"Shangshu Wine Letter" opens the history of alcohol prohibition in China: bronze drinking led to the demise of Yin Shang and Rome?

The end of the year is approaching, whether it is the annual meeting of various companies or the dinner of relatives and friends, whether to drink or not has become a topic of daily conversation. At this time, all kinds of unlearned marketing accounts will always come out to criticize the "5,000-year-old wine table culture" - but we know that before the Qing Dynasty, the Han people practiced separate meals during banquets, and there was no concept of "wine table" at all. In addition, ancient China has long practiced the prohibition of alcohol and alcohol monopoly, and also legislated to restrict the consumption of people in groups, and the source of all this can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties.

Businessman alcoholism

Thanks to the blessing of "Romance of the Gods", alcoholism is the most classic stereotype of the Shang Dynasty by the public. However, this is not a blind fabrication by the author of the novel, in fact, this stereotype is quite accurate - the bronzes of the Shang Dynasty excavated by modern archaeology, wine vessels occupy the absolute mainstream, such as jue, jiao, yao, jiao, bottle, jug, and tong; Therefore, archaeology enthusiasts have a witticism: "All the people of the Shang Dynasty are drunkards, and the people of the Zhou Dynasty are foodies."

During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, most of the liquor was brewed from staple grains such as millet and yellow sticky rice. The merchants were so alcoholics that it is hard to imagine where they got so much grain—unless it wasn't grown by the Shang dynasty themselves. Merchants are known for being good at trade, which is why trade is called "commerce" in Chinese. As for the fist products exported by the merchants, it is very likely that they are bronze.

Bronze casting was very "high-tech" at that time, and only a very small number of states mastered this high-tech. For example, the Sanxingdui bronzes we are familiar with, the latest tests have found that they are not produced locally in Sichuan, but come from Wucheng, Jiangxi, which was an important stronghold of the Shang Dynasty in the south. Therefore, some scholars suspect that the merchants may have extracted grain from other countries through the bronze trade. For example, Sanxingdui bronzes may be the OEM of the Shang Dynasty, and then ask the locals to exchange the high price of grain - if they do not master the latest technology, they can only be reduced to the export of cheap agricultural products, and if they are backward, they will be beaten.

The Shang Dynasty's immoral behavior of relying on technology to monopolize the sky-high asking price may have angered many of the submitting states. In the end, under the leadership of the Zhou people, the princes allied forces to defeat the Shang army in Makino, and this military adventure became the prototype of the story of the Great War of the Gods in later generations. As the leader of the anti-merchant alliance, the Zhou people were an agricultural tribe known for their simplicity and thrift. Even after the success of the destruction of the Shang Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty was respected as the "Dayi Shang", and at the same time humbled himself as the "Xiaobang Zhou".

"Shangshu Jiu Huo" is a prohibition of alcohol

The industrious and hard-working Zhou people obviously hated the Shang Dynasty's wanton drunkenness and waste of food. On the other hand, he also felt confused and confused that he could defeat the Shang Dynasty so easily, and began to think about why God had abandoned Yin Shang, and how he could avoid ending up with the Shang. In the end, the Zhou people came to the conclusion that it was all because the merchants were drunk, both wasting food and wasting government affairs, and the smell of wine angered the heavens, which led to the destruction of the country. The Zhou Dynasty wanted to take this as a lesson and strictly prohibit alcohol.

As a result, Zhou Gongdan, known as the "sage" and "master of dream interpretation", drafted one of the most famous alcohol bans in Chinese history during his regency, which is the "Shangshu Jiu Huo", which stipulates that only a small amount of alcohol can be drunk during sacrifices, and the death penalty is to be imposed for gathering people to drink: "If there are Zhou people gathering to drink, don't let them go, all of them will be captured and brought back to Zong Zhou, and I will definitely kill them myself!" Those who do not comply with the ban are also punished by death. And the Zhou people also called the table where the wine vessels were placed "forbidden" to show that drinking should be temperate.

However, for the remnants of Yin Shang, the Duke of Zhou still took care of their customs of good wine, and some people who drank alcohol were only admonished and taught, so as not to cut off their heads. The forces of the previous dynasty had more united front value, and it seems that it is also the practice of the past dynasties.

