "old wine" mentioned in the "Cui" article, it is clear that the Yin people also knew how to use storage methods to make more mellow "aged laojiao". The large belly can increase the capacity; the pointed bottom facilitates half-burial in the ground. "Shuowen": "You, that is, millet grown in August can be made into a liqueur." "Shujiu" refers to a mellow wine that has been brewed twice or even many times. If you look closely at its meaning, the word "You" still exists in brewing. , the meaning of making wine; the word "You" used as the meaning of "wine" is derived from the wine making utensil. It is worth noting that in the oracles, "Li" and "Liquor" are always described separately and are not mixed with each other. The most likely reason is that, like later generations, wine and Li were brewed in different ways and had different flavors in the Yin Shang Dynasty. . If we follow the above-mentioned saying that "quji is used to make wine, and tillers are used to make wine", this difference between "wine" and "li" may be a hint that the Yin people have invented an advanced method of using koji to make wine. In recent years, a piece of distiller's yeast weighing 8.5 kilograms was unearthed from the Shang Dynasty site in Taixi, Gaocheng, Hebei Province, providing valuable physical proof for this speculation.
In addition, there is also a wine name "鬯 (chàng)" in the inscriptions. According to later Zhou literature, 鬯 is a special fragrant wine brewed from black millet. If this wine is mixed with the juice boiled with tulips, it becomes a fragrant wine called "Yu 鬯". Qian and Yuqian were the highest-grade wines in the Yin and Zhou dynasties. They were mostly used to worship gods and were also used by emperors to reward officials. Maogong Ding and Dayu Ding both have records of "giving Qian". The appearance of "鬯" in the oracles also illustrates the high level of winemaking achieved by the Yin Shang Dynasty.
In line with the prosperity of the wine-making industry, the amount of wine used and the prosperity of drinking during the Yin-Shang Dynasty are even more amazing, which can be seen from the large number of wine vessels unearthed from the Yin-Shang ruins. As mentioned before, the bronzes of the Yin and Shang Dynasties were extremely developed, and among the types of bronzes unearthed, wine vessels accounted for more than half. The variety and quantity are almost unprecedented. And all kinds of wine vessels are fully matched, including Lei (wine making vessel), Hu (wine storage vessel), Zun (a vessel for storing wine and preparing it for pouring), 卣 (a vessel for holding wine and preparing it for transfer), 牉 and 斝 (all are Wine warmer), jue, goblet and goblet (all are drinking vessels, the goblet is also used to warm wine, and the goblet is also used to scald wine), dou (wine pouring vessel), etc., it can be said that they are all available. From this, it is not difficult to imagine the special love and hobby of Yin merchants for wine.
The wine vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties had a complete range of types and specific uses. According to the "General Theory of Bronze Wares of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties", the bronze wine vessels of the Shang and Zhou dynasties are divided into twenty-four categories. According to the purpose, they are divided into wine cooking vessels, wine storage vessels and drinking vessels. There are also ritual utensils. The shapes are rich and varied. A wine utensil is a container used to hold wine and prepare it for drinking. The main types are: Zun, Hu, District, Zun (zhī), Pan, Jian, Dendrobium, Gong, Weng, Gou (bù), Yi, Lei and Dou. Each type of wine vessel has many styles, including ordinary ones and animal shapes. Taking statues as an example, there are elephant statues, rhinoceros statues, ox statues, sheep statues, tiger statues, etc. The main drinking utensils include: horn, jue, cup, gongchou, goblet, goblet, boat, respect, goblet, bell, and drink. People of different status use different drinking utensils, such as: "At the ancestral temple ceremony, the venerable ones raise their goblets, and the humble ones raise their horns." The wine warmer is used to heat the wine before drinking, and is equipped with a ladle to facilitate taking the wine. Wine warmers, also known as bottles, were popular in the Han Dynasty. The bronze mirror in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suizhou, Hubei can be placed on ice to store wine, so it is also called an ice mirror.
