Ancient Wine Vessels

During different periods of history, due to the continuous development of social economy, the production technology, materials and appearance of wine vessels naturally changed accordingly; therefore, a great variety of wine vessels have been produced, which is too much for the eyes of the present generation. According to the material can be divided into:

natural materials wine (wood, bamboo products, animal horns, conch, gourd mushrooms), pottery wine, bronze wine, lacquer wine, porcelain wine, jade, crystal products, gold and silver wine, tin wine, cloisonné wine, glass wine, aluminum cans, stainless steel drinkers, bags of plastic flexible packaging, paper packaging containers.

First, the ancient times of the wine

People in ancient times, the people, the people who drink blood, the use of fire, so that people ended this primitive way of life, the rise of agriculture, people not only have a living food, at any time you can also be used for brewing raw materials for brewing wine grains. The emergence of pottery, people began to have cooking utensils; from the beginning of the cooking utensils, and differentiated from the specialized drinking utensils. When did the earliest specialized drinking utensils originate, it is difficult to determine. Because in ancient times, a multi-purpose should be very common. Ancient wine, is unfiltered wine mash (this kind of wine mash in the present is still very popular), is a paste and semi-fluid, for this kind of wine, it is not suitable for drinking, but edible. Therefore, the wine utensils for consumption should be general eating utensils, such as bowls, bowls and other large-mouthed vessels. Ancient times of wine production materials are mainly pottery, hornware, bamboo and wood products.

As early as in the Neolithic culture period more than 6,000 years ago, pottery with shapes similar to those of later wine vessels, such as those of the Pei Ligang culture period, had already appeared. (1) The pottery of the Hemudu culture period in the south can also remind people that in the Shang Dynasty period the wine utensils should have quite a long historical origin. (2) The development of the brewing industry and the noble status of the drinkers made it possible to differentiate wine utensils from general eating utensils. The quality of wine utensils often became a symbol of the status of the drinker. Specialized makers of drinking utensils also came into being. In a tomb of the Dawenkou culture period (3) in present-day Shandong, a large number of wine utensils (brewing utensils and drinking utensils) were unearthed, and according to the analysis of archaeologists, the deceased may have been a full-time maker of wine utensils during his lifetime. In the late Neolithic period, especially represented by the Longshan culture period, the types of wine vessels increased and their uses were clearly defined, with greater similarity to those of later generations. These wine vessels include: jars, urns, pellets, bowls and cups. There are many types of wine cups, including: flat-bottomed cups, rim-footed cups, high rim-footed cups, high-stemmed cups, slant-walled cups, curved-bellied cups, goblet-shaped cups and so on.

Second, the bronze wine vessels of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties

In the Shang Dynasty, due to the development of the brewing industry, bronze production technology to improve, China's wine vessels reached an unprecedented prosperity. At that time, the occupation also appeared in the "long spoon clan" and "tail spoon clan" this kind of clan specialized in making wine utensils for a living. Although the drinking culture of the Zhou Dynasty was not as good as that of the Shang Dynasty, the wine vessels basically followed the style of the Shang Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty, there are also specializing in the production of wine "Zi people".

Bronze from the summer, has found the earliest bronze wine for the summer Erlitou culture period of the Jennifer (Figure 5). Bronze in the Shang and Zhou reached its heyday, the Spring and Autumn decline, the use of the Shang and Zhou wine vessels is basically specialized. According to <<Yin Zhou bronze general theory>>, the Shang and Zhou bronzes *** divided into four major parts of the food, wine, water and musical instruments, *** fifty categories, of which wine accounted for twenty-four categories. According to the use is divided into boiled wine, wine containers, wine drinker, wine storage. In addition, there are ceremonial vessels. The shape is rich and varied. But there are also basic combinations, the basic combination is mainly Jenn and goblet, or plus jia, the same form, its shape, style also carries the imprint of different historical periods.

Wine utensils is a kind of wine containers for drinking. There are many types, mainly the following:

Zun, pots, districts, goblets, dishes, identification, dendrobium, goblets, urns, ampoules, Yi

Each kind of wine vessel and there are many styles, there is a common type, and there is to take the animal modeling. Take Zun as an example, there are elephant Zun, rhinoceros Zun, ox Zun, sheep Zun, tiger Zun and so on.

The main types of drinking vessels are: goblet, goblet, horn, jennel, cup, boat. Different status of people use different drinking vessels, such as << Rites? (Rites)) clearly stipulates: "the temple of the sacrifice, the honored lift the goblet, the humble lift the corner".

