Wine and vessels in Han Dynasty China (206 BC-AD 220)
Wine is the most common beverage in Chinese society. It was drunk by every level of society and in any occasion. Alcoholic beverages made from fermented rice and sorghum grains were considered traditional drinks in ancient China. So far, only few cases that wine was kept well preserved from the Han tombs (fig.1 & 2). Most of cases only wine containers survived.
From archaeological findings, we understand that as early as Shang dynasty (c.1,600-1,046 BC) Chinese has developed a complicate ritual system on presenting food and wine to their ancestor. Different type of food and wine containers were used to honour their deceased ancestors and buried these items in tombs so they can continue using them in the afterlife. Ancestor worship is important to Chinese society. Chinese people believe that their ancestors are guardians of the family who can communicate with the gods to bring them good fortune.
Beginning of the Erlitou period (c.1700-1500 BC) until the Erligang period (c.1500-1300 BC) bronze borrowed and adapted Neolithic ceramics types. The most important Shang royal tomb, Lady Fuhao excavated from Anyang reveals that 44.8% bronzes are ritual vessels; 28.6% are weapons; 8.8% tools and the rest are musical instruments and chariot fittings. Among these ritual vessels, 20% are cooking vessels, including tripod ding鼎, steamer yan甗 and container gui簋; 74% are 15 different types of drinking vessels including jue爵 and gu觚 which are the most common types.
In the middle of the Western Zhou period (about ninth century BC), there was a restructuring of the royal government and a change in the way it related to the society’s leading families.[1] As a result, the typology of bronze ritual vessels became standardised into sets of identical ding鼎 and gui 簋 (cooking vessels and containers) in order to identify the social status of their owners. The small wine vessels, such as jue爵 and gu觚 that were popular in the previous period, disappeared and were replaced by pairs of large wine containers,hu, and sets of bells, possibly indicating changes to rituals and social structure.[2]
However, a new food/ritual revolution occurred in the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), if not earlier, in which traditional ritual vessels that had dominated the offering ceremony almost completely disappeared and simply designed daily use utensils and new inventions with various materials and purposes increased, some of them even seen today. New inventions suggest a new fashion and a new ideology of living.
New categories of wine containers and cups in the Han dynasty
The wine containers commonly seen in Han tombs including the shape of square vase, fang (fig.3), flattened oval-shaped container pi (fig.4), large pear-shaped container zhong (fig.5), cylindrical wine container, zun or lain (fig.6) and wine servers such as ear-cup (er bei, fig.7) and lidded beaker (zhi, fig.8). These items were produced in ceramic, lacquer, bronze, gilt bronze and even crystal or jade, depending on the statues of tomb occupants. Images from stone carvings such as at Zhucheng諸城, Shandong (c.2nd century), indicate that eared cups and a cylindrical basin with a ladle were used as offerings to the tomb occupant. These stone carvings found in the passage ways between front and central chambers of this tomb. They depicted the kitchen scenes—how the servants prepared meals (fig.9); how the tomb occupant receiving his guests, apparently seated in front of the table on which were placed rows of eared cups with a tripod container that with a ladle in front of it (fig.10).[3] Similar container and eared cups scenes appeared in other part of stone carvings in this tomb. Inscriptions on lacquer eared cups such as “May you enjoy the food! 君幸食” and “May you enjoy the wine! 君幸酒” (fig.11) from Lady Dai’s tomb at Mawangdui, Huann province reveal that these eared cups were for use in drinking wine or eating food—possibly soup.[4] Therefore, the container and ladle next to these eared cup might be served both wine and soup.
In imperial Prince Liu Sheng's tomb at Mancheng, Hebei, a fullest presentation of such offerings were prepared. Two canopies were set up in the main central chamber and, presumably, the couple sat beneath them to receive offerings of food and wine (fig.12).[5] In Liu Sheng’s case, apart from 67 ceramic copies of lacquer eared cups, two faience (laio料) eared cups, one faience plate, some lacquer plates and traces of a lacquer tray were also found in front of Liu Sheng's coffin.[6]
The typical items for this offering included eared cups, low tables (trays) and plates made of pottery or lacquer. In an intact Eastern Han tomb at Chongqing重慶, Sichuan, 16 pottery eared cups and two plates were separated on two trays,[7] which were found in the rear part of the coffin chamber. This practice was commonly seen in different ranking tombs through the entire Han period and it seems offered the last supper to the tomb occupants. In Mawangdui, one eared cup, two zhi卮 cups and five plates all made of lacquerware were found in the northern compartment which was identified as a reception hall.[8]
A pottery tray with inscriptions found at Liaoyang遼陽 supports this assumption.