However, the Yin people did not just regard drinking as a general pleasure. Wine obviously had a more solemn status in the lives of Yin merchants. Judging from the above-mentioned unearthed bronze wine vessels, most of them are finely crafted and decorated with mysterious and majestic animal-face patterns such as Taotie. There is no doubt that most of them were used as ritual vessels.
In fact, the solemn status of wine has been revealed in Zhou people's "Jiu Gao", which is "Sizi Wine". Didn't the Yin people use wine to enjoy magical powers? It's just that the gods they enjoyed were not the gods of the Zhou people but the gods of the Yin people. It can be seen that the prevalence of drinking is also a manifestation of the religious spirit of the Yin people advocating ancestor gods.
As a special drink, wine has a fragrant, intoxicating and ecstatic effect that is naturally consistent with the mysterious religious spirit. It is conceivable that during rituals of worshiping gods and praying for blessings, and in the process of shamans performing spells, wine can help people enter a state of imagination and hallucination, and promote people to reach a spiritual state of extreme piety and obsession, thereby firmly believing that they are possessed by gods. The body has communicated with God. This may be the reason why wine has been first associated with witchcraft and sacrificial activities since its discovery.
The Yin people connected drinking with sacrifice. Many inscriptions in oracle bone inscriptions related to the activities of Yin and Shang emperors using wine to worship their ancestors. The text of "Yi" asks whether Sanlao, Qiang and wine should be used as sacrifices to enjoy the gods when performing sacrifices. The word "Yong" is called "Yong". Meaning, the object of sacrifice is the ancestor Yi of the Yin people; the "tan" in the "Qian" text should be read as "", which is a ceremony held in the suburbs to worship heaven and earth. It mentions "hundred men", "hundred men" and "hundred men". Cow", which shows that its scale is quite impressive.
Of course, wine also makes people indulgent, rude and fearless. Just as singing, music and dancing entertained gods and people, while people used wine to worship gods and ancestors, they themselves were also intoxicated in the rich taste of wine, "feeling like a fairy"; the result of further development was drinking for fun and debauchery.
"Jiu Gao" said that King Zhou of Yin "indulged in lewdness" and "did not just (think) to rest but to relax", and even reached the point where "he was so heartbroken that he could not fear death"; "Historical Records·Yin Benji" even recorded him "There was a large gathering of music and play in the sand dunes, using wine as a pool and county (hanging) meat as a forest, so that men and women (naked) chased each other and drank for a long night." Although this is just an extreme expression of the drinking and carnival of the Yin and Shang royal families , but it also reflects a certain state of the Yin people's alcoholism.
Now it seems that the mysterious color of Yin and Shang aesthetic culture, including systematic legends about the supreme god, rich imaginary stories, and fanatical and even barbaric witchcraft customs, are all related to the spirit created by drunkenness and revelry. Status is not irrelevant. At the same time, wine also enhanced people’s pleasure experience of taste enjoyment, which paved the way for the later marriage of “beauty” and “taste”. As long as all the words with "You" as the radical are related to beauty, such as smooth, mellow, intoxicated, etc., it is not difficult to see the special effect that wine culture has played in the history of the development of aesthetic culture.
However, the Yin people paid the price of national subjugation for wine. From then on, the ritual and music culture of the Zhou Dynasty led the ancestors to become gentle and elegant.
During the Zhou Dynasty, starting from King Wen of Zhou, there were "three chapters" in which wine could only be used for sacrifices, that is, "sacrificial wine". He felt that wine was harmful to the people but not beneficial. In his opinion, wine is the only person responsible for the confusion and demoralization of the people and the weakening and destruction of the country." . Therefore, people in the Zhou Dynasty paid attention to abstaining from drinking, "restrainedly followed King Wen's teachings, and were not shy (thick) in drinking". Therefore, Zhou Gong asked Uncle Kang in the "Jiu Gao" to strictly abstain from drinking after arriving in Weiguo. If he encounters a situation of "group drinking", he must not let it go, but "take all the prisoners and return them to Zhou and kill them." ; If you encounter ministers "indulging in wine", although you do not need to kill them, you must "teach them" and have this clear instruction to enjoy the country. "Jiu Gao" was originally an instructional speech by the Zhou people, which reflected the cultural consciousness of the Zhou people.
