In costume dramas, we can always see some characters who appear in the image of the prodigal son who is at ease and loves to drink, they are either righteous or not into the dust, and the most unified common point is that there is a wine jug that does not leave the hand, of which the number of wine gourds is the most. For example, in our memory, "Jigong Living Buddha" starring Teacher You Benchang, to the next remake of "Living Buddha Jigong" starring Teacher Chen Haomin, in addition to some crazy but very righteous people's impressions, the most profound is the character image of a broken robe, a broken fan and a wine gourd.
So, here is a question to ask, why did the ancients like to use gourds to fill wine?
In the process of making wine, the development history of the mainland can be described as a long history, which has penetrated into the culture of China for 5,000 years and occupies a very important position in the lives of Chinese sons and daughters. Such a profound "wine culture" has also promoted the development of wine utensils, and its number and variety are more famous in the world. In ancient times, the mainland's wine-holding utensils, warm wine utensils and drinking utensils are very elaborate, of which the wine-holding utensils are not only refined in appearance, but also will be divided into categories corresponding to the appropriate groups of people, excavation of excavated cultural relics, there are Zun, Axe, 卣, pots and so on. However, although these wine-holding utensils are expensive and exquisite, they are very unfavorable to carry-on, so for wine drinkers who need to travel far, they are more inclined to use some easy-to-carry wine utensils.
But it is obvious that in ancient times, there was no mastery of glass, plastic and other production techniques, only iron, copper, silver and other metal products, and these products are very bulky and fragile, silverware even has the risk of being robbed, so for long-distance drinkers, of course, they prefer to use natural utensils. Among them, because the south is rich in water resources and more bamboo, the southerners use bamboo tubes more, while the northern climate is suitable for planting gourds, and the gourds are easy to be tied around the waist, and the northerners use gourds more.
Secondly, in terms of meaning, the gourd also has a very auspicious and beautiful symbol. First of all, because the pronunciation of "gourd" is very similar to "Fulu", which has the meaning of wealth and longevity, followed by the "Hezuo" wine that ancient couples drank together when they married into the cave house, of which "卺" is the meaning of gourd, and because the gourd itself is vine-long and prosperous, it is regarded by the ancients as a mascot for praying for future generations. Therefore, the gourd was very respected and loved by the ancients in ancient times.
Finally, drinkers often use gourds to fill wine, also because of its own benefits and good storage. Because the gourd itself can be cooked or medicated, it also has a detoxifying effect on the human body, according to the "Compendium of Materia Medica", the wine contained in the gourd has the effect of defeating the fire and suppressing cough and moisturizing the lungs. Secondly, for people with good wine, the taste of wine is of course the most important, and the height of the liquor with the gourd will just increase a faint gourd fragrance, making the taste more layered, although it is inconvenient to store for a long time, but it is still no problem to use it in a short period of time.
In the comic book Assassin's Creed: Dynasty, we can see that "Shi Xian" Li Bai carries a wine gourd every moment, and for such a wild, free-loving, and good wine addicted literati, the gourd is indeed the only wine container. Therefore, even now, we have to sigh at the rational use and high wisdom of the ancients for natural objects.