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2 From Conservatism to Romanticism Wine and Prose-Writing from Pre-Qin to Jin Tak Kam Chan Wine has emerged as a recurring theme in classical Chinese prose in its three thousand years of historical development. At least three points of general significance may be kept in mind in studying early prose writings related to wine. First, wine was a luxury in ancient China; making wine required a lot of labour and grain. Second, the consumption of wine can produce diametrically opposite effects: duly enjoyed on ceremonial occasions, wine may foster a harmonious feeling between a ruler and his ministers and subjects, yet excessive drinking may cause chaos and even ruin human relationships or corrupt government in serious cases. Such diverse effects are well reflected in prose writings prior to the Tang dynasty, attesting to a cultural phenomenon fraught with potential tensions. Third, drinking is seen as an activity that facilitates artistic creation. Literati whose spirits wander in surreal drunken states feel more connected to the pulse of the universe, which enables them to capture the kaleidoscopic changes of the natural environment. One may say that studying the wine motif in early Chinese literati prose-writing can help us understand the ancient elite’s way of feeling and thinking. Wine traverses between culture and daily life, between abstraction and concreteness; it is a catalyst as well as an object of art, playing a meaningful role in the historical development of classical Chinese prose. Wine and Prohibition of Drinking in Ancient (Pre-Qin) Prose True to the Chinese cultural tradition, references to drinking in early Chinese literature do not start with the merry enjoyment of wine but with the prohibition of drinking. It is believed that Yu 䥡, the founder of the Xia dynasty, was the first ruler to propose the prohibition of wine: Yi Di, daughter of Emperor [Yao or Shun], made delicious wine and offered it to Yu as a tribute. After tasting its sweetness, Yu kept Yi Di at a distance and never touched the fine wine again, saying that wine would destroy someone’s kingdom some day. 16 Scribes of Gastronomy ⷅ烪⟗ㆾ凄烬⤛₨䉬ἄ惺侴伶炻忚ᷳ䥡炻䥡梚侴䓀ᷳ炻忪䔷₨䉬侴䳽㖐惺ˤ㚘炻⼴ ᶾ⽭㚱ẍ惺ṉ℞⚳侭ˤ1 Yu is a wise ruler who knows the potential danger of fine wine. Yet his descendant Jie 㟨 is notorious for drinking excessively, ‘wasting labour and using up people’s money to build a wine pond with a bank of dregs, indulging in effeminate pleasure and gathering three thousand people to drink at the strike of a drum’ 伟㮹≃炻㭓㮹屉炻䁢惺㰈䲇昬炻䷙有有ᷳ㦪炻ᶨ溻侴䈃梚侭ᶱ⋫Ṣ.2 The evil effects of a ruler’s drinking addiction are fully revealed: waste of labour, abandonment to lust, neglect of official affairs and the fact that every drinker belongs to the ruling class—all are signs leading to political doom. The Shang dynasty that overthrew the Xia ended in a similar way. From the large number of drinking vessels unearthed at the ruins of the Shang capital (Yinxu 㭟⡇), like jue 䇝, jia 㕅, he 䙱, gong 妍, you ⌋, zun ⮲, yi ⼅, lei 仵, etc., one might infer that the Shang was probably a wine-indulging dynasty (at least among the ruling classes), with a drunkard King Zhou 䲪ġas its last ruler. After overthrowing the Shang, Ji Dan ⦔㖎, Duke of Zhou ␐℔ġ(?–? BCE), wrote the famous ‘Announcement against Drinking’ (Jiu gao 惺婍) for his people, the first piece of wine-prohibiting writing in recorded Chinese history. He criticizes King Zhou of Shang as follows: He was simply obsessed with drinking and refused to refrain from pleasure. He had a perverse and cruel heart with no fear of death. He behaved badly at Yin [Shang’s capital] without worrying about its fall. No fragrant sacrifices ascended to Heaven; only people’s grievances and drunken officials’ rank alcoholic odour did. Thus Heaven showed no love for Yin and sent down destruction. ょ勺僮㕤惺炻ᶵょ冒〗ˣᷫ忠ˤ⍍⽫䕦⼰炻ᶵ⃳䓷㬣烊彄⛐⓮怹炻崲㭟⚳㹭䃉伡ˤ ⺿ょ⽟楐楁ˣ䣨䘣倆㕤⣑炻娽ょ㮹⿐ˤ⹞佌冒惺炻儍倆⛐ᶲ烊㓭⣑旵╒㕤㭟炻仼ッ 㕤㭟ˤ3 The warning relates the immorality of excessive drinking to irreverence toward the Lord-on-High, so that to avoid His repeated punishment, people might be more willing to follow the Duke of Zhou’s advice. In any case, making wine required a large amount of grain, and thus needed to be regulated in a simple agricultural society without overtaxing the food supply. Any drinking behaviour not restrained by proper etiquette was regarded as a moral hazard. It is possible that the Duke of Zhou’s serious approach muted early Chinese interest in wine, with the result that discussions of drinking are rare in ancient philosophical prose. The wine recorded in the ‘Wine Rites of the District Symposium’ 悱梚惺䥖 in the Book of Etiquette (Yili ₨䥖) merely serves as a...

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