Chinese wine culture is extensive and profound. In addition to the research value of "wine", wine utensils are a major cultural connotation. Good wine needs to be matched with good wine utensils in order to make drinking more ceremonial. It is difficult to determine when the earliest special wine utensils originated.
Because in ancient times, it was very common to use more than one tool. In ancient times, liquor was unfiltered mash (this kind of mash is still very popular today), which was paste and semi liquid. For this kind of liquor, it was not suitable for drinking, but for eating. Therefore, the drinking utensils should be general utensils, such as bowls, bowls and other large mouthed utensils. In ancient times, the main materials for making wine ware were pottery, horn ware, bamboo and wood products, etc.
As early as 6000 years ago in the Neolithic culture period, pottery similar to later wine vessels appeared, such as the pottery of Peiligang culture period. The pottery of Hemudu culture period in the South can also make people think that the wine utensils in Shang Dynasty should have a long history. With the development of wine making industry and the noble status of drinkers, it is possible for wine utensils to differentiate from common eating utensils. The quality of drinking utensils often becomes one of the symbols of the status of drinkers. Full time wine makers also came into being. A large number of wine utensils (wine making utensils and drinking utensils) have been unearthed in a tomb of Dawenkou Culture period in Shandong Province. According to the analysis of archaeologists, the deceased may have been a full-time wine maker. In the late Neolithic period, especially in the Longshan culture period, the types of wine vessels increased and their uses were clear, which had a great similarity with later wine vessels. These wine vessels are: can, urn, bowl, cup, etc. There are many kinds of wine cups, such as flat bottom cup, round foot cup, high round foot cup, high handle cup, inclined wall cup, curved belly cup, Gu shaped cup, etc.
Bronze wine vessels of Shang and Zhou Dynasties
In Shang Dynasty, due to the development of wine making industry and the improvement of bronze ware making technology, China's wine ware reached unprecedented prosperity. At that time, there were "Changshao clan" and "weishao clan", which specialized in making wine utensils for a living. Although the drinking custom of Zhou Dynasty was not as good as that of Shang Dynasty, the drinking vessels basically followed the style of Shang Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty, there were also "Zi people" who specialized in making wine sets.
Bronze ware originated in Xia Dynasty, and the earliest bronze wine ware is Jue in Erlitou culture. Bronze ware reached its peak in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and declined in the spring and Autumn period. According to the general theory of bronze ware of yin and Zhou dynasties, bronze ware of Shang and Zhou dynasties can be divided into four parts: food ware, wine ware, water ware and musical instruments, with a total of 50 categories, among which wine ware accounts for 24. According to the use, it can be divided into wine boiling device, wine holding device, alcohol drinking device and wine storage device. In addition, there are ritual vessels. The shape is rich and varied. But there are also basic combinations, the basic combination is mainly Jue and Gu, or with Jia, the same shape, its shape, style also has the brand of different historical periods.
Wine container is a kind of container for holding wine. There are many types, mainly as follows:
Zun, Hu, Qu, Zhe, Bei, Jian, Hu, Gong, Weng, PU, Yi.
There are many styles of each wine vessel, including common type and animal type. Take Zun as an example, there are Xiangzun, xizun, niuzun, yangzun, huzun and so on.
The main types of drinking utensils are: Gu, Chen, Jiao, Jue, cup and boat. People of different identities use different drinking utensils. For example, the chapter of "the book of rites · the utensils of Rites" clearly stipulates: "the sacrifice of the ancestral temple, the venerable one raises the Chen, and the humble one raises the horn.".
Wine warming device, used to heat wine before drinking, with dipper, easy to take wine. Some wine warmers were called bottles, which were popular in Han Dynasty.
The bronze mirror in the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Suizhou, Hubei Province, can be used to store wine with ice, so it is also called ice mirror.
Lacquer wine vessels of Han Dynasty:
Since the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze wine vessels gradually declined. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, lacquer wine vessels were popular in southern China. Lacquerware became the main type in Han, Wei and Jin Dynasties.
