Wine "gift"

Wine ceremony is the etiquette of drinking, which makes drinking a solemn activity and a ceremony. This kind of etiquette makes drinking wine a part of the process of civilization or cultural atmosphere. Now, clinking glasses at a banquet is the wine ceremony.

allusion

It is said that when Zhong Yu and Zhong Hui were young, they thought their father was asleep, so they invited to steal a drink. In fact, my father did not sleep well, but wanted to spy on the situation when the two brothers were stealing wine. Father found that Yu drank, "worship and then drink," and would "drink but not worship.". So each asked why. Yu said, "I dare not refuse to pay tribute to the wine." And the meeting said, "Stealing this book is not polite, so you don't worship it." This allusion is very interesting, which shows that the ancient people paid attention to certain etiquette when drinking. This kind of etiquette makes drinking a solemn activity and a ceremony; Therefore, it is not impolite to drink.

Ancient Wine Rites

In ancient China, there were some etiquette for drinking: when the host and guests drank together, they should kneel down to each other. When the younger generation drinks in front of the elder, they are called waiters. They usually kneel down first and then sit down at the next table. The elder orders the younger generation to drink, and the younger generation can raise their glasses; The wine in the elder's glass has not been finished yet, and the younger generation can't finish it first.

In ancient times, the etiquette of drinking was about four steps: worship, sacrifice, spit, and kill. That is, first make a gesture of worship to show respect, and then pour a little wine on the ground to thank the earth for its virtue; Then taste the wine and praise it to make the host happy; At last, drink up.

At the banquet, the host will propose a toast to the guest (call a reward), and the guest will return the toast to the host (call a toast). The toast will also include a few toasts. Guests can also toast each other (called travel rewards). Sometimes we have to toast people in turn (called Xingjiu). When toasting, both the toaster and the person being toasted should "avoid the table" and stand up. Ordinary toasts are based on three cups.

Among the 56 ethnic groups in the big family of the Chinese nation, except for the Hui people who believe in Islam, they generally do not drink, other ethnic groups drink. The custom of drinking is unique to all ethnic groups.

Contemporary wine ceremony

In the contemporary era, the ancient wine ceremony has become a unique traditional culture in China. With the change of modern life factors, the ideology of equality and democracy has become more and more influential, and the etiquette on the Chinese wine table has also changed, forming a unique modern wine ceremony culture in China. At the same time, the major Baijiu manufacturers also began to use Liquor Lilly as a way to build their own brands, and began to try to use the way of educating consumers to enhance their own brands and strengthen corporate culture. While promoting their brands, they also affected the formation of contemporary Liquor Lilly.

Etiquette and Customs of Wine: Drinking Customs on Major Festivals

The Chinese people have corresponding drinking activities on several major festivals of the year, such as "calamus wine" on the Dragon Boat Festival, "chrysanthemum wine" on the Double Ninth Festival, and "New Year wine" on New Year's Eve. In some places, such as Jiangxi folk, after planting rice seedlings in spring, they should gather for drinking, especially when celebrating the harvest. When the banquet is over, it is often "every family helps to get drunk". The new interpretation of the festival is that we must elect some days for people to get together and drink, so there are many festivals, almost every month. The festivals passed down from generation to generation are:

1. Spring Festival

 It is commonly known as Chinese New Year. In the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the first day of the first lunar month was New Year's Day; After the 1911 Revolution, the first day of the first month was renamed the Spring Festival. During the Spring Festival, you should drink Tusu wine and Jiaohua wine (Jiaobai wine); It means good luck, good health and long life.

"Tusu" was originally the name of the Grass Nunnery. It is said that in ancient times, a man lived in Tusu Nunnery. Every New Year's Eve, he gave his neighbor a package of medicine, and asked people to soak the medicine in water. On New Year's Day, he used the well water to drink wine and drink together, so that the whole family would not be infected with the plague for a year. Later generations took the name of this grass temple as the name of wine. Drinking Tusu Liquor began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is recorded in Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty that "Tusu wine, Chen Yanzhi's" Xiao Pin Fang ", said, 'This Hua Tuo Fang is also'.

