{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_47076/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_47076","id":"gutenberg_47076","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47076","summary":null,"tags":["Beer","Category: Cooking & Drinking","Category: History - Other","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Drinking customs","Wine and wine making"],"text":"TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTE.\n\n\nIn this plain text version of \u201cThe Art of Drinking\u201d:\n\n  Words in italics are marked with _underscores_.\n  Small capital letters are shown in upper case.\n\nMinor printer's errors have been corrected, but variant and irregular\nspellings are retained.\n\n\n\n\n\n  THE ART OF DRINKING.\n\n\n  A HISTORICAL SKETCH.\n\n  FROM THE GERMAN OF\n\n  G. G. GERVINUS.\n\n\n  TRANSLATED FOR THE\n\n  UNITED STATES BREWERS\u2019 ASSOCIATION.\n\n  NEW YORK:\n  UNITED STATES BREWERS\u2019 ASSOCIATION.\n  1890.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSLATOR\u2019S NOTE.\n\n\nG. G. Gervinus (1805-1871) is recognized as one of the foremost\nhistorians of Germany. He was a man of marvelous erudition. His\nfame rests not only upon a great number of profoundly learned\nworks, but also upon his brilliant advocacy of the constitutional\nrights of the people, as against the reactionary tendency of the\nGerman princes during Metternich\u2019s despotic rule. He was one of\nthe seven celebrated professors of the University of G\u00f6ttingen who\nboldly protested against the violation of the Constitution by the\nKing of Hanover. His best-known works are \u201cHistory of the Poetical\nLiterature of the Germans,\u201d \u201cHistory of the Nineteenth Century,\u201d and\na voluminous commentary on Shakspeare, \u201cmade popular in England\u201d--as\nthe Encyclop\u00e6dia Britannica states--\u201cby an excellent translation.\u201d\n\nThe following sketch was designed by Gervinus as an outline of what\na history of potology would be, if conceived and executed by a\nphilosophical mind.\n\nAn English translation of this sketch needs no justification in our\ntime.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ART OF DRINKING.\n\nA HISTORICAL SKETCH.\n\n\nA sketch of the art of drinking might seem to announce a subject\nunworthy of a man whose energies have been devoted to earnest purposes\nand serious aims in life. But it is not my intention to make the sketch\na mere treasure-box of all sorts of curiosities, nor to gratify thereby\nthe curiosity of idle readers. When it is approached from a scientific\nstandpoint, the dignity of science must necessarily exclude all\nfrivolous treatment, as well as all shallow and superficial purpose.\nMany would be satisfied if an insignificant sketch of this kind simply\nbore some pathetic motto, as these words of Seneca\u2019s: _Animum aliquando\ndebemus relaxare et quibusdam oblectamentis reficere; sed ipsa\noblectamenta opera sint._ I, however, would scorn a justification of\nthis kind, for I hold that recreation ought to be recreation, and not\nwork, and should consider it far better if our labors were pleasures,\nrather than our pleasures, labors.\n\nI wish in this sketch to point out the importance and serious\nsignificance of a work of this sort, and shall have, above all, to\nprove that the apparently somewhat jocular subject has a very serious\nside, and may be contemplated from a grave standpoint.\n\nIf I succeed from the very first in inducing the reader to adopt the\nsame historical view of the matter that I take myself, I shall have\ngained a great point, for he will then lay aside all prejudice and\npreconceived opinion. The real historian must be a stranger to all\nprejudice and preconceived opinion; he cannot treat of any subject\nseparately, but is attracted by everything in a certain order and\nconnection. He must not choose any subject from personal inclination,\nbut according to the needs and demands of his time and of human\nsociety; nor must he treat the chosen subject with that pathological\ninterest and sympathy so common among the writers of the New World. He\nmust understand and know, from historical experience, that in times\nlike ours, which have outgrown the activity of imagination--that\nis to say, _Art_--and, on the other hand, are not yet ripe for\nspeculation--that is to say, _Philosophy_,--universal observation,\nwhich includes all departments of human activity, is the only\nthing that in these very times and for this generation can furnish\npositive information and prove a certain gain. The real historian,\nwhose profession it is to be equally interested in everything, thus\nbecomes an image of impartiality. The impartial observer is attracted\nby all phenomena, and to him nothing appears small, insignificant\nor unimportant, as soon as he begins to draw conclusions from his\nobservations and to discover laws in the physical as well as the moral\nworld. In the world of reason there exists nothing small, accidental or\nunimportant. If the same laws of chemical combination govern immense\nmasses of matter as well as the smallest atom, if the march and\ndevelopment of mankind are the same as those of the most insignificant\nindividual, the observation of the smallest as well as the greatest is\nof equal importance, and man may well feel comfort in the fact that\neach hair upon his head is, indeed, numbered. This alone might refute\nany serious objection to my theme.