永元十七年三月二十六日造作(瓦?)案大吉常宜酒肉
On the 26th day of March in the 17th year of Yongyuan (105 AD), (I) made this (pottery) tray. Great good luck! May you constantly have wine and meat.[9]
The use of durable materials such as jade or stone for offering vessels may have been seen as pragmatic, as they were likely to last for centuries. However, a comparison of the materials from different ranking tombs reveals a hierarchical system. The most powerful members of the Liu family from Xuzhou used jade eared cups,[10] the king of Zhongshan, Liu Sheng, used glass in place of jade and a large quantity of pottery ear cups instead of lacquer. In the south, non-Liu family but high ranking tomb at Mawangdui, lacquer was the main material, while in the lower ranking tombs, a small quantity of pottery vessels or images carved on stones were supplied. Jade was probably used in tombs of the highest elite, both because it was durable and because the stone was beautiful and precious.
In Nanyue Wang’s case, a narrow stem tubular jade cup with bronze basin stand was found placed squarely in the middle of the outer coffin (fig.13). To its left, there was a lacquer cup with gilded bronze handles. To its right, there was a deep bronze basin. All these three were placed in line in front of the outer coffin, and they were probably related to a sacrificial or burial ceremony.[11]
Jade beakers made of jade plaques set in a bronze frame and a jade rhyton were also found in Nanyue Wang’s touxiang頭箱, or "chest at the head". The jade rhyton is unusual (fig.14), its exotic shape suggesting that this piece was copied from a Western Asian piece in silver or in a precious stone.[12] Judging from the jade vessels found in the touxiang and pills kept in the silver box, which were placed in the zuxiang足箱, or “足箱chest of the feet”, it seems that the king of Nanyue was trying to prolong his life by taking pills and other medicines. This jade rhyton cannot have been the only example in its day, although, as yet, no other Han rhytons are known. An image of a figure holding a rhyton was painted on the gable of a Western Han tomb at Luoyang.[13] These jade vessels were probably not simply viewed as luxury objects, but may also have had additional functions in ensuring a good afterlife for their owners.
The jade material itself represented durability and might have been regarded as possessing special powers when used for drinking and eating. Han Gaozu漢高祖, Liu Bang, held up a jade cup and drank a toast to the longevity of the Grand Emperor.[14] A jade cup (yu bei玉杯) with the inscription “Long Life to the Lord of Men (ren zhu yan shou 人主延壽)” was presented to Emperor Wen in 165 BC and that led the emperor to order great feasting throughout the empire.[15] These vessels were versions of pieces seen in lacquer, bronze and other material, but being made of this precious material were perhaps regarded as more potent and may also have conferred additional special powers. Again, the wish for potency that derived from the durable quality of jade may have been a driving force.[16]
Apart from drinking from jade utensils, gold utensils are also believed to have magic power that will reinforce long life. In the chapter xian yao (Immortal drug) in Baopuzi it records that
玉亦仙藥 但難得耳 服金者壽如金 服玉者壽如玉也
Jade is also an elixir, but it is difficult to obtain. Those who take gold will live as long as gold; those who take jade will live as long as jade.[17]
Jade is not only for taking to prolong one’s life, but also to preserve the body from decay when jade plugs are inserted into the nine human orifices.[18] The use of large quantities of jade in Han burials has been confirmed by abundant archaeological evidence.
Searching for immortality had become widespread among the ruling class from the late Warring States periods onwards and gold gradually came to assume an important role in it, alongside jade. Numerous necromancers (fangshi 方 士) travelled to different States, providing advice to the rulers on how to achieve long life. Among these fangshi, the most famous was Li Shaojun 李少君 (fl. c. 2nd century BC), who advised Wudi that ‘Offering sacrifices to the stove [god] allows one to transform cinnabar into gold. Making the gold into vessels for drinking and eating then increases the length of one’s life. With long life, one can meet the immortals of Penglai. On seeing them, one makes the Feng and Shan sacrifices to achieve deathlessness, just as the Yellow Emperor did.’[19]
The belief that drinking and eating from gold utensils could prolong life, as recorded in Shiji, is echoed by the discovery of gilt bronze utensils hu (fig.15) in the tomb of the King of Zhongshan, Liu Sheng (劉勝, Emperor Wudi’s brother, d. 113 BC) at Mancheng滿城, Hebei province and the inscriptions on it:
口味，充潤血膚，延壽卻病，萬年有餘
Let delicacies fill the gates and increase our girth.
And give us long life without illness for ten thousand years.[20]
Although this gilt vase may have been produced in the 4th century BC and buried with the King of Zhongshan as an heirloom, the inscription reflects the ruling class’s desire to prolong life and avoid sickness for thousands of years. It is also from this period onward that gilt bronze vessels were commonly seen in the tombs of the Han elites (fig.3 &*).