Drink it on New Year's Day to dispel all the evils of the epidemic. " The drinking method is also quite particular, from "young to long". "Pepper wine" is made by soaking pepper, and its drinking method is the same as that of Tusu wine. Liang Zongmian recorded in The Chronicle of the Age of Jingchu that, "It is common to use pepper wine at the beginning of the year, and the pepper flowers are fragrant, so flowers are collected in tribute bottles. In the first month, people who drink wine are the first to be young, and those who drink wine are the first to be young, and those who drink wine are the first to be young. Those who lose their age are the first to drink wine." Wang Anshi of the Song Dynasty wrote in his poem "New Year's Day": "Firecrackers sound like a year old, and the spring breeze warms Tusu. Thousands of households always change new peaches for old ones". Gengxin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty wrote in his poem: "The evil wine was dispelled in the imperial court, and the cup of longevity was used in the New Year. The cypress spits with the inscription of the Lord, and the pepper is used to chant.".

2. A festival of lights

Also known as the Lantern Festival and Shangyuan Festival. This festival began in the Tang Dynasty. Because it was on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and was the birthday of the Three Officials, people used to pray to the Heavenly Palace and must sacrifice five animals, fruits and wine. After the ceremony, the donation will be withdrawn and the family will have a drink to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival. In the evening, watch the lights, fireworks, and eat Yuanxiao (tangyuan).

3. Neutral section

It is also called the Spring Community Day. On the first day of the second month of the lunar calendar, people worship the earth gods and pray for a bumper harvest. There is a custom of drinking and drinking wine and Yichun wine. It is said that it can cure ear diseases, so it is also called "Deafness Wine". Li wrote in a poem of the Song Dynasty: "The Sheweng is not in the mood today. He has a bottle of wine to cure the deaf for lack of energy. He is worried that the Jade Hall will want to pass and vaguely patrols to the waiting hall.". According to the Guangji, "the cottage is used as a medium liquor to offer sacrifices to the mango seeds and pray for the harvest". According to the Ancient and Modern Books Collection - Wine Department compiled by Chen Menglei in the Qing Dynasty, "On the Zhonghe Festival, people made wine in Lilu, which is called Yichun Wine".

4. Qingming Festival

The time is about April 5 in the Gregorian calendar. People usually combine Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival as a festival, with the custom of tomb sweeping and outing. The State of Jin began in the Spring and Autumn Period. There is no limit to drinking on this holiday. According to Youyang Zazu written by Duan Chengzhi of the Tang Dynasty, in the Tang Dynasty, Li Chun, the Emperor Xianzong, gave Li Jiangtu, the prime minister, wine after holding a banquet and drinking in the palace during the Qingming Festival. There are two reasons for drinking on the Tomb Sweeping Day: First, during the Cold Food Festival, you can't light a fire and eat hot food, but only eat cold food. Drinking can increase calories; The second is to use alcohol to calm or temporarily anesthetize people's feelings of mourning for their loved ones. The ancients wrote many poems about drinking during the Qingming Festival. Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his poem: "Where can I remember wine? The beautiful young people in Zhumen, after the spring equinox flowers, before the cold food moon". Du Mu wrote in his poem "Tomb Sweeping Day": "During the Tomb Sweeping Day, there was a lot of rain, and people on the road wanted to die. When I asked where the restaurant was, the shepherd boy pointed to the Apricot Blossom Village."