\n\nA history of oinology or potology would be able to show that man, in\nsatisfying a partly physical and partly intellectual desire, is bound\nby the same laws that govern him in the satisfaction of the highest\nneeds of his striving mind. And if this be the case, the theme might\nbe considered worthy of being chosen by the most severe scientific\nmoralist; and matters of this kind are apt to be overlooked only\nbecause other things appear comparatively more important. There is\na history of wine and wine-drinking (for of these alone I speak),\nbecause it is connected with our spiritual development. Wine itself\nshows a certain element of development and perfectibility--a relation\nto organic life in its fermentation, and a sympathetic feeling, as\nit were, in its movement during the period of the blooming of the\nvine, while in the plant itself it shows an inner development. I have\njust called wine-drinking a partly physical, partly intellectual\nenjoyment, and it is almost impossible to call up the image of any\nsocial gathering or entertainment without it. And since all human\nculture proceeds from the manners and forms of society and social\nintercourse, we would plainly see in such a history--what has often\nbeen divined and pointed out, but also frequently smiled at--that wine\nis most closely connected with the civilization of States and with the\ndevelopment of free human culture, and that the art of drinking at\nall times keeps step with this culture and development, and sinks or\nrises with them. For not at all times have men practiced this art with\nequal wisdom, nor yet even practiced it in like manner; and there is\nspiritual progress from the blood-thirsty revels of \u00c6gisthe to those of\nthe philosophers with Plato; from the cup-bearer Heph\u00e6stos to Hebe and\nGanymede; from the heavy, dull metal cup to the transparent, rounded\ncrystal glass, in Lucian\u2019s time, or our own, which shows the color,\nretains the perfume and promotes sound. _As the culture of the grape\nis only found where a higher human civilization has begun to develop,\nit also shows itself at once where a new civilization appears; it may\nbe even in regions unfavorable to it, where it is only cultivated till\nwine has become so great a want that it can no longer be dispensed\nwith, despite the lack of sufficient native production._ The first\ncultivators of the vine, history praises as benefactors of mankind\nand propagators of civilization. Noah was the elect of God, in spite\nof the improprieties produced by his wine; old Dionysos, for all the\nravings of his service, a kindly god; and Urban, of the Middle Ages, a\nsaint, although he committed the greatest misdeeds under the influence\nof wine. And wherever, on the other hand, in more enlightened history,\na man took an active part in the development of human civilization,\nhe did so also instinctively, it would seem, for that of wine--be it\na Heracles Ipoctonos among the Erythr\u00e6ans; or an Alexander, who, with\nhis Greek culture, brought the grape-vine back to hot Babylon; or a\nCharles IV., who, with his Italian education, wished to force it upon\ncold Bohemia. We shall see that wherever hierarchical constitutions\ndeprived the people of the advantages of education, the wisdom of the\npriests was subtle enough to forbid wine too, and the course of the\nMohammedan hierarchy will show us most plainly how the art of drinking\nbrought with it bold reformatory deviations from the laws. We shall\nobserve, even with Christian nations, how, among certain races where\nthe use of wine was confined to the Communion table, civilization also\ncame to a stand-still. We can then point to a patriarchal and heroic\nperiod of the art of drinking, where wine, as was formerly done by\nthe Gauls, and even by our own Suabian ancestors, was despised, and\nafterwards, by all sorts of artificial means, made more substantial\nthan it is by nature--more like mead or beer, which is at such periods\nthe natural drink of the people. At an aristocratic and knightly epoch,\nin which society is unnaturally sublimated, it is sought to increase\nand make more spiritual still the effect of wine also, by the addition\nof spicy herbs. With the first civil development of nations they return\nto simple nature; a number of corporations and brotherhoods make it\ntheir business to watch over the art of drinking, over the purity of\nthe wine itself, and its lawful use; from king to beggar, all cultivate\nthe cheering art, just as all are anxious, also, for spiritual\nenlightenment. We see, then, in the last centuries the pedantic return\nto tea and coffee, and among those nations who have shared but in very\nsmall measure in the intellectual progress of Europe, we find that the\ncoffee-house (caf\u00e9)--an institution which is scarcely a century and a\nhalf old--almost crowded out the wine-saloons.