Conclusion
As mentioned above, a new invention indicates a new ideology of living and belief. As part of the interest in pursuing immortality by the elites between 4th and 2nd century BC, gilt bronze vessels were produced in simulation of gold, since the Han Chinese believed that drinking and eating from gold could prolong life. This could also explain why a large number and variety of gilt bronze vessels were commonly found in Han royal tombs. Many lacquer, ceramic and glass utensils were reproduced in jade for the same reason. The tubular stem jade cup and the jade rhyton from the tomb of King of Nanyue at Canton have an exotic shape that was adopted from Central Asia. The appearance of exotic objects indicates contact with outside worlds and is possibly linked to the search for immortality drugs overseas. Both durable and valuable, jades were mostly imported from outside China from the modern Xinjiang areas, reinforcing the eternal ideology and power when using it. In line with the idea that drinking and eating from gold vessels can increase the length of one’s life, wine in somehow has associated it with immortality. In latter time, terms such as gui xian (醉仙drunken immortal) and jiu gui (酒鬼wine ghost) appeared.
References
[1]. Edward L. Shaughnessy, ‘Western Zhou History’, in The Cambridge History of Ancient China—from the Origins of Civilization to 221 BC, ed. Loewe & Shaughnessy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 293
[2]. Jessica M. Rawson, ‘Changing Values of Ancient Chinese Bronzes’, in Ancient Chinese and Ordos Bronzes, ed. Jessica Rawson and Emma Bunker (Hong Kong: The Oriental Ceramic Society 1990), 37-38
[3]. WW 1981.10, pp.14-21.
[4]. Beijing (1973), p.83.
[5]. Rawson (1999b).
[6]. See Beijing (1980b), fig.17. In Robert Thorp's article it was identified as a lacquer tray with wine and service vessels and the remains of a slaughtered pig had been placed in the centre in front of the coffin. See Thorp (1987a), p.33.
[7]. WWCKZL 1955.3, pp.35-49.
[8]. Beijing (1973). The tomb structure and contents of Mawangdui’s tomb M1 has been discussed in
chapter three above, see footnote 387.
[9]. WWCKZL 1955.3, pp.15-19.
[10]. Recently, a jade cup, jade ear-cup and two jade beakers were excavated from Shizishan, Xuzhou, Jiangsu. See WW 1998.8, pp. 4-33, especially p.17; KG 1998.8, pp.1-20; Beijing (1996e) 3/4, pp.3-13.
[11]. Another two, almost identical examples of stemed tubular jade cups were excavated in Guangxi
廣西 and from the Epang阿房 Palace site at Chezhangcun車張村 in Xi’an city, Shaanxi, dating
to Qin dynasty, 3rd century B.C. See WW1978.9, pp.25-35; Hebei (1991-93), vol.4, pl.19; also see
Beijing (1993), pl.64. This evidence shows that there is a standard type for this particular vessel.
[12]. Some Iranian silver rhytons collected by the Sackler Gallery were dated to 100B.C.-A.D.100, which was middle Western Han to early Eastern Han in China. Orientations 1989.9, figs.6-9. Both the kings of Nanyue and Mancheng died at almost the same time (Liu Sheng at 113 B.C. and Zhao Mei at 122 B.C.). In addition, the communication between China and Western Asia during the Han period was recorded by Shi ji. It is possible that the jade rhyton found in Nanyue Wang's tomb was based on a piece from Iran or central Asia. See Gunter (1987), pp.38-45, especially p.42-44, fig.7-10a. Also a silver pill-box in Nanyue Wang’s tomb is a clearly of Middle Eastern or Persian origin. See Beijing (1991a), p.209, fig.138; also Swart (1990), p.61.
[13]. KGXB 1964, pp.107-125, col. pl.2; Beijing (1996c), p.93, col. pl.5; Sun Ji (1991), p.311, pl.78:18.
[14]. Shi ji, p.386; Han shu, p.66.
[15]. See Han shu, p.128; Watson (1993), p.23; Dubs (1938), pp.259-260.
[16]. Jessica M. Rawson, ‘Transformed into Jade: Changes in Material in the Warring States, Qin and Han Periods’, in East Asian Jade: Symbol of Excellence, vol.2, ed. Teng Chung (Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1998), 125-136
[17] Baopuzi neipian quanyi (Guizhou: Renmin chubanshe, 1980): 282
[18] "When gold and jade are inserted into the nine orifices, corpses do not decay金玉在九竅, 則死人為之不朽." Ge Hong's comment may be the earliest explicit literary statement of this belief, but the evidence from Han archaeology substantiates such concepts and dates to several centuries earlier. It seems possible that he was recording an ancient tradition. See Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1980): 45. For more discussion on the protecting function of jade see James C S Lin, ‘Protection in the Afterlife,’ in The Search for Immortality—Tomb Treasure of Han China, ed. James C S Lin (New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2012), 77-83
[19] 祠灶則致物，致物而丹沙可化為黃金，黃金成以為飲食器則益壽，益壽而海中蓬萊僊者 可見，見之以封禪則不死，黃帝是也。Shi ji :12 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959): 455; also see Shengyu Wang, ‘Cosmology, Fashion, and Good Fortune: Chinese Auspicious Ornament in the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220)’ (PhD diss., University of Oxford University, 2020), 199-203
[20] Mancheng Hanmu fajue baogao 滿城漢墓發掘報告 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe, 1980): vol.1: 43