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1. 1. 2 Origin of Brewing of Alcoholic Drinks Proved by
Archaeological Discoveries
All over China dot the cultural relics of the New- Stone Age
which are as many as 6,000¡«7,000. Among all discoveries, some grains
remains and a large number of antiques not only provide considerably
valuable data for us to study how our ancestors of the New- Stone Age
behaved in the social life, but also present direct proofs of how the
brewing of alcoholic drinks originated.
Brewing of grain alcoholic drinks requires two necessities, that
is the raw materials of brewing and brewing vessels. Of course the
existence of raw materials of brewing and brewing vessels can't
suggest the origin of brewing alcoholic drinks; which can only be used
as reference. The followings are some typical cultural relics of the
New-Stone Age.
Pei Ligang Culture Period, as early as 7,700¡«8, 000 years ago
(another opinion considered as far as 7, 000 ¡« 8, 000 years ago ) ,
situated in Zheng-zhou, Xing-zheng and other places, Henan Province of
Central China, is the earliest cultural relics of the New- Stone Age
discovered till now in China. Among other remains are some stone
sickles, stone spades, stone axes, stone knifes, stone mills, stone
grinding rods, fin-clay red potter- works and remains of grains.
Although the shapes of the pottery are in difference from the drinking
vessels discovered latter, it is certain that they were one of
material conditions for brewing of alcoholic drinks at that time.
It is situated in Homedou Village , Yu- yao County Zhejiang
Province of Yangtze River's lower reach, it existed as far as 6,000¡«7
,000 years ago. Some primitive tools such as stone axes and stone
ploughing tools etc. were discovered in it. A large quantity of man
-cultivated rice grains and rice leaves and stems still existed. People
at that time began raising pigs, dogs and cattle, and potter- works
were delicately made. This period had developed into the typical stage
of agriculture. Among the discovered remains, exists a container,
called "±" (pronounced "you") ¡ª an ancient- time small - mouthed
drinking vessel, which aroused people's peculiar interest and attention.
So there was great possibility that brewing of alcoholic drinks
started during Homedou Culture Period.
Ci-shan Culture Period which existed 7,355¡«7,234 years ago ,
possessed developed agricultural economy. Some experts calculated
there existed a mass of 100 m3 of grains, equaling 50,000 kg's in the
remains (¡¶On the Era and Society of Ci-shan Culture and Pei- ligang
Culture¡· by Huang Zhong-yue, published in a special issue of ¡¶
Central China's Culture Relics¡·, Sept., 1987). In the relics were
discovered a kind of the watering-pot , small-mouthed pot for storing
liquids and a kind of potter-cup, as well as the big- belly container
probably used for fermentation. It is worth mentioning here that the
mouth of the watering pot has a diameter of 0.2 cm, which couldn't be
used for pouring water. So we can reach a conclusion that there
probably existed brewing of alcoholic drinks by using grains during
the Ci-shan Culture Period.
It lies in Guang-han of Sichuan Province. The remains buried in
the relics, according to the result of testifying C-14, existed 48, 000
¡«2,870 B.C. A big number of potter-works and bronze vessels such as a
kind of Jia, Gu. (both were drinking vessels) and tea- pot etc. in
shape were dug up, they were really rare so far as their sizes were
concerned among the pre-historical cultural remains.
In 1979, archaeologists dup up a large number of drinking
vessels in the relics. Among these remains, a set of vessels for
brewing alcoholic drinks and drinking wares attracted special attention,
they included Da Tao Zun ( a big potter can ) for fermentation, Lou
Gang (a big vat )for filtering alcoholic drinks, a jar for storing
alcoholic drinks and a potter-pod and drinking wares-single-ear-shaped
cups, Zhixing cups ( ), high-handled cups etc., amounting to
more than 100 pieces. According to archaeologists' explanation, the
person buried in the tomb was a professional brewer (¡¶On Development
of Brewing Alcoholic Drinks in the late Da Wen Kou Culture Period ¡·
by Wang Shuming, published in ¡¶Chinese Cookery ¡·, Sept., 1987) . A
picture carved on the wall of the potter-vat dug up from the relics
was considered a filtering-alcoholic-drink one.
There are 6,000¡«7,000 relics of the New- Stone Age that have
been discovered in China, dotting various provinces. As far as the
number of discovered ancient cultural remains are concerned, it is too
big to list here. However these remains buried under the ground for
several thousand years enrich and deepen our thinking of the origin of
brewing of alcoholic beverages, proving the facts of the legends that
there did exist the brewing industry during Huang Di period and Yu
period of Xia Dynasty.
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