\n\nI have alluded to wine-drinking as a partly intellectual and partly\nphysical enjoyment. Among material enjoyments, it is one of the most\nspiritual; among spiritual ones, one of the most material, keeping\nabout the right middle course. A history of the art of drinking would\nprove this. Everywhere in the history of nations we shall come upon\ntimes where amid a fulness of physical power, the desire for more\nrefinement in outward life, as well as a striving for greater inner\nperfection, began to manifest itself. In Germany, the time of the\nReformation was such a period. And at such times, when outer and inner\npowers begin to stir with wonderful energy--times as yet divided\nbetween old roughness and new humanity; between the coarse, ordinary\nfare of every day for mind and imagination, and the new hope of some\nfiner nourishment--at such times the genial enjoyment of wine, and the\ndelights of regular social pleasures, have always struck deepest root\nand had freest play. Such images as those, this history would most\nwillingly depict; nor would it be superfluous to present them in our\nday, when society seems more and more to forget that its aim is to\nbe simply pleasure and recreation. The future seems to offer nothing\nthat could take the place of the great simplicity of past manners; of\nthose feasts of youth which asked nothing but uncontrolled enjoyment;\nof those evening entertainments of the citizens, which were devoted\nto their immediate surroundings in house or community; of the frank\nand manly rectitude of that race which seemed, indeed, to find truth\nand constancy in wine, and its best pleasures in an afternoon spent\nin the \u201cwine-garden,\u201d surrounded by wife and children, relatives and\nfriends. All public pleasure has disappeared from among us, and we\narrange parties and receptions that only tire ourselves and others.\nCeremonious etiquette gives us work and trouble when we should find\nrecreation, and fatigues our minds when imagination should have free\nplay. Only where men, here and there, permit themselves to meet about\nthe bottle, according to the good old custom, and where no committee\nis necessary to approve of the toasts, pure, genuine pleasure revives\nonce more, together with the pure, genuine art of drinking. For there\nis no intellectual power that is so directly quickened and strengthened\nby any nourishment as imagination is by wine. Tea keeps conversation\nwithin the bounds of pedantic propriety, and beer soothes but checks\nquick repartee; but wine sharpens the sting of wit, stimulates spirited\nconversation, and brightens the whole social atmosphere. The poet,\nwho lives in imagination, and turns his back upon reality, was always\na lover of wine--the beverage which intensifies reality, and, at the\nsame time, lifts him above it. The drinking-song, from Anacreon down\nto all his imitators in Germany, occupies a special and very prominent\nplace in literature. To wine are dedicated the first productions of\nthe tragic art; and to it has been assigned a particular dithyrambic\nmeasure, which a poet who should set water above wine could never\nsoar high enough to make his own. And whosoever has any cause to turn\naway from the real world, and longs for the freedom of living in an\nideal one, is fond of wine. If I wished to spoil my idyllic picture by\nsatire, I should here name the converts and the monks; but I should\nrather call up the wandering beggar, whom want and hardship have made\nweary of the world. Sleep has been praised as the friend of poverty;\nbut there were times when wine also was called its friend, which,\neven in waking hours, calls up dreams that charm away the burden of a\nmiserable existence. For wine tempts even the beggar to extravagance,\nthat vice which has often been set down to the account of wine;\nalthough, if there be such a thing as degrees in vice, it may be called\none of the nobler ones. And this genial pleasure in spending helps the\npoor man in his misery; consoles him for his destitution; offers him\nwho is homeless a spot where he may feel comfortable, and teaches him\nto forget all that oppresses him. Wine makes man liberal and generous;\nthe offered cup was formerly the symbol of hospitality granted, and\neven the miser is more ready to share tobacco and wine than any of\nhis other possessions. For it makes us communicative and confidential\nin social intercourse; it founds friendships, and is still the symbol\nof brotherhood. If it sometimes stirs up heat and dissension, it also\nsmooths the way to union again; and, formerly, no reconciliation\ncould take place without having a seal set upon it by a common cup of\nwine. At your cup you find the freest and most enlightened spot in\nthe world, where you may not only think what you please, and say what\nyou think, but where your thoughts themselves take the highest flight\nman is capable of. I do not know whether it is due to jealous gods\nthat the excessive enjoyment of wine proves its own penalty. Without\nthis depressing fire in the wine itself, it seems to me heaven and\nits secrets would be far more endangered by the spiritual flight of\nthe drinker than by the towering rocks of the Titans. Thus, wherever\ndespots and hierarchs intended to keep nations in drowsy stupidity,\nthey forbade wine. Only at times, when liberty and enlightenment\nwere common property, when no castes possessed an exclusive monoply\nof wisdom, right or might, was it possible to introduce political\ndiscussion at the cup. For only at such times of universal public\nspirit and feeling could one take counsel of the imagination in\npractical affairs and matters of State, and hope for such results of\nthe evening discussion at the cup as would bear the test of the sober\nnext day\u2019s light. For only such heroic conditions as are represented by\nthe Germans and Persians of ancient times can really show the virtues\nof truth and faithfulness, and in the most public concerns could hear\nthe voice that always speaks in wine; and, in those days, no one needed\nto fear that wine would impel him to speak truth too freely. Only\nnations of really active nature, who called manliness and war-power by\nthe name of virtue, could do full honor to wine, and it could only be a\nGreek who asked, as did Aristophanes:--\n\n    \u201cDost thou boldly venture to say wine is not good for our reason?