What should we say when we drink with Japanese and Korean friends? (1)

Good memory makes us fall in love with Shaoxing Wine

Huangjiu culture is an important part of Asian culture. Huangjiu has a history of more than 9000 years and it was produced as early as Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. There were textual records about Huangjiu more than 2500 years ago. Huangjiu also arrived in Japan and South Korea with trade. Since ancient times, Huangjiu has been the designated wine of the upper class. And it is basically on the "hot search list" of the literati circle every day. Many stories about Huangjiu are well known by the people of China, Japan and South Korea.

For example, on April 22^nd, 353 AD, Wang Xizhi, the officer of Kuaiji, together with Xie an, Sun Chuo, Zhi Dun and other friends, held a grand gathering of literati in the Orchid Pavilion of Shanyin. When he was drunk, Wang Xizhi wrote a preface to the Orchid Pavilion. At that time, Wang Xizhi would not have thought that the manuscript, which was accomplished in one move, would become a famous piece that was memorized by Chinese people from generation to generation, and would provide a supreme coordinate for Chinese calligraphy in the future.

For example, Li Bai, a poet, had been to Shaoxing three times and wrote a lot of poems about Huangjiu in his life. The last time he came to Shaoxing to visit his teacher He Zhizhang, it was a pity that his teacher had passed away. Then, Li Bai wrote a poem. "There is a bohemian in the Siming Mountain. His name is He Zhizhang and he has enjoyed a good reputation for a long time. The first time I met him in Chang'an, he called me the immortal from heaven. He used to be a wine lover, but now he has become the dust under the pine tree. Whenever I think of the scene of exchanging the turtle for wine, I can't help crying sadly and my tears wet the towel."

Lu You, known as the most prolific poet in China, wrote a lot of poems related to Huangjiu, especially the masterpiece Chai Tou Feng. [Pink hands so fine, Gold-branded wine, Spring paints green willows palace walls cannot confine. East wind unfair, Happy times rare. In my heart sad thoughts throng: We've severed for years long. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Spring is as green, In vain she's lean, Her silk scarf soak'd with tears and red with stains unclean. Peach blossoms fall Near desert'd hall. Our oath is still there, lo! No word to her can go. No, no, no!" This poem has been handed down for nearly a thousand years (1115) and is well known to the Japanese and Korean people. The Huangteng wine in this poem is the best Huangjiu made by the government.

Wang Yangming, a Shaoxing native and a well-known scholar in Japan and South Korea, also wrote poems about Huangjiu. For example, he recorded his experience of drinking on the West Lake. "Take a beautiful boat and enjoy good wine on the West Lake. The wind is accompanied by the fragrance of lotus flowers and orchestral music. Come back late without enjoying myself to the full. The moon rises again from the willow pond." In the early Ming Dynasty, Shaoxing had become the brewing center of Huangjiu. With the emergence of major brewing workshops and brands, Shaoxing wine had been sold all over the world. Wang Yangming's poems also reflect the prosperity of Shaoxing Huangjiu at that time.

Therefore, because of the common culture, the people of China, Japan and South Korea are familiar with Shaoxing Huangjiu and yearn for it.