The Zhou Dynasty made clear regulations on bronze wine vessels: one liter is called a jue, two liters is called a goblet, three liters is called a goblet, four liters is called a horn, five liters is called a powder, and six liters is called a pot. The specifications of this bronze wine vessel were followed until the Qing Dynasty.
Wine vessels are divided into wine storage, wine serving and drinking vessels. Generally speaking, jue, 杝, goblet, 觯, horn, etc. are mainly used for drinking. The shape of the horn is like a jue, but it has tails at the front and back, no pillars, and some horns have covers. It was popular in the Shang Dynasty; the goblet has a round mouth and is equivalent to the cup of later generations; the goblet is also used as a wine vessel, most of which are oval. Shape: a mouth with a flow in front and a handle at the back; 杝, a round mouth, with a bow but no flow, and two pillars, which flourished in the Shang Dynasty and the early Western Zhou Dynasty; goblet, a trumpet-shaped mouth, a thin waist, and high feet; a goblet, shaped like a Zun Small for drinking or holding wine. The "interlaced" glasses are also common drinking vessels. There are also bronze cups. A bronze cup was unearthed in Tongling, with ears on both sides, or "ear cup".
卣, kettle, zun, 牉, etc. are wine containers, which were used in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. 卣 (yǒu), round or oval, with a deep belly and a ring foot, with a lid and a handle; the Shang Dynasty pots were mostly flat and round, while the Zhou Dynasty pots were mostly round and big belly. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the pots were flat and round, with long necks, and some were square. Pots. During the Warring States Period, pots were round, square, gourd-shaped, etc. There are many styles of pots, usually with a deep navel and a round mouth, with a flow (i.e. spout) in front, and the lid and pot are connected by a chain.
Bells, francium, etc. are used as wine storage vessels. Francium is a square pot and Zhong is a round pot, but both are larger in shape. The clock is also a measuring instrument in Shang Dynasty. During the Warring States Period, the Qi State used four liters as beans, four beans as ou, four ou as cauldron, and four cauldrons as bells. Bells, beans, cauldrons, etc. were all standard measuring instruments at that time. During the Warring States Period, the cauldron was in the shape of an altar, with a small mouth, a large belly, and two ears. The beans look like tall plates, or have lids. Most of the above wine vessels are made of pottery, and in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, they were made of bronze.
As drinking vessels, jue, 杝, etc. have columns along the edge, and there are two types: single column and double column. When drinking, the pillar is placed against the bridge of the nose. It is said to remind the drinker that too much alcohol will cause trouble and drinking should be stopped in moderation.
The bronze wine sets are dignified and heavy in shape, heavy in style, simple and beautiful. The body of the vessel is mostly decorated with "taotie pattern", "Kui dragon pattern", "bird and animal pattern" and "cicada pattern". The shape is mysterious and ferocious, showing the dignity and inviolability of the slave-owning aristocracy. Among them, the wine sets that imitate the three-dimensional shapes of animals in nature also express the slave owners' yearning for beautiful things and their desire for good luck, as well as their mood of praying for the protection of gods and evil creatures, such as tiger-shaped wine sets, sheep-shaped wine sets, and cow-shaped wine sets. Wine sets, elephant-shaped wine sets, owl (xiāo)-shaped wine sets, etc.
After the Spring and Autumn Period, bronze wine vessels still existed and developed. However, with the advent of the Iron Age, bronze vessels gradually withdrew from the stage of history. There are lacquer wine vessels, porcelain wine vessels, jade wine vessels, crystal products, gold and silver wine vessels, tin sprinklers, cloisonné wine vessels, glass wine vessels, aluminum cans, stainless steel drinking vessels and so on.