\n    What more than wine impels us to deeds and to action?\n    Why, look you, as soon as men are drinkers of wine, then\n    Rich are they all and active, victorious in law-courts;\n    Aye, very happy too, and to their friends useful.\u201d\n\nAmong the Germans, too, it has long been customary to settle all\nbusiness with a drink, and there was no betrothal, no bargain, and no\ncompact that was not accompanied by the purchase of wine. All German\nhistory is filled with the love of wine. When the German border-line\nwas first drawn, the Germans insisted on keeping the left bank of the\nRhine, on account of its richness in grapes. They wrote books about the\nnational disposition to drink; they divided their history according\nto drinking periods, and old proverbs call the love of drink the\nGerman national vice, as theft is that of the Spaniards, deceit that\nof the Italians, and vanity that of the French. Nowhere exist wines\nso capable of purity as the German wines, and no real German will\never compare with their genuine wine-qualities those of the tricky\nsouthern wines; and nowhere have mixtures been so carefully avoided,\nas well as the purity of the art of drinking, and the old drinking\ncustoms so scrupulously preserved, as in Germany. Only in Germany could\nbe conceived the idea of a history of the art of drinking. Perhaps\nthe fates have ordained me to be the historian of wine, in the very\nmeaning of my name--ger-w\u00een, not g\u00ear-w\u00een. And perhaps some readers may\nbe found for it in Germany who do not consider it too indelicate to\nspeak or to read of the natural needs of man. Let man never, in foolish\npride, think himself above his own natural wishes and enjoyments, for\nit is the reasonable care given to these which keeps him close to\nhuman nature. As long as a people cannot live on newspaper reading and\non staring about in public places, as do Frenchmen and Italians, it\nkeeps its hands busy, its powers actively employed, and its eyes open,\nand wherever active powers are astir, no nation is in so very bad a\ncondition. I should be well content if I could bring before active\nand manly minds a cheerful picture of those manly enjoyments, and\ninduce them to taste of this somewhat coarser fare, in addition to the\ndelicate dishes of our literature.\n\n\n\n\nI.\n\nTHE FATHERLAND OF WINE.\n\n\nI would only here and there touch upon the botanical and industrial\nculture of the grape, as many very valuable works on the subject\nalready exist (among others, Henderson\u2019s \u201cHistory of Ancient and\nModern Wines\u201d), which make almost a complete literature of wine.\nI shall also speak of the home of the grape only for the sake of\npreserving the natural order of things, and shall touch later upon the\nmythical origin of wine, or the preparation of wine. If we look for\nthe original country of the grape, we shall find that here, too, as in\nalmost every other branch of culture, the western highlands of Asia\nare pointed out to us, whether we follow the fable of Father Noah,\nthe Nys\u00e6an Bacchus, or the researches of the naturalists. The latter\nteach us that on the Canary Isles and in America the grape grows not\nso much wild as in a degenerate condition; but in the southwest of\nEurope, for instance the Italian woods, it is here and there found\ngrowing really wild; that in the southeast this is still more common,\nand in Asia ever on the increase. It is singular that at the Ararat,\nto which Jewish tradition also points, Tournefort, in his \u201cJourney\nto the Levant,\u201d discovered a regular workshop of the European plant,\nand on the borders of transcaucasian Georgia he saw the land covered\nwith wild grape-vines and fruit-trees. In the Caucasus, Marshall found\nthe grape flourishing independently in the forest and covering whole\ntrees, and we see in the rough and indifferent manner in which the\ninhabitants of these countries harvest and treat the grape that they\nconsider it a very common product. The manner in which they preserve\nthe wine, and the quantity they daily consume, prove the same, and this\nentirely agrees with what Xenophon tells of the preservation of the\nwine in cisterns. Elphinstone, in his report on Cabul, relates that\nthe Sultan presented him with grapes that grew without cultivation in\nhis country. And not only the quantities of the wild grapes in those\ncountries induce us to regard them as their native soil, it is also\nthe excellent quality of the cultivated grape in Persia. The quantity\nand quality of the Persian wine opposed in this respect an effective\nbarrier to the laws of the Koran, which enjoined against the enjoyment\nof the beverage, even in the Orient, which is so set in its religious\nrites and ceremonies. Olivier preferred the grapes about Ispahan to\nall he had tasted in Greece, on the islands of the Mediterranean, and\nin Syria. None, he says, equals the _Kismish_, which bears a berry of\nmiddling size, without seeds and with a thin skin. Shiraz, rich in\npoets, is celebrated on account of the excellence and plenty of its\nwine and its fine air, and Morier, in his \u201cJourney through Persia,\u201d\nplaces the wine of Kazwin even above that of Shiraz, and the former\ncity is so beautifully situated in so mild a climate that the Persians\nhave given it the name of \u201cParadise.