What is the cultural origin and development of wine?

As a special cultural form, wine culture has its unique position in China traditional culture. In the history of civilization for thousands of years, wine has almost penetrated into all fields of social life. First of all, China is a country based on agriculture, so all political and economic activities are based on agricultural development. Most of the wines in China are brewed from grain, and wine is closely linked with agriculture and becomes a part of agricultural economy. The prosperity of grain production is a barometer of the rise and fall of wine industry. According to the grain harvest, the rulers of various dynasties regulated the production of wine by issuing or opening bans, thus ensuring the people's food. Conversely, the rise and fall of wine industry also reflects the situation of agricultural production, and it is also one of the clues to understand natural and man-made disasters in history. In some places, the prosperity of wine industry has played a positive role in improving the living standards of local society. Alcohol is closely related to social and economic activities. Since the implementation of the national liquor monopoly policy in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the liquor monopoly fee or special tax collected from the brewing industry has become one of the main sources of national fiscal revenue. Wine tax revenue is also related to the military expenditure and war in history, which is directly related to the life and death of the country. In some dynasties, wine tax (or monopoly revenue of wine) was also related to corvee and other tax forms. The rich profits of wine often become the fat meat that countries, businessmen and rich people compete for. The alternation of different wine administrations reflects the comparative changes in the strength of all walks of life. The release of wine orders is often related to the change of dynasties, emperors and some major royal activities. As a special commodity, wine adds rich colors to people's lives. The ancients in China divided the functions of wine into three categories: wine for treating diseases, wine for providing for the aged and wine for giving gifts. For thousands of years, the role of wine is not limited to these three, at least it also includes: wine makes you happy, wine forgets your worries, and wine emboldens you. Alcohol can also make people indulge, degenerate and hurt their health. In history, many monarchs were addicted to alcohol, which led to the disaster of national subjugation. Wine is a symbol of social civilization. To study the history of social civilization, we must study the history of wine culture. The rich connotation of Chinese wine culture will bring fun and enlightenment to people.

Brewing originated in China, and the wine brewed by whole grains has always been in a dominant position, and the share of fruit wine is very small. So the origin of brewing is mainly to explore the origin of grain brewing. A legend about the origin of wine-making In ancient times, the origin of wine-making was often attributed to the invention of someone who was described as the ancestor of wine-making and became an orthodox view because of their great influence. For these views, Song & gt once questioned the quality, saying that "none of them are enough for textual research, but they are redundant." Although this is not enough to verify, as a cultural identity phenomenon, it may be listed below. There are mainly the following legends. 1 Yidi Brewing According to legend, Yidi invented brewing in Xia and Yu Dynasties. The second century BC history book & gt cloud: \ \ \ \ "Yidi Brews Wine \ \ \ \". & gt further explained: \ \ \ \ "In the past, the emperor's daughter ordered Yidi to make wine beautiful, and it was sweet to drink:' There will be a country in the future, drinking instead of drinking. \ \ \ \ \' Therefore, etiquette and morality are neglected, and alcohol is forbidden \ \ \ \ "(Emperor Xia Nai) \ \ \ \". According to another legend, brewing in Du Kang started in Du Kang (also in Xia Dynasty). In the eastern Han dynasty << explains Chinese characters >>, among the entries explaining the word \ \ \ \ "wine \ \ \ \", there are: \ \ \ "Du Kang made wine. \ \ \ \ \ \ \ "<& ltShiben >> also has the same statement. Wine-making began in the period of the Yellow Emperor. Another legend shows that people began to make wine in the period of the Yellow Emperor. & gt recorded the scene of Huangdi and Qibo discussing wine making. & gt also mentioned an ancient wine-fermented cheese, which is sweet wine made from animal milk. The Yellow Emperor is the ancestor of the Chinese nation, and many inventions appeared in the period of the Yellow Emperor. & lt& lt Huangdi Neijing; This book is actually the work of the Yellow Emperor by later generations, and its credibility needs to be tested. Wine and heaven and earth are more mysterious at the same time. As the saying goes, "there is a wine star in the sky, and wine is also made, which is in harmony with heaven and earth." Although these legends are different, they generally show that wine-making existed as early as the Xia Dynasty or earlier, which is credible and has been confirmed by archaeologists. The Xia Dynasty was about four years ago. At present, wine-making utensils from many years ago have been unearthed. & lt& lt>8 August 23rd 1987, \ \ "The oldest writing in China was discovered in Juxian County, Shandong Province, with the subtitle \ \ \ \"). This discovery shows that wine-making in China began at least five years ago, and the origin of wine-making was of course before this. In ancient times, people may first come into contact with some naturally fermented wines and then imitate them. This process may take a long time. Second, modern scholars' views on the origin of brewing 1 wine is a natural product. Recently, scientists discovered that in the long universe, some celestial bodies are made of alcohol. The alcohol contained in it, if made into beer, can be used