5. Dragon Boat Festival

It is also called the Dragon Boat Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, the Duanwu Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, the Daughter's Day, the Tianzhong Festival and the Dila Festival. It was on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, about the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In order to ward off evil spirits, eliminate evil and detoxify, people have the custom of drinking calamus wine and realgar wine. At the same time, there is also the custom of drinking toad wine and evening acacia wine to calm and sleep. The most common and widely spread one is to drink calamus wine. According to documents, during the reign of Emperor Guangqi of the Tang Dynasty (885-888), there were instances of drinking "calamus wine". Yin Yaofan of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his poem: "Young people are sentimental during the festival, but when they get old, they will never know how to feel the emotion. They don't follow the custom of Ai Fuhasten, but they pray for peace in Pu wine.". Later, it was widely spread among the people. It has been recorded in the documents of previous dynasties, such as Waitai Secret Essentials of the Tang Dynasty, Qianjin Prescription, Taiping Shenghui Prescription of the Song Dynasty, Yuanbarnyard Banknotes of the Yuan Dynasty, Compendium of Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty, Puji Prescription and Qingbarnyard Banknotes of the Qing Dynasty. Acorus calamus wine is a traditional seasonal drink in China, and the emperors of past dynasties also listed it as the seasonal sweet mash for imperial meals. Liu Ruoyu of the Ming Dynasty recorded in the History of the Ming Palace that he drank cinnabar, realgar, calamus wine, and rice dumplings at noon on the fifth day of the first lunar month. Gu Tieqing of the Qing Dynasty also recorded in the Qing Jialu that "studying the end of realgar, the root of cattail, and drinking with wine is called realgar wine". Because realgar is poisonous, people no longer drink realgar wine. The drinking of Toad Wine and Evening Albizia Wine was recorded in the Records of Nuhong Yu and the Unofficial History of the Southern Ming Dynasty written by Sanyu in Nansha in the Qing Dynasty.

6. Mid Autumn Festival

Also known as the Mid Autumn Festival and the Reunion Festival, it is on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. In this festival, no matter family reunions or close friends meet, people can not do without enjoying the moon and drinking. There are many reflections on drinking on the Mid Autumn Festival in literature poems. Shuolin records that "the millet in August can be Zhuo wine". According to the Tianbao Legacy written by Wang Renyu of the Five Dynasties, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty held a Mid Autumn Festival dinner in the palace, put out the lights and candles, and had a "moon drink" under the moon. Han Yu wrote in his poem: "There are many bright moons and nights in a year. Life is not his destiny. Why not drink Naiming if you have wine?" In the Qing Dynasty, it was customary to drink osmanthus wine during the Mid Autumn Festival. According to the Records of Victory at the Age of the Emperor, written by Pan Rong of the Qing Dynasty, during the Mid Autumn Festival in August, "the time to taste" was to drink "Osmanthus East Wine".

China has a long history of brewing liqueur with osmanthus flowers. During the Warring States Period, 2300 years ago, "osmanthus wine" had been brewed. In the "Songs of Chu", it was recorded that "the osmanthus wine and pepper paste".

Guo Xian of the Han Dynasty also recorded "Gui Fermented Rice" and "Huang Gui's Wine" in his "Dongming Ji of Other Countries".

It was popular to brew cinnamon wine in the Tang Dynasty, and some literati were also good at brewing this wine. Ye Mengde in the Song Dynasty recorded in the Record of Summer Vacation that "Liu Yuxi had the method of making cinnamon paste in his letter. Those who were good at making cinnamon paste were very beautiful in the summer months, and those who were good at making wine used drugs never failed to seize its flavor and sink the cinnamon. Those who were called cinnamon wine and pepper paste in the Chu Dynasty should know that it was good wine".

In the Jin Dynasty, Beijing brewed osmanthus wine in the process of making "Baihualu Famous Wine".

In the Qing Dynasty, "Osmanthus East Wine" was brewed, which is a traditional festival wine of the capital and also a royal wine. It is recorded in the literature that "in August, when osmanthus is fragrant, select the flowers to be released, brew wine, and seal it in the jar for three years. The wine is sweet and mellow, appetizing and refreshing...". Until today, it is still customary to drink aged osmanthus wine on the Mid Autumn Festival.