\u201d In regard to the fruitfulness of\nthe vine, Strabo tells us that in Hyrcania _one_ vine was apt to yield\nabout thirty-three quarts of wine. In Margiana were said to be vines\nmeasuring at the base of the stem two fathoms in circumference and\nbearing grapes two yards long. In Asia the fruitfulness is said to be\nstill greater, and there the wine keeps, in unpitched vessels, through\nthree generations.\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\nWINE IS NOT DOMESTICATED AMONG THE NEGROES.\n\n\nThe course from east to west, marked by the higher culture of the human\nrace, has been also closely followed by the culture of the grape. Other\nregions, north and south from the boundary marked out, may have had\na certain share in that civilization; but it seems now to be proved\nthat the negro races, the original inhabitants of Africa, have not\nin any way been connected with it. In those regions of Africa always\ninhabited by these races, no grape-culture is, up to the present\nday, to be found; and, both in ancient and modern times, the grape\nhas been a stranger in Africa, and a stranger scarcely to be called\nnaturalized anywhere. To that king of the long-lived Ethiopians in\nHerodotus, to whom Cambyses sent his gifts, wine, therefore, seemed\nthe only desirable thing they possessed, and to it he ascribed the\nbrief old age which, in the best case, it was given the Persians to\nattain. His negroes, therefore, were not acquainted with wine, and in\nthis they were like all uncivilized people, as we shall frequently see;\nnor did they ever accept it, any more than they accepted any other\npart of civilization; they never advanced any further than to their\n_Towak_, the palm-wine made of flower-stems; even the lotus-wine, of\nthe preparation of which Herodotus knew, seems to belong only to the\nLibyans. Only emigrants, in the most ancient as well as most recent\ntimes, have introduced the grape-vine at different times into Africa,\nand we will briefly glance at this. First, the Egyptians must be\nnamed, Caucasian races not autochthonically at home in Libya. The\nancient culture of the grape in Egypt is proved not only by historical\ndocuments, but even by the ruins of old buildings, and I shall return\nto the paintings in the vaults near El Kab, which represent, among\nother things, the manner of gathering the grapes, and of preserving and\ncooling the wine. Several regions are specially mentioned as celebrated\nfor their wine. Eleithya had grape-culture; the lakes of Mareos and\nTaenia, where all is now a barren desert, were commended for their\nwine; Alexandria exported wine to Rome, and Horace is acquainted\nwith that of Mareos. To the Epicureans, however, the Falernian wine\nseemed better when treated in the Egyptian manner; and the wine of\nTaenia was considered stronger and spicier than the Alexandrian. But\neven in the time of Ahen\u00e6os this culture had almost disappeared, and\nonly that of Antylla still had a good name in those days. And even\nin better times, the native wine does not seem to have sufficed for\nhome consumption, for Herodotus speaks at length of imported wine from\nHellas and Ph\u0153nicia. The Libyans and Berbers probably never knew a\ngrape-culture of their own without foreign aid. It is certain that in\nold times the colonies of the Greeks and Carthagenians in the north\nof Africa were full of the grape; and we shall find further on that\nthe cult of Bacchus was widespread in Cyrenaica, and that traces of\nit still remain in the ruins. Pliny speaks of vineyards as traces of\nancient civilization in the mountains of Dyris (Atlas); and there\nare still, more for the sake of the grapes than the wine, vineyards\nnear Tunis, in the rich district of Derna, as well as the poor one of\nMafa, in Fezzan. In Mauritania, as Strabo reports, were found grapes a\nyard in circumference. In the oases, Belzoni saw grapes, and in that\nof Siwah they are excellent, as other southern fruit also. In recent\ntimes the Portuguese brought the grape, with other fruit, as well to\nMadeira and the Canary Isles as to Abyssinia. There the poorness of\nthe plant itself, no less than the peculiar use of it, shows plainly\nwhat a stranger it is. Thus, also, among the Griquas it is cultivated\nby the missionaries only, who, confining, as they are wont, all\ncivilization which they offer to the elements of Christian religion,\ngive to grape-culture also only a Christian significance, planting the\nvine merely for its use at the Communion table. The celebrated Cape\nwine is a different matter. Enlightened French emigrants, Protestants\ndriven from home by the Edict of Nantes, first planted the grape\nthere; but it is not certain whether the vines came both from Persia\nand from the Rhine, or only from Shiraz. The climate seems there to\nfavor the culture of the grape extremely; the soil, however, appears\nmost unfavorable, and Colebrooke, in his work on the condition of the\nCape of Good Hope, ascribes the earthy taste, which makes the Cape\nwines unpleasant, to a substratum of the soil, otherwise rather good,\nconsisting in many places of layers of clay and sand that has been\nwashed up. And what is not spoiled by the soil, seems to have been\nspoiled by the indolence of the Dutchmen, or some other disadvantage\nwith which the African country is cursed. A sort of fairy-tale is told\nof the totally wrong manner of planting the first vineyard; and still\nnot even the example of the far better Constantia wine has induced men\nto make vineyards in rockier spots.