Sweet lead acetate: Yin Shang and Rome

However, some scholars believe that the fall of the Shang Dynasty may have had less to do with wine, but more to do with wine vessels - in 1969, the Freer Museum of Art in the United States tested 30 Shang Dynasty bronze wine vessels and found that these bronzes contained nearly 10% lead. Moreover, there are generally traces of fire at the bottom of the Shang Dynasty wine vessels, so it is speculated that the Shang Dynasty people liked to use bronze vessels to drink hot wine directly.

At this time, it is necessary to review chemistry together:

PbO+2CHCOOH❵Pb (CH₃COO) + H2O

Lead oxide and acetic acid produce lead acetate and water under heating conditions, and lead acetate, also known as lead sugar, has a sweet taste.

As we all know, wine spoils and becomes sour because ethanol oxidizes to acetic acid. The ancient Romans discovered that when sour wine was boiled with a lead vessel, the fermented sour wine would become extremely luscious. The Romans were so ecstatic that they even put lead powder in mulled wine to achieve the same effect, and simply used lead tanks to store water for wine. Then Rome had lead poisoning for all: neurasthenia, decreased IQ, abnormal mood, lead gums, colic, anemia and a bunch of other diseases.

Some scholars believe that Rome fell because the entire Roman hierarchy became a group of mentally retarded people with chronic lead poisoning. Similar suspicions also appeared in the East, did the Yin Shang nobles also find sour wine, as long as it is heated in bronze, it will become sweet? It is to the effect that a servant named Bi was sick from drinking and could not follow the Shang king (some people believe that the wine here refers to sacrifice rather than alcoholism).

The Yin Shang nobles who were holding all kinds of bronze wine vessels and drinking wildly, if they really had collective lead poisoning to the point of mental disorder, it was not impossible. Chronic lead poisoning can cause symptoms such as headaches, dementia, memory loss, emotional instability, mania, and delusions, which may be mistaken for alcoholism. Zhou Gong's "Wine Letter" has become a famous piece that has been recited through the ages because of its beautiful rhetoric and educational significance. So after the fall of the Zhou Dynasty, all dynasties and generations also followed the steps of the saints and began to ban alcohol.

"If more than three people drink in a group for no reason, a fine of four taels will be imposed"

For example, Xiao He, the founding prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty, stipulated when formulating the Han law: "If more than three people drink in groups for no reason, they will be fined four taels", which is obviously the inheritance of the "Wine Message". However, for most of the Han Dynasty, it was relatively lenient and did not strictly control drinking.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, in the Three Kingdoms, in order to raise military rations, the major forces began to actively ban alcohol. For example, when Liu Bei first entered Shu, he was forbidden to make wine. "Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Biography of Jian Yong" records that Liu Bei and Jian Yong went shopping one day and saw a farmer with wine-making tools. Liu Bei was furious and prepared to punish the family. Jian Yong felt that this was too harsh, so he pointed to the pedestrians on the side of the road and said that this person was going to commit adultery, so why not arrest and punish him. Liu Bei felt inexplicable and asked where the evidence came from. Jian Yong replied with a smile that the passer-by had tools for committing adultery hidden on his body, which was the same as the tools for making wine in his house, and should not be punished? Liu Bei laughed when he heard this, so he acquitted the farmer.

At the same time, Lü Bu also issued a ban on alcohol in the army, and he was killed for it: Hou Cheng and others, Lu Bu's general, were punished by Lü Bu for violating the ban because they found the lost horses and privately made wine to Lü Bu to celebrate. Hou Cheng and others held a grudge, and later tied up Lu Bu while he was sleeping and surrendered to Cao Cao.

And Cao Cao also promulgated a ban on alcohol, and Kong Rong, who loved pears, also wrote an article to fiercely oppose it. Not to be outdone, Cao Cao immediately published an article to fight back, listing the kings of the past dynasties who were addicted to alcohol and disorderly government. As a result, Kong Rong wrote an even sharper article in response: If there were monarchs in history who lost their country because they were too benevolent and humble, should they also ban benevolence and humility? When the Lu State perished because they admired literature too much, did they have to ban people from writing? The Xia Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty both perished because they favored women, so should they prohibit marriage?