Wine warmer, used to heat the wine before drinking, with a ladle, easy to take the wine. Some wine warmers are called bottles, which were popular in the Han Dynasty.

The bronze kan in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suizhou, Hubei Province, can be placed in ice to store wine, so it is also known as ice kan.

Third, the Han Dynasty lacquer wine

Since the Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty, bronze wine gradually declined, the Qin and Han Dynasties, in the south of China, the popularity of lacquer wine. Lacquerware became the main type in the two Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties.

Lacquer wine tools, its form basically inherited the form of bronze wine tools. There are wine utensils, drinking utensils. Drinking utensils, lacquer ear cups are common. In Hubei Province, Yunmeng Sleeping Tiger 11 Qin tombs, unearthed 114 pieces of lacquer ear cups, in Changsha, Mawangdui Tomb No. 1, also unearthed 90 pieces of ear cups.

During the Han Dynasty, people drinking is generally sitting on the floor, wine bottle into the middle of the floor, which is placed in the scoop of the wine, drinking utensils are also placed on the ground, so the shape is shorter and fatter.

The Wei and Jin dynasties began to popularize the sitting bed, the wine tool became more thin and long.

Fourth, porcelain wine

Porcelain roughly appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty around the time, compared with pottery, whether it is brewing wine or wine or drinking utensils, porcelain performance is beyond the pottery. The shape of wine cups in the Tang Dynasty was much smaller than in the past, so some people believe that distilled spirits appeared in the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty appeared on the table, also appeared some suitable for use on the table wine utensils, such as note, the Tang people called ? The Tang people called? , its shape like today's wine pot, with a beak, with a handle, that can hold wine, but also can be injected into the wine cup. Thus replacing the previous bottle, spoon. The Song Dynasty was the heyday of ceramic production, there are a lot of beautiful wine. Song Dynasty people like to drink yellow wine after warming. Therefore, they invented the matching combination of the note and the note bowl. When in use, the note with wine in the note bowl, to the note bowl into the hot water, you can warm wine. Porcelain wine vessels have been used to this day. Ming Dynasty porcelain wine to blue and white, Doucai, sacrificial red wine most characteristic of the Qing Dynasty porcelain wine with the characteristics of the Qing Dynasty, Falang Cai, Su Sancai, blue and white Linglong porcelain and a variety of antique ceramics.

Fifth, the other wine

In China's history, there are some unique materials or unique shape of the wine, although not very popular, but has a high appreciation value, such as gold, silver, ivory, jade, cloisonné and other materials made of wine.

The Ming and Qing dynasties and even after liberation, tin wine warmer is widely used. Mainly wine warmer.

Luminous Cup: Tang Dynasty poet Wang Han has a famous poem said: ? The wine of grapes, wine, night-luminous cup? 　　Inverted flow pot: In Shaanxi Provincial Museum there is a Northern Song Dynasty Yaozhou kiln produced inverted flow porcelain pot. The pot is 19cm high and 14.3cm in diameter, and its lid is false and cannot be opened. There is a small hole in the center of the bottom of the jug, the bottom of the jug is upward, and wine is injected from the small hole. The small hole is connected to the center water separator, and the upper hole of the center water separator is higher than the highest wine surface, so that when the wine pot is placed squarely, the lower hole does not leak wine. Under the spout of the pot is also a water separator, so that the wine can not overflow when entering the wine. The design is quite ingenious.

Mandarin ducks turn incense pot: the pot used in the palace of Song Dynasty. It can pour two kinds of wine in one pot.

Nine Dragons Fair Cup: Produced in the Song Dynasty, above is a cup with a carved dragon with its head upward, and there are eight dragons painted on the wine set, so it is called the Nine Dragons Cup. Below is a disk and hollow base, pouring wine, such as moderation, drops of wine, such as more than a certain limit, the wine will pass ? Dragon body? The siphon effect, the wine all sucked into the base, so it is called fair cup.

渎山大玉海:Specialized for the storage of wine jade urn, with the whole piece of mixed-color nephrite faceted, 5 meters in circumference, surrounded by carvings infested with waves in the sea dragons, sea beasts, vivid images, magnificent, weighing 3500 kilograms, can be stored in the wine 30 stone. It is rumored that this large jade urn is the first ancestor of the Yuan Kublai in the first two years (1256 AD) from the field, placed in the island of Qionghua, used to wine, feast reward ministers, is now preserved in the Beijing Beihai Park in front of the Tuancheng.