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nTHE DEGENERATE CULTURE OF THE GRAPE AND THE ART OF DRINKING IN CHINA.\n\n\nIf the learned men of China can be trusted, the grape-vine must have\nbeen known in their country more than a thousand years B. C. They refer\nto this in old books, the \u201cTshu-ly\u201d and the \u201cShi-King;\u201d but as to the\nlatter, that seems everywhere to refer to the wine made of various\ngrains, which is almost exclusively used in China.\n\nAt all events, it seems to be proved by the most trustworthy witnesses\nthat rice-wine is older in China than the wine of grapes; for while\nthe highest age that can be assigned to wine is only given by the\ndoubtful testimony of the supposed author of the \u201cTshu-ly,\u201d Tshu-Kang,\nwho mounted the throne 1122 B. C., the invention of rice-wine is set\ndown to the Dynasty Hia, 2209 (1716 B. C.). This also accords with\nexperience elsewhere, for beer of various kinds (and the grain-wines\nof the Chinese are nothing else, except that they frequently mix them\nwith all sorts of fruit, including grapes) everywhere became the\nnational drink in advance of wine, as brandy and other liquors follow\nwine. Grape-brandy has, it appears, been known in China only since the\nseventh century of our era, but is now a favorite beverage with the\ncommon Chinamen, and is drunk by them warm and almost as strong as\nalcohol in large quantities, in spite of its very unpleasant taste.\nFor only a comparatively short time the grape-culture seems to have\nflourished in China. The Chinese always have had their grain-wines and\ntheir brandy more at heart. The inventor of the rice-wine was, it is\ntrue, banished by the Emperor Yu-te, because he well foresaw the sad\nconsequences of its use, and yet the beverage has kept its place to\nthe present day as an ornament of the Chinese table. It is like this\npeople, who live on nothing but that water-plant, rice, and tea, to\ncling with the same obstinacy as they do to all old orders and customs,\nto this beverage, which is something between brandy and water, and\ntaken neither hot nor cold. These wines are said to have a very bad\neffect; they fatten at first, but then bring on consumption, entire\nloss of appetite, and at last complete emaciation and death. It was\nnatural, therefore, that the paternal Emperors, who looked after their\nsubjects as after real children, and in whose laws dietetics always\nplayed a great part, should forbid these injurious beverages, and\nseveral of the Emperors set the good example. The third Emperor of the\nDynasty Mant-shu, Yong-Tsheng, devoted one of his ten commandments to\nthis subject, and the great Kanghi says in his writings that, despite\nhis pleasure in them, he never became accustomed to wine and spirits.\nAt feasts and banquets he only touched it with his lips, and so might\nwell boast of not drinking any at all. Moreover, this wine consumes a\ngreat deal of grain, which in a densely peopled country, whose very\nexistence depends upon its supplies of grain, is a matter of some\nimportance, so that perhaps from this higher standpoint also there\nwas good reason for the prohibition. But the most important reason\nlies deeper still, and was still more carefully considered; and as\nthis chiefly concerns the wine from grapes, we must first cast another\nglance at grape-culture.\n\nWe have seen above that grapes existed of old in China. The\njust-mentioned learned, philosophical and humane Kanghi himself shows,\nin his remarks on natural history in China, that grapes came to China\nfrom the West, and that before his time but few kinds had existed in\nChina, and boasts that he had sent for three new varieties to Ha-mi,\nas he would rather introduce a new fruit into his country than build\na hundred porcelain towers. He observes, also, that these grapes\ndegenerate in the south, but do well in the north in dry and stony\nsoil. The experiences of the missionaries in Pekin, however, were\nunfavorable; the soil was against them, as well as the remarkably rough\nclimate, and possibly they went to work awkwardly in other respects\nalso. For it is certain that these very southern provinces once had\nmany grape-vines, and the wine made in Shan-si, Shen-si, Petshe-ly,\nShantong, Honan and Hu-Kuang, put into well-closed vessels and buried\nin the ground, could be preserved for years. This goes to prove an\nobservation we shall often find repeated, that after a time the most\nfavorable soil no longer suffices for the grape, which demands a\ncertain youthful power in the soil in which it is to flourish most\nluxuriantly. In the older and middle ages of China we therefore find\nthe grape-wine mentioned in all their songs, and that of the river\nKiang is specially praised. It is known that at different periods vines\nwere introduced from Samarcand, Persia, Thibet, Kashgar, Turfu and\nHa-mi, and the annals themselves plainly mention wine under the reign\nof Emperor Wu-ty, Dynasty Han, 140 B. C. From there we can follow up\nits use almost from reign to reign, and after the already-mentioned\nKanghi, the last