The shape of lacquer wine utensils basically inherited the shape of bronze wine utensils. There are drinking utensils and drinking utensils. Lacquer ear cup is common in drinking utensils. 114 lacquer ear cups were unearthed from 11 Qin tombs in Shuihudi, Yunmeng, Hubei Province, and 90 ear cups were unearthed from Mawangdui No.1 tomb in Changsha.
In the Han Dynasty, people generally sat on the ground when drinking. The wine bottle was put in the middle of the ground with a spoon for drinking and drinking utensils on the ground, so they were short and fat.
In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, bed sitting became popular, and wine sets became thinner and longer.
Porcelain wine vessels
Porcelain appeared around the Eastern Han Dynasty. Compared with pottery, the performance of porcelain is better than that of pottery, no matter it is used for brewing wine or drinking wine. The shape of wine cup in Tang Dynasty is much smaller than that in the past, so some people think that distilled wine appeared in Tang Dynasty. Tables appeared in the Tang Dynasty, and some wine utensils suitable for use on tables, such as Zhuzi, which is called "pianti" in the Tang Dynasty. Its shape is similar to today's wine pot. It has a beak and a handle, which can hold wine and can be poured into wine cups. Therefore, it replaces the previous bottle and spoon. Song Dynasty is the peak period of ceramic production, there are many exquisite wine. People in Song Dynasty liked to drink yellow rice wine after it was warm. Therefore, a matching combination of a note and a note bowl is invented. When in use, the wine injection is placed in the injection bowl, and hot water is injected into the injection bowl to warm the wine. Porcelain wine vessels are still in use today. In Ming Dynasty, blue and white ware, doucai ware and red wine sacrificing ware are the most distinctive. In Qing Dynasty, porcelain wine making ware has the characteristics of the Qing Dynasty, such as FA Lang color, Su Tri Color, blue and white exquisite porcelain and various antique porcelain.
Other wine vessels
In the history of our country, there are also some wine vessels with unique materials or shapes. Although they are not very popular, they have high appreciation value, such as wine vessels made of gold, silver, ivory, jade, cloisonne and other materials.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties and even after liberation, tin wine warmers were widely used. It is mainly a wine warmer.
Luminous cup: Tang Dynasty poet Wang Han has a famous poem: "luminous cup of grape wine". Luminous cup is made of jade, which has been successfully imitated in modern times.
Backflow pot: there is a backflow porcelain pot produced by Yaozhou Kiln of Northern Song Dynasty in Shaanxi Provincial Museum. The height of the pot is 19 cm and the abdominal diameter is 14.3 cm. There is a small hole in the center of the bottom of the pot. The bottom of the pot is upward, and wine is injected through the hole. The small hole is connected with the central riser, and the upper hole of the central riser is higher than the highest wine level. When the wine pot is placed in the right position, the lower hole does not leak wine. There is also a riser under the spout, so the wine will not overflow when it enters. The design is quite ingenious.
Yuanyang Zhuanxiang pot: the pot used in the imperial palace of Song Dynasty. It can pour two kinds of wine in one pot.
Jiulong justice Cup: produced in Song Dynasty, it is a cup with a carved dragon holding its head up and eight dragons painted on the wine set, so it is called Jiulong cup. The bottom is a disc and hollow base. When pouring wine, if it is moderate, the wine will not leak. If it exceeds a certain limit, the wine will be sucked into the base through the siphon effect of "dragon body", so it is called justice cup.
Dushan dayuhai: it's a jade urn specially used for storing wine. It's made of mottled black jade with a circumference of 5 meters. It's surrounded by sea dragons and sea animals. It's vivid and majestic. It weighs 3500 kg and can store 30 stones of wine. It is said that this big jade urn was brought by Kublai Khan, the first ancestor of the Yuan Dynasty, from other places in the second year of the Zhiyuan Dynasty (1256 AD). It was placed on Qionghua island to hold wine and enjoy meritorious officials. Now it is preserved in the Tuancheng in front of Beihai Park in Beijing.