In this regard, Cao Cao was speechless, and deeply hated Kong Rong, and finally gave Kong Rong an inexplicable "rebellion" to be cut. After the Han Dynasty until the Tang Dynasty, the prohibition of alcohol was also passed down from generation to generation, sometimes loose and sometimes tight - when the grain was harvested, it was relaxed, and the imperial court would even give wine to the people, but it was strictly forbidden again when the grain harvest failed.

The Song Dynasty liquor was a national monopoly

However, in the Song Dynasty, which was known for its economic development and commercial prosperity, the situation was very different: the prohibition of alcohol in the Song Dynasty was not a ban on drinking and brewing, but a policy similar to "purchase restrictions", that is, prohibiting individuals from buying wine made by the people. In other words, it is a state monopoly policy, and all alcohol products are sold exclusively by the state. However, there were many holidays in the Song Dynasty, and in order to prevent the army from drinking alcohol on festivals, the Song Dynasty also had regulations that alcohol was not allowed to be sent to the army on festivals.

The prosperity of the market and the relaxation of society made the winemaking of the Song Dynasty further developed, and the familiar Song Dynasty foodie Su Shi loved winemaking, and even wrote a "Wine Classic". And the place where he was demoted is far away from the emperor of the sky, and he doesn't even care about the "alcohol purchase restriction order" of the imperial court, it can be said that he was degraded all the way to wine. He brewed honey wine in Huangzhou, Tianmen Dongjiu in Yingzhou, orange wine and pine mash wine in Dingzhou, Guijiu and Zhenyi wine in Huizhou, and Tianmen Dongjiu in Hainan.

For each wine he has brewed, Su Shi has to record the method and taste in detail, and write poems to boast about himself: "The nectar is slightly turbid and clear", "The urn is fragrant in three days", "It is made into a jade color, and it has a natural fragrance", "It is brewed and the jade fragrance is transcendent, and it is not a worldly thing". He even said that his wine can prolong his life, and he doesn't need to walk on crutches after drinking, and he doesn't need to be beaten by a scholar: "I used to drink a lot of time, and I felt that I could escape from the punishment of heaven." Throw the cane and set out, and stop the child's scratching".

However, the ideal is very plump, and the reality is very skinny. A literati of the Song Dynasty who drank Su Shi's own brew wrote in his notes: "Drinkers are violent" - everyone who drinks it will have acute diarrhea. Even Su Shi's son didn't want to taste it again after drinking it, and when others asked, he "stroked his palms and laughed".

In fact, Su Shi also understands that he once mentioned in "Drinking Talk" that others said that his wine was "bitter and hard to taste" and "unpleasant". But he immediately comforted himself: "The joy and anger of the guest is nothing to do with me!" At the same time, Su Shi's alcohol consumption is not good, and he can drink Wuhe at most. The "Wuhe" in the Northern Song Dynasty is about 350 ml now, and Su Shi is a real cup to pour. It can be seen that he does not like to drink wine, but simply likes to brew it by hand.

In addition, there was no distilled liquor (shochu/baijiu) during the Song Dynasty. The wine drunk by the people of the Song Dynasty is only equivalent to the fermented wine such as rice wine, beer, and red wine now, and the degree is very low. As for the distilled spirits technology, it was brought back from Central Asia and West Asia by the Mongol expedition to the west. Distilled liquor was criticized in the Ming Dynasty as a poisonous, inferior liquor. In the Qing Dynasty, due to the fact that it came from northern Xinjiang, the status of distilled liquor was slightly improved, but rice wine was more popular.

It was not until after 1949 that distilled spirits replaced rice wine as the representative of Chinese liquor. If the Duke of Zhou, who promulgated the "Wine Decree", saw that later generations of descendants would use foreign spirits as a representative group drink, I am afraid that he would be angry again.

• (This article is only the author's personal opinion and does not represent the position of this newspaper)

South Sea Ink

Editor-in-charge: Chen Bin