dynasty shows still more rulers who introduced new\ngrapes from distant countries, so that the southern provinces begin\nto restore their old grape-culture again. But the grapes in Ha-mi and\nShan-si seem mostly to be used for raisins, and what we occasionally\nhear of their condition in Hoai-lai-hien--that their berries are of\ngigantic size, like plums, with a thick skin, and that their size\nis not so much due to the climate as to the fact that the vines are\ngrafted on mulberry-trees, and that they ripen as early as April, May\nand June--all this seems highly characteristic of a degenerate culture,\nand gives us the poorest possible opinion of the wine that might\nbe made there. Highly, therefore, as the Jesuits attempt to praise\ngrape-culture in China, we can yet have but little belief in it; but in\nthe Middle Ages it must have been all the more brilliant. The reports\nconcerning it are, however, wrapped in a certain obscurity, from\nwhich no fact stands out clearly. The grape, it is said, flourished\nonly too well in China--it caused various revolutions. As often as the\nGovernment had ordered the destruction of such trees as obstructed\nthe grain-fields, the useless grape-vine was also included, and, if\nmemory served the reporters, that plant was several times specially\nmentioned. It is certain that the destruction of the vine in most of\nthe provinces, under various reigns, was carried so far that even the\nrecollection of it was lost, and this induced the belief that the\ngrape had been brought to China but recently from the Occident. It is\nplain that there was always a pretense put forward that the grape-wine\ndetracted from the culture of the grain, although, with some care,\nthe same area might probably have yielded a nobler beverage than was\nmade of the rice and barley, grown where the grape had been rooted\nout. But the intellectual effect of it was evidently feared. In so\nregular a clock-work as the Chinese State, what might be more dangerous\nthan irregular movements so very easily produced by wine in the heads\nof people? Even the making of the grape-wine was often prohibited.\nWhen that did not avail, its use was limited to feasts, banquets and\nsacrifices, and to guests and infirm old age. Not enough with this, at\nsuch feasts a special Mandarin was set over even the princes of the\nblood to keep watch over and not permit them to drink more than three\nglasses. And still more, certain ceremonies were prescribed, long\nhealths and salutations, circumstantial rites, at which a free-thinker,\nas the Jesuits say, may laugh, but in which a philosopher must\nadmire the wisdom of the lawgiver, and the subtlety with which he\nbanished intemperance, and that injudicious freedom of speech which\nis its inseparable companion, from among the people! We have seen the\neffects of grain-wine in China. The wise Emperor Kanghi complains that\nit makes one stupid and dull and confuses the brain. And how much\nmore terrible still must have been the effect of the grape-wine! This\nis probably meant in a certain book of the Dynasty Tshu, where it is\nsaid in warning explanation of the well-founded apprehensions of the\nChinese Government, that if a spirit of rebellion and insurrection was\nthen rife among the people of China, if they had lost much of their\nold virtues and principles, the cause of it must be sought solely in\nthe effects of wine. Away, therefore, with that cursed boldness which\nbetrays a tongue set free by wine; that noisy action and damnable\nconfidence in one\u2019s own strength; that rising of the spirit, which must\nhave appeared to the learned Emperor as synonymous with confusion;\nthe impudent overstepping of the good old laws of etiquette; the wild\nbreaking away from the good old ruts! How should not all this, which\nwas inseparably connected with wine, seem to the philosophical head\nof the State in his immovable peace and calmness, and to the council\nof his ministerial pedants, extremely dangerous to the State, and\nworthy of being annihilated to the last trace? Need we be surprised,\ntherefore, at the stories of abstinence told of the Emperors? It was\ntheir duty to give a good example to the people. Had not their prophet,\nConfucius, left these words of moderation--that coarse rice for food,\nand water for drink, and the curved arm for a pillow, were enough for\nhappiness!\n\nAnd thus the Governments of China succeeded in establishing, even\nin very early times, a condition of submissive decency everywhere.\nThey confined wine to festive occasions, and we learn from the\n\u201cShi-King\u201d that to the guest was granted the honor of the cup; even\nto him, however, in but the spare measure that chimes with the sordid\nmiserliness of the Chinaman, who could never have understood the art\nof drinking, if for no other reason than because he has nothing of the\nliberality which the Orient calls the \u201cflowing hand.\u201d They say in a\nguest-song:--\n\n    \u201cA noble guest has come beneath our roof;\n    For him melodious tunes were played,\n    So long as thus it pleased our guest,\n    And with the cup I sought to cheer him.\n\n    \u201cThe sound of music rang incessantly,\n    And ever was the cup kept full;\n    And in our honor did he empty it;\n    The wine was light and pure, and harmed him not.\u201d\n\nAnd in another place:--\n\n    \u201cA hare is roasting on the spit;\n    A pumpkin leaf we go to pick;\n    A banquet we prepare our guest,\n    And fill his cup with wine the best.