by human beings for hundreds of millions of years. What does this mean? It can just be used to show that wine is a natural product of nature. Man didn't invent wine, he just discovered it. The main component of wine is alcohol (scientific name is ethanol, molecular formula is C2H5OH), and many substances can be converted into alcohol in many ways. For example, glucose can be converted into alcohol under the action of enzymes secreted by microorganisms; As long as certain conditions are met, some substances can be converted into alcohol. Nature is fully equipped to produce these works. Jiang Tong of China Jin Dynasty wrote that the prosperity of wine originated from the emperor, or Yunyidi, YunDu Kang. The food is inexhaustible, the rest is empty, and the taste is stagnant and the gas is fragrant for a long time. This is due to this, which is not surprising. Here, the ancients put forward the view that leftovers are naturally fermented into wine, which accords with scientific truth and actual situation. Jiang Tong was the first person to put forward the theory of grain natural fermentation in Chinese history. In a word, people began to brew cereal wine, not for invention, but for discovery. Mr. Fang made a specific description of this: "Before and after the emergence of agriculture, the method of storing grain was extensive. Natural grains will be moldy and germinate when they are wet, and the remaining cooked grains will also be moldy. These moldy and germinated grains are natural tillers in ancient times. After they are soaked in water, they will ferment into wine, which is natural wine. People have been in constant contact with natural tillers and natural wine, and gradually accepted the drinking of natural wine, so they invented artificial tillers and artificial wine. Over time, they invented artificial tillers and artificial wine. " Modern science explains this problem in this way: under the action of enzymes secreted by microorganisms existing in nature, the starch in the leftovers is gradually decomposed into sugar and alcohol, which naturally becomes wine with rich aroma. In ancient people's food, the collected wild fruits have high sugar content and are easy to ferment into wine without liquefaction and saccharification. Fruit wine and milk wine-the first generation of beverage wine. People consciously imitate the masterpieces of nature to make wine. There are many records about the natural fermentation of fruit into wine in China ancient books. For example, in the Song Dynasty, Zhou Mi was> According to records, Yamanashi was stored in a clay pot and turned into pear wine. In the preface of Yuan Haowen & gt in Yuan Dynasty, it is also recorded that a peach piled up in a jar by a mountain man turned into a fragrant wine because of his refuge in the mountains. There are also records of so-called ape wine in ancient history books. Of course, this ape wine is not consciously brewed by apes, but naturally fermented fruit wine collected by apes. As early as the Paleolithic, people lived by gathering and hunting, and fruit was naturally one of the staple foods. Fruit contains more sugar (such as glucose, fructose) and other ingredients. Under the action of microorganisms in nature, it is easy to naturally ferment into a fragrant and delicious fruit wine. In addition, the milk of animals contains protein and lactose, which can be easily fermented into wine. Ancestors who lived by hunting may also get milk wine from the retained milk by accident. In << Huangdi Neijing >; There is a kind of fermented cheese in Chinese, which is the earliest record of milk wine in China. According to ancient legends and brewing principles, the most primitive wine varieties consciously brewed by human beings should be fruit wine and milk wine. Because fruit and animal milk are easy to ferment into wine, the required brewing process is relatively simple. 3. Did grain wine-making start in farming time or before farming time? To explore the origin of grain brewing, there are two questions worth thinking about: when did grain brewing originate? What is the oldest cereal wine in China? The latter question is introduced in the beer part of Chapter 5. There are two diametrically opposed views on when grain brewing began. The traditional view on the origin of wine-making is that wine-making developed after farming, which was put forward as early as Liu An years in Han Dynasty. It is said that the beauty of Qing Ang began with thunder. Many modern scholars hold the same view, and some even think that wine-making began when agriculture developed to a certain extent and there was surplus grain. Another view is that grain brewing preceded the farming era. For example, 1937, an archaeologist in China, Mr. Wu Qichang, once put forward an interesting point: our ancestors first planted millet for brewing, not cooking. Eating is really brought out by drinking. This view is very popular abroad, but there has been no evidence. Half a century later, Dr. Solomon Katz, an anthropologist at the University of Pennsylvania, published a paper and put forward a similar view. He believes that people originally planted grain for the purpose of brewing beer. People first discovered that the collected grain could be used to make wine, and then began to consciously plant grain to ensure the supply of raw materials for wine making. The basis of this view is that in ancient times, the staple food of human beings was meat, not grain, that is to say, the staple food on which human beings lived was not grain, so the explanation of human grain cultivation may also open up a new road. It is found abroad that people in ancient times began to brew cereal wine as early as 10 thousand years ago, when people were still living a nomadic life. To sum up, there are two main views on the origin of grain brewing, that is, before the farming era and after the farming era. It is of great significance for the origin and development of wine and the development of human society to put forward new viewpoints and re-explore traditional viewpoints.