7. Double Ninth Festival

Also weighing the Nine Festivals and the Cornus Festival. On the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, it is customary to climb high and drink alcohol. It began in the Han Dynasty. The Chronicle of Things written by Gao Cheng of the Song Dynasty records: "Ju wine, Miscellaneous Records of Xijing, said: 'Madame Qi treated her son Jia Peilan, and later became Duan Ru's wife. It was said that when she was in the palace, she wore cornel, ate tent bait, and drank chrysanthemum wine on September 9, and the cloud made people live longer.' Climbing the height," Continuation of Qi Harmony " Said: 'Han Huanjing went on a study tour with Fei Changfang'. The predicate said, 'On September 9, your family will have a disaster. You should hurry to make your family a silk bag, hold cornel, climb a mountain, drink chrysanthemum wine, and the disaster can be eliminated'. King leads his family to land and return at night. Both chickens and dogs are dead. Fang said, 'This can replace people'. " Since then, people of all generations have been climbing high, appreciating chrysanthemums and drinking alcohol on Double Ninth Festival, which has continued to this day.

In the book Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen, a medical expert of the Ming Dynasty, said that drinking chrysanthemum wine often can "cure the head wind, clear the eyes and ears, eliminate flaccidity, and eliminate all diseases", "make people look good but not old", "make the head white", and "keep people light and long live". Therefore, the ancients used it to brew chrysanthemum wine while eating its roots, stems, leaves and flowers. In addition to chrysanthemum wine, some also drink cornel wine, chrysanthemum wine, yellow flower wine, coix wine, mulberry wine, cinnamon wine and other wines.

The methods of making chrysanthemum wine are different in history. In the Jin Dynasty, it was "picking chrysanthemum stems and leaves, and making wine with mixed sorghum, which will not mature until September of the next year." In the Ming Dynasty, it was "frying the juice with chamomile flowers, making wine with rice, or adding rehmannia, angelica and wolfberry.". In the Qing Dynasty, Baijiu was used to soak medicinal materials, and then distilled. Therefore, the chrysanthemum wine brewed since the Qing Dynasty is called "chrysanthemum Baijiu".

8. New Year's Eve

It is commonly known as the New Year's Eve. On the evening of the last day of the year. People have the custom of being different and keeping watch. That is, stay up all night on New Year's Eve, review the past and look forward to the future. It began in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Xu Junqian of the Liang Dynasty wrote in the poem "My wife sits up at night to watch the New Year": "Don't stop drinking when it's too late to enjoy love. I like peaches in wine, and I look for red bayberries in rice dumplings. When the curtain is open and the wind blows into the account, the candles are completely burnt into ashes. Don't doubt the importance of the hairpin at the temples, so as to wait for the dawn to urge me.". The New Year's Eve vigil is all about drinking. Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his poem "The vigil among guests" that "there is no wine in the vigil bottle, and homesickness is full of tears". Meng Haoran wrote such a poem: "Continue the Ming Dynasty to urge the painting of candles, and stay up for a long feast.". Su Shi of the Song Dynasty wrote in the "Three Prefaces to the Evening of the Year" that "to ask each other at the evening of the year is to 'give up the year', to invite each other to drink and eat is to 'bid farewell to the year', and to stay awake on New Year's Eve is to 'watch the year'".

On New Year's Eve, there are "Tusu Liquor" and "Jiaobai Liquor". This was originally a drink on the first day of the first lunar month, but it was later drunk on New Year's Eve. Su Shi of the Song Dynasty wrote in his poem "Eliminating the Sun": "Every year, when he finally drinks Su, he will be seventy years old.". Yuan Kai of the Ming Dynasty wrote in his poem "New Year's Eve among Guests" that "a cup of cypress wine can not defeat thousands of lines of tears". Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty wrote in his poem "Shou Sui at Du Wei's Residence": "Shou Sui becomes a family, and the pepper plate has been used to praise flowers".

At midnight on New Year's Eve, the family dinner is also called reunion wine, which is a custom that continues today.