The Savannah morning news., 1901-09-06
DRINKING AMONG THE CHINESE.
Ancients and Moderns Alike Fond OF
Wine.
From the New York Sun.

Ancients and Moderns Alike Fond OF
Wine.
From the New York Sun
The police records of New York as
well as those of all other cities in this
country that have Chinese residents
show that the Chinese who come to
America are extremely temperate in
their use of alcoholic stimulants. The
arrest of Chinese in this city for in
toxication is almost unknown. What
ever other failings they may have they
are certainly not drunkards, and, in
deed, the New York police say of them
that they are less given to tippling
than the people of any nationality that
comes here.
This view is generally indorsed by
Europeans resident in China. But that
there is drinking among the Chinese in
their own country there is no doubt,
and drinking to excess, too. The wine
kettle is rarely missing from the Ia
bles of the rich and leisure class, and
there is ample reason for stating that
the great feasts of the upper classes
are often nothing more than drinking
bouts at which many of the guests
eventually find a resting place beneath
the table. In an article on Wine
er in a recent issue of the North China
Herald has much to say that is of in
terest and that will perhaps surprise
those whose knowledge of the habits
or these people is gained from the Chi
nese living in the United States.
This writer says that in reading
Giles "Chinese Literature" he was
impressed with the many references
the Chinese writers make to the use
and abuse of wine, and he proceeds to
describe as follows. the various kinds
China:
1T is perhaps hardly needful to
state here that our word wine is
hardly an equivalent of the Chinese
word 'Chiu.' This represents the ar
dent spirits of millet and other grain,
and might we think be more aptly rem
dered by our word whisky. Wine with
us is supposed to be the juice of the
grape, and therefore is quite distinct
from the spirits of the Chinese. The
latter has, nevertheless, been intro
duced to English readers under the
term wine. 1t is true that the Chi
nese have different kinds of wine. Ev-
erybody knows that they have sam
shoo. which is a corruption of two
Chlnese words meaning thrice fired
They possess also, peach wines and
orange wines. which derive their
names from the fragrance given them
by these fruits. There are other
brands whose names it is not. neces-
sary to mention here. But whatever
be the name or the particular flavor,
the body of the drink is ardent spirit,
and therefore wine is scarcely the most
fitting term to use in translating the
word into English"
Although declaring that drunkenness
in public is almost unknown in the
Empire, and that the race as a whole
is justly regarded as most temper
ate one, the writer of this article ad-
mits that the flushed faces of the SER
wants on feast days often indicate
that they have been partaking of
something else than salt fish and weak
tea, conclusion which, he adds, is
borne out by their insolent manner on
such occasions, which forms a sharp
contrast with their usual subserviency.
Chinese literature establishes beyond
peradventure that hard drinking has
prevailed for centuries, and that the
poets, especially, have been accustonI-
ed to boast of the depth of their wine
cups and the number of times they
could empty them at one sitting. AS
examples of the extremes to which
some of the more noted Of the early
from Giles:
The favorite dictum of Liu-ling, one
of the Seven Sages of the Bamb DO
Grove, was that to a drunken man the
affairs of the world appear but as SO
much duck-weed.' He had but cne de-
sire, which was that whenever he went
abroad he should be accompanied by
two servants, of whom one should car
ry jar of wine and the other a spade,
so that the poet might be buried there
and then where he fell
'Wang-po never meditated before
hand, but after having prepared a
quantity of ink ready for use he would
drink himself tipsy and lie down with
his face covered up. On waking he
would seize his pen and write off verses
not word of which needed to be
changed.
''Li-po was the greatest of Chinese
poets and one of the greatest of tip
piers. On one occasion when che Em-
peror sent for him he was found drunk
in the street and it was only after
having his face we'll mopped with cold
water that he was fit for the imperial
presence. After many wanderings and
many adventures he was drowned on
a journey, from leaning one night too
far over the edge of the boat in a
drunken effort to embrace the refiec-
ton of the moon
Coming down to the Chinese of to-
day the writer in the Shanghai pa
pers says there are facts which prove
that they are by no means teetotallers
Almost every village has its wine
shop. There may be only a few
shanties and these in the most dilap-
idated and poverty-stricken condition,
but there in a conspicuous position are
the jars of wine for sale surrounded by
sacrificial paper and blood red can
dies. And as these shops are found in