This painting shows Li Bai drinks with the moon and his own shadow amid the flowers.

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The unique aspects of Chinese jiu culture, and the way that it projects aesthetic charms, are revealed in both ancient literature and unearthed relics. Passages in the Book of Songs link intoxication from jiu with “virtue” by saying: “We are intoxicated by your jiu; we are impressed with your virtue fine.” Jiu holds both secular and ritual significance in the daily lives of Chinese people, whether it is for comfort, socializing with relatives and friends or ceremonies, or traditional functions like offering sacrifices to ancestors or gods.

 

Jiu quality, drinking vessels
The aesthetic element of wine culture started with jiu appreciation. Whether it was home-brewed or branded, jiu was appreciated by Chinese people for its cloudiness, smell and the clear fluid known as tears of wine. One favors a specific kind of jiu based on his personal taste. Whether drinking “three hundred cups” as Li Bai (701-762) claimed or “three or two cups of light jiu” as Li Qingzhao (1084-1155) wrote, drinking represented the aesthetic attitudes of Chinese people.

Good jiu should be accompanied with exquisite drinking vessels. Whether “cups of jade that glow with wine of grapes at night” as Wang Han (687-726) wrote or the glazed zhong vessel mentioned by Li He (c.791-817), beautiful drinking vessels are important factor of Chinese culture. The Chinese character “酒” (jiu) is composed of “氵” which means water and “酉” which is a pictograph of a drinking vessel. Different vessels correspond with different psychological states. Pottery and bronze vessels were popular in the Han Dynasty and previously also functioned as sacrificial vessels. These vessels generally had an elegant shape.

However, the vessels used in daily life showed one’s personal temperament. Elegant scholars used exquisite vessels. Ordinary people used coarse cups. The hermits carried gourds. Chivalrous and forthright people drank from a large bowl or even directly from the jars. Drinking vessels were symbols of personal feelings and aesthetic tastes.

Xin Qiji (1140-1207) had a humorous conversation with his drinking vessel in the lyrics of a poem. A drinking cup became a close friend of the poet. Li Bai wrote: “From a pot of jiu among the flowers I drank alone. There was no one with me—Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon, To bring me my shadow and make us three.” Drinking vessels here also conveyed the close friendship among Li Bai, his shadow and the moon.

 

Customs, virtues of drinking
Drinking customs and virtues are embodiment of traditional Chinese code of ethics in wine culture. According to Zuo’s Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals by Zuo Qiuming (556-451 BCE), when drinking for the sake of rituals, one should not indulge oneself drinking after finishing the rituals. This was considered righteous. In addition to rituals of offering sacrifices to ancestors and gods, drinking in daily life also has specific rules.

For example, a host toasting to a guest is called “chou.” A guest toasting back to the host is called “zuo.” Both the toaster and the person that he toasts to should raise their cups and stand up, and this is call “bi xi,” which means “rising from the seat.”

Su Shi (1037-1101) once wrote: “When my zest of drinking is at its height, I open up to the world and dare to do anything.” One’s drinking virtues become manifest when he is drunk. Several behaviors were considered as being without virtue. For example, pretending to drink or to be drunken or urging other people to drink is immoral. Being addicted to alcohol was shameful. Misbehaving after being drunk was also against proper drinking virtues.

The essence of Chinese drinking virtues involve being unrestrained and heroic as well as introverted and modest. They can be summed up in one word—authenticity. Although the drinking capacity and personal temperament varies individually, one will always be appreciated for his frankness and sincerity when drinking jiu. Being slightly drunk is the proper situation, which echoes with traditional Chinese aesthetics of mean and moderation.

The aesthetic feelings reflected in drinking customs and virtues are the embodiment of the aesthetic personality of traditional intellectuals, which include personal character, temperament and manner. In terms of personal character, according to A New Account of Tales of the World, Wang Xiaobo in the Jin Dynasty (265-420) considered “swigging jiu” as one of the three factors of becoming a famous gentleman—in addition to staying idle and fluently reciting “Encountering Sorrow.”

One’s drinking virtues were revealed in his spiritual pursuits after he was drunk and forgot the worldly pursuits for high position, reputation and great fortune. Tao Yuanming (c.365-427) once wrote “Not rich enough to hold feasts for my friends, I drink the home-made jiu to meet ends.” Purity and transcendence was part of the pursuit when one drinks jiu.

Drinking virtues also reveal one’s temperament. The old saying that a thousand cups of jiu are still not enough when drinking with close friends demonstrates the best situation that one could expect in social discourse. A person’s speech and manners after becomes drunk as well as his ramshackle and unrestrained body provide the bystanders a window into his internal world and cultural literacy.

 

Drinking sensibility, feelings
The psychological experience of drinking is extraordinary and subtle. One’s feelings and pursuits in drinking were rich and moving. Drinking sensibility represents the direct sensational experience of jiu tastes while drinking feelings are one’s psychological experience in drinking. Pouring jiu in cups also fills the hearts with appreciation. A sip of the jiu is a feast for all sensations. Jiu doesn’t make a man drunk if one is not in the mood. A wonderful experience makes one to either appreciate the jiu or be grateful to the hosts.

Drinking sensibility values the sensory experience of looking at, smelling and tasting jiu. It is a necessary road toward revealing one’s drinking feelings and pursuits. For some people, drinking is all about the sensory experience of being drunk. For those who have higher expectations in drinking, carefully tasting the jiu, gradually stirring up inner feelings and eventually reaching the philosophical reflection of one’s existence are far more meaningful.

Intoxication is similar to poetic feelings, which is the best state of drinking. As Li Bai wrote “All I want to feel is the delight in drinking; why bother to convey these delights to those who are sober?” Intoxication in drinking are about enjoying oneself to the fullest. Whether a person can enjoy themselves depends on their psychological attitudes. Taking drinking as a way of forgetting one’s sorrow shows the tragic beauty of pessimistic escapism. Joyfully chatting with friends through light drinking demonstrates unrestrained and humorous beauty in the manner of a comedy. With a serene mind and an understanding that enjoying oneself to the full is authenticity, the tipsy feeling will arrive when time is proper.

The intoxicated feeling is, in essence, a psychological state that transcends utilitarian principles. It also inspires the surging emotions and imaginations which are the prerequisite for artistic activities. New poems flowed from the mouth when literati drank jiu.

Huai Su (c.725-c.785) and Zhang Xu (675-c.750), the most remarkable Chinese calligraphers of the rapid cursive style of writing, showed their full talents in their calligraphic works after drinking. The old saying “let’s sing while drinking” is both a solemn and stirring sigh at personal destiny, and an expression of one’s ideals.

Tao Yuanming wrote that “In my retired life, I have little amusement, especially now that the nights are dragging out: Whenever I get some good jiu, I take a sip every evening. When I drink alone, I soon get drunk. In my drunkenness, I often write a few lines of verse to amuse myself.” Jiu almost became the only way of comforting, amusing oneself and manifesting one’s existence. To some extent, drinking shows some sense of performance art. Possessing more aesthetic connotations, the feelings of intoxication in drinking coexist and are integrate with the poetic beauty of our daily lives.

 

Wang Nan is a professor of literature from Capital Normal University.