\u201d\n\nWe have seen from other authorities that wine was chiefly reserved to\nold age, and here it is confirmed:--\n\n    \u201cServe round the circle the wine-cup, ye bearers;\n    With the spiced wine the aged refresh them;\n    In it their youth and their vigor reviving,\n    But your own youth surely needs no concoction.\u201d\n\nEven at the feasts where wine was permitted, its use was limited\nby cautious restrictions. All meals and banquets were subjected to\nrules of etiquette almost as rigorous as those which the Court is\naccustomed to give its ambassadors. The careful law is extended to\nthe very preparation and serving of the viands, and everywhere clips\nthe wings of the art of cooking and of drinking. If the Emperor U-tse\ngave his warriors a banquet to gain their favor, he still preserved\nthe most rigid order of rank in the seating, and the food and the\ndrink; and the Emperor Tsi-she-hoang is praised for restoring the old\ninvitations and banquets, where every single ceremony took its due\ncourse in beginning and end, so that a modest and decent joy beamed\nin all eyes. To give a model for domestic feasts, they order public\nceremonies in all the cities; Mandarins preside at them; the law\ninvites scholars and distinguished citizens to them; and here, too,\nthe rites are prescribed down to the minutest detail. The chief object\nof these feasts is to signalize merit, to preserve morality, and the\nfriendly as well as conventional proprieties. The President reads aloud\nfor that purpose, in the name of the Emperor, certain paragraphs of\nthe law, the introduction to which specially calls to mind that the\ngathering is not really made for the sake of the enjoyment of meat\nand drink, but to revive loyalty to the Prince, and more to the same\neffect; and all their songs and pieces of music have reference to that.\nA single drinking-song, of somewhat more liberal spirit, I found in\nthe \u201cShi-King,\u201d but in that the translator may possibly have had a\nlarge share, especially in regard to the form. The contents are very\ncharacteristic of Chinese poetry in general, whose bare realism offers\na remarkable contrast to that of the Orientals:--\n\n    \u201cWater, the fresh,\n    Is drunk by the fish--\n    The carps and the pikes;\n    And each noble knight\n    At the board\n    Drinks water pure and bright.\n\n    \u201cWater, the fresh,\n    Is drunk by the fish--\n    The eels and the salmon;\n    You sad fellows all\n    At the board,\n    Drink, till for more ye shall call.\n\n    \u201cWater, the fresh,\n    Is drunk by the fish--\n    The perch and the barbel;\n    Ye good chums of mine\n    At the board,\n    Now drain ye the pearl of the wine.\n\n    \u201cWater, the fresh,\n    Is drunk by the fish--\n    The trout and the merlin;\n    But we boys gay and bold\n    At the board\n    Drain waves of the wine untold.\u201d\n\nBut, even in their highest ecstasy, the brave drinkers still preserve a\nsort of calmness; and if there is anything that can be called a sober\nintoxication, this seems to be excellently expressed in the following\nvery characteristic song:--\n\n    \u201cNow our guests are growing tipsy;\n    Decency is at an end;\n    Sparks from out their eyes are darting,\n    And the babbling tongues unbend.\n\n    \u201cCrooked caps shake back and forward,\n    Hung but by a single hair;\n    Stiff old legs the dance are trying,\n    Hoarse old voices sing out fair.\n\n    \u201cAt the first cup which thou drainest,\n    Didst thou seem transformed to me;\n    If another now thou\u2019dst empty,\n    Wholly tipsy wouldst thou be.\n\n    \u201cTruly thou dost shame me sorely;\n    Sober quite you see I stay;\n    But if thou wilt take me homeward,\n    Lead me gently on the way.\n\n    \u201cTrue, thou lead\u2019st me into ditches,\n    But my own head reels at last;\n    Hold me by thy arm supported,\n    By thy pig-tail hanging fast.\u201d\n\nWith this extreme point of drinking I will close. This dull\nintoxication is about what a warm grain-wine would produce, and fits\nthe disagreeable character of the Chinese as well as the anecdote\noccurring in another song, where one whose invited guests do not appear\nat the right time, is actually rejoiced to think he may now drink up\nhis wine alone. The value of wine for social enjoyment can scarcely\nbe known there, where conventionality ties the tongues, where there\nis a tribunal of ceremonies, and where the tea-kettle is forever on\nthe fire, which among us, too, fosters only embroidery, gossip and\nnervous debility. And then the greedy desire for physical enjoyment\nis the one thing which makes the Chinaman love his wine and his spicy\nconcoctions, and which in this point has ever driven him into a\nnever-before-heard-of opposition against his Government. How dreadful\nit is, however, to see these crude and childish remnants of antiquated\ncustoms most closely knit now with the most refined and elaborate\ntastes, wants and habits thus in vogue among the people, together\nwith secret and most pernicious vices, and yet to find that not a\nsingle voice can be raised against it, because, with the most subtle\ncunning, down to the very limits of physical needs, every expression of\nindignation or of joy has been forbidden by law!","title":"The Art of Drinking: A Historical Sketch","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":7190}