What is the real Chinese wine culture?

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Wine culture is a wonderful flower in the hundred gardens of Chinese culture, but only if it meets the corresponding requirements can it be called Chinese wine culture in the true sense.

Wine is a drink that belongs to the material level, but it is also integrated into people's spiritual and cultural life. In the history of China's thousands of years of civilization, wine culture has penetrated almost into various fields such as politics, economy, culture and education, social life, literature and art.

Wine culture and politics

The "Zuo Chuan" has a saying: "The great affairs of the country are in the worship and rong." "Worshiping gods and ancestors has always been a ritual custom commonly observed by the Chinese nation. On some important festivals, ancestors are sacrificed to express the thoughts and respects of the dead. Wine is one of the necessary items during sacrifices, and in the activities of sacrifices, wine, as a beautiful thing, must first be dedicated to the gods and ancestors to enjoy. The Zhou Li has clear provisions on the use of sacrificial wine. War determines the life and death of a tribe or country, and warriors go out to use wine to motivate morale; The warrior triumphs, and he must wash the dust with wine to celebrate. The relationship between wine and national events can be seen here.

Because of the unique allure of wine, people are addicted, drunk, unable to control themselves, causing trouble, and hurting the body, which is considered to be the root cause of trouble. So, drinking alcohol is not just a personal matter for the drinker, but also a social behavior. In particular, the aristocratic class's obsession with wine has become a serious social problem, and there have been many monarchs in history who have been dragging on to wine, which has led to the disaster of national subjugation. The supreme ruler, acting on his own interests, had to formulate a strict management system for the production and consumption of alcohol, up to the point of banning alcohol.

The Warring States Policy records: "The Emperor's daughter ordered Yi Di to be beautiful as wine, to enter Yu, to drink and be willing, and to shu yi Di and to despair of wine." In the hereafter, there will be those who will perish their kingdoms with wine. Practice has proved that Xia Yu's prophecy is correct. The last kings of the Xia and Shang dynasties were killed and led to the destruction of the country because of their drunkenness. After the rulers of western Zhou took over the world, the Duke of Zhou summed up the historical lessons of the fall of the Xia and Shang dynasties, and formulated and issued the earliest prohibition order in China, "Wine Curse". It is believed in the "Wine Curse" that wine is the root cause of the loss of morality and the destruction of the country, which constitutes one of the leading ideas of the prohibition of alcohol in certain eras in Chinese history, and has become an example of the scriptures quoted by later generations.

Wine Culture and Education

The core elements of Chinese wine culture are "etiquette" and "morality".

Wine ceremonies are prominently reflected in ancient wine banquets, and some of them continue to this day. For example, most parts of China still retain the habit of "three tours", whether it is hospitality or friends to get together, first of all, drink three cups; At the banquet, the juniors or subordinates should take the initiative to respect the elders or superiors, and when toasting, the juniors or subordinates should be lower than each other when they touch the cup, so as to show respect; Another example is that every new dish on the wine table must first be transferred to the main seat. These actually reflect the etiquette elements of Chinese wine culture, which is an unwritten but powerful etiquette. The repetition and reinforcement of these ritual elements will eventually have an impact on people's thinking and behavior in life, and play a subtle role in educating. The orderly orderly, respect for the elderly and love for the young, respect for the elderly and love for the young, respect for respect, and humility and courtesy are not only the embodiment of Chinese culture, but also the strengthening of Chinese culture.

China is a country of etiquette, and etiquette occupies a very important position in China's social life. It is not only a sign of hierarchical order, a code of conduct for people to live in the world and interpersonal communication, but Chinese etiquette has actually become an unwritten moral code, a system with state management functions, and manifested in all aspects of society. Wine culture refracts, interprets and disseminates the moral customs and cultural rules of the real society, and what wine culture spreads is not simply etiquette, but the dissemination of "morality" through etiquette - which is the core of the core of Chinese wine culture. Chinese wine culture is not only a complete embodiment of "morality", but also plays a powerful role in disseminating "morality". In a sense, Chinese wine has actually become a unique comprehensive carrier of Chinese morality, ideology and culture. "Virtue" and "etiquette" are the core elements of Confucian philosophy, the operation rules of natural things are "Tao", the operating rules of human society are "morality", and Confucius concretized the implementation of "morality" into "etiquette", which is a consistent Confucian philosophy and the "gene" of Chinese wine culture.

Wine culture and social life

With the development of society and the general rise of the winemaking industry, wine has gradually penetrated into all areas of people's daily activities, and wine activities have also been extensive, and gradually stylized, forming a more systematic wine customs and habits.

In the daily production, life and social activities of the people of all ethnic groups in China, wine and folk customs maintain a close relationship of flesh and blood. Folk activities such as agricultural festivals, weddings and funerals, birthday celebrations, celebrations, and sending guests have become essential items. The worship celebrations during agricultural festivals use wine to remember the ancestors and express the sentiment and willingness to pursue a good harvest and prosperity; When drinking in the village, the happy and harmonious atmosphere between the neighbors in the village is extreme because of the excitement and affinity of the wine. The marriage of men and women is a lifelong event, and in the grand wedding, the festive wedding banquet is full of folk unique joys. The wine of funeral, the heart of loyalty and filial piety of future generations; the wine of birthday celebration, the joy of life; the wine of gathering relatives and friends, the friendship of brotherhood. In short, no wine is not a table, no wine is not a ceremony, no wine is not a custom, without wine, folk activities cannot be held, and there is no basis for sad and happy emotions.

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