Foodies’ History of China

This book describes ancient Chinese history from the perspective of foodies， presenting a special topic of food history believing that public opinion is basic and foodies are terrific. In vivid， witty， and simple language， it presents the history of food from the Three Sovereigns to the Qing Dynasty for readers to view， dive into， and learn ancient Chinese history from the perspective of its food.

Foodies’ History of China

written by Mao Shuai， illustrated by Cao Lu

Beijing Normal University Publishing Group

June 2018

45.00 （CNY）

Mao Shuai

Graduated in History from Hubei University， Mao Shuai works with Shenzhen Second Foreign Languages School and develops a hobby of historical research and writing in his spare time. His works include Life in the Qing Dynasty and History for Teenagers--- the Jin， Southern and Northern Dynasties （China）.

Liquor， dating back to the Three Sovereigns period more than 5，000 years ago， was said to first be made by Yi Di or Du Kang. Someone dumped leftovers under a mulberry tree. Over time， the leftovers started to smell rather inviting. This is the origin of liquor.

—The Announcement about Drunkenness

Liquor is a drink that people have a love-hate relationship with. Inspired by it， Li Bai， the great poet， could improvise reams of verses. If there was someone to disparage it， Li Bai would be the first to speak up. And the ones following are an army of talented scholars： Du Fu—When drunk I don’t care being a traveler; when a poem is done I feel there was some divine being at work. Su Shi --- Everything under heaven has its beauty; thanks to liquor for bringing fine verses to my lips. Yang Wanli --- I compose verses as I drink; I chant to heaven and heaven feels amazed. In one word， without liquor， there would be no muse for the literati to write excellent works cherished for generations， and no need for students today to recite them for years to come！

Who created liquor， then？ It may surprise you to hear the theory that we learned how to make it from apes. You may argue that we have kept insisting Du Kang created liquor. And there is a great deal of poetry to support the Du Kang （Jiu） theory—Cao Cao， the once-great hero — “What can dispel melancholy？ Only Du Kang.” Bai Juyi， the great Tang poet living some 1，200 years ago — “Du Kang relieves my tedium; daylily diverts me from sorrow.” Yuan Haowen， the poet living some 800 years ago in the Jin Dynasty — “Du Kang， not only could get me through sorrows but is much more unforgettable when drinking and having fun.” So， the origin of liquor is kind of a long story.

That wild berries ferment naturally into liquor is a phenomenon that goes back a long time. The wild berries that contain sugar in them， like pears and grapes， can have yeast multiplying on their surface. When they fell into a relatively confined space， they would naturally ferment into fruit wine.

Gathering and storing wild fruits was a quite common practice among prehistoric people. However， they didn’t notice the secret of liquor because they often refused to eat rotten fruits. Coincidentally， apes also have a habit of storing their favorite wild fruits in caves. The wild fruit naturally precipitates liquor as the yeast breaks down and ferments its sugar. Since apes love both sweetness and the smell of liquor， they seem to store up fruits intentionally to make fruit wine.

Soon， people found that apes love liquor， so we human beings also started to make wine to trap this naughty animal. The success rate is nearly 100 percent. Hence， it makes sense to say that humans were taught by apes that fruits can naturally ferment into liquor.

However， unlike wild berries， the five grains don’t ferment into liquor that naturally. Actually， there is a big difference between these two processes. So how did humans make it？ It’s time to have legends take the stage again. But for this story， people still debate who invented the grain brewing technique， Du Kang or Yi Di， an imperial subject of Yu the Great during the Xia Dynasty （2070 BCE – 1600 BCE）. Although Du Kang is more commonly recognized， different legends of him could be heard among the people. Each story sounds so reasonable that it’s hard to tell which is true.

According to folklore， Du Kang is the grain minister of the Yellow Emperor. Because of the steady increase in grain production， there was a surplus of it， which had to be stored in relatively confined caves. But caves are so dark and wet that the grain would rot away after some time. What a pity！ So Du Kang started to think hard for a better way to store grain. Later， he stumbled across several empty trunks of dead trees and had the idea to store grain in the holes. After a while， Du Kang went back to check on the grain， thinking that it would not rot again. But from a distance， he saw some wild boars， goats， and rabbits lying about the tree trunks as still as corpses. Du Kang shivered and thought， “Was it worse than rotting， to be so toxic？”

He ran and found the trunks were seeping water from the inside. Maybe these animals fell to the ground because they licked the water. He leaned in and smelled it carefully， and a unique fragrance hit him. It was so enticing that he couldn’t help but take a small sip， and when he swallowed it， he felt indescribably refreshed. Du Kang didn’t feel satisfied until he glugged down a few gulps in a row， but he also quickly felt his head spinning and passed out beside the animals.

After he woke up and got back， Du Kang reported his experience to the emperor. Since people could not scientifically explain the grain wine making process at that time， they believed that liquor was a mysterious substance generated by the spirit of the grain. Therefore， the Yellow Emperor did not blame Du Kang for his negligence as a grain minister but ordered him to continue to store grain in trunks and make more wine in the way he described.

In an age abounded with liquor， do you think you can take it as an energy drink or gulp it up like a fish to relieve your loneliness， depression， and sorrows of lovesickness？ That couldn’t be more wrong. If you dare to do this， our ancestors would jump out of their graves and shout， “Nasty brat， who do you think you are？ How dare you grab my drink！”

Are you still confused？ Let me tell you what liquor was for at the beginning.

Liquor was first thought to be a mysterious power that enables people to communicate with the gods for two reasons. First， people thought liquor was generated from the spirit of grain， and the word “spirit” itself is full of mystery; Second， liquor could bring people to an unreasonable mental state. In primitive society， people associated incomprehensible phenomena with supernatural powers and explained them as the appearance of gods or ghosts. Although it is superstition， it still makes sense and reassures our ancestors， better than no explanation at all. It’s true that we should believe in science， but who knew much of science at that time？ Otherwise， there would not be all kinds of myths and legends.

People decided to give liquor a sacred purpose and started to use it to worship the gods and ancestors to pray for blessings. Liquor became a mysterious medium connecting immortals and mortals， ancestors and living people.

In an agrarian society， the harvest of crops is more dependent on the weather. The deities thought to be in control of the weather could easily ruin a harvest with floods or droughts. Therefore， if the weather was good， our ancestors would devotedly thank the gods for their blessing. But what kind of sacrifices do the gods like？ Since the gods are mysterious and high up in heaven， the common things are not enough to carry sincerity. Hence， liquor seemed to be a good choice. As spirit is the essence of everything， liquor is the essence of grain. If we dedicate the best essence to the gods， presumably the gods will look down on the grain and leave it to the mortals.

Therefore， drinking liquor as a functional drink to relieve sorrow or inspire creative inspiration can only be seen among later generations. It didn’t exist in primitive society. When did this change happen？ According to archaeological discoveries， drinking vessels can be dated to the Xia Dynasty， and the Shang Dynasty once showed an unprecedented scene of a “wine pond and meat forest”（referring to a life of debauchery and extreme luxury）. Later in the Zhou Dynasty， the Duke of Zhou enacted The Announcement About Drunkenness to state that immorality brought about by drunkenness was a major cause for the collapse of the Shang Dynasty and to advocate more moderate drinking habits. Thus， the drinking tradition in China likely came into being during or before these three dynasties. In terms of alcohol consumption， the Shang Dynasty nobles could sweep away all the drinkers from the other dynasties and be ranked first on the list.