中西方酒文化的比较研究.doc

中西方酒文化的比较研究A Comparative Study on AlcoholCulture Between China and Western CountriesAcknowledgementsFirst and foremost, my appreciation goes to my affectionate parents, and the rest of my family. On the process of composing the paper, they have been giving me continuous support, encouragement and understanding. Their love and support encouraged me to pursue progress all the time.And I also would like to extend my sincere thanks to all other teachers who gave me lectures during the past three academic years. I have benefited so much not only from their courses and lectures but also from their constant encouragement.Finally, my deepest gratitude and respect go to my supervisor, Lu Li. It is for her constant encouragement, critical instructions, her great care and precious advice and suggestions that this paper appears in the present form.AbstractAlcohol，which plays an important role in peoples daily life, is familiar to human beings. Peoples life becomes colorful with it. As to alcohol culture, differences and similarities co-exist between China and the western countries. A large number of previous researches have been done on specific alcohol culture, whereas few studies focus on the alcohol culture comparison between China and western countries. Systematic and comprehensive researches in this regard are hard to find. Since comparative studies on the similarities and differences of alcohol culture between China and western countries are lacking, this paper attempt to explore the differences from the raw materials and drinking customs and conclude their similarities to introduce the alcohol culture of China and western countries. Key Words：alcohol ; cultural difference; China and western countries 摘 要酒是人们非常熟悉的一种饮品，它在人们的日常生活中起着不可替代的作用。酒使人们的生活变的丰富多彩。关于酒文化，中国和西方相似之处与差异共存。前人对特定的酒文化研究较多，而对中西方酒文化的比较都只做了简要的探讨，并未系统、全面的做出总结, 关于中西方酒文化的相似和差异的对比研究还比较欠缺。本文试图在前人研究的基础上，从酿酒的原料和饮酒的习俗等方面探讨中西方酒文化的不同, 并结合它们的相似处，介绍中西方酒文化。关键词: 酒；文化差异；中国和西方国家ContentsIntroduction .1I. History of alcohol .31.1 In China .31.2 In west countries .4II. Alcohol culture in China and western countries .62.1 Similarities in alcohol culture .62.2 Differences in alcohol culture .7III. Intercommunication of alcohol culture 15 3.1 The necessity to promote intercommunication of alcohol culture .15 3.2 Suggestions to the intercommunication of alcohol culture .15Conclusion .16Bibliography .17IntroductionThe alcohol as an objective substance in the world is in the shape of water but it has the character of fire. It will brighten the bright and fool the fool. People, such as the emperors, the heroes, the liberators, the ordinary people and the beggars, all like it since it appeared. Undoubtedly, the alcohol can be said as a riddle. People no matter in China or in western countries all have the habit of drinking alcohol. They regard drinking alcohol as an indispensable part of life. The formation of alcohol culture is different in different countries. In China, the word for alcohol jiu” is used to refer to all types of alcoholic beverages. Since long time ago China had have the stories about Du Kang who invented the method of brewing alcoholic beverages. A legend in western countries about the origin of alcohol is also spread. The alcohol culture was gradually formed after the appearing of alcohol. The phrase the alcohol culture is put forward by the renowned economist professor Li in China. In 1994, Xiao jiacheng said that the alcohol culture referred to the integration of material, technical, spiritual, custom, psychological, and behavior phenomenon which generated around the center. While we pride ourselves on the long history of alcohol culture, we only to find that we depend excessively on the traditional alcohol culture .As a result we can not make any innovation.There is no development and progress without innovation. In this case, we can learn from the western countries. There are varied types of alcohol with different raw materials, such as Gin, Whisky, Vodka, Rum, and Brandy. Even the cocktail which appeared later is brewed based on some types of the alcoholic beverages. It is generally acknowledged that China is far away from the western countries geographically. As a result, the way to drink is different. Even in China, there is also some difference between nationalities on the way to drink. There are also some similarities of alcohol culture between China and western countries although the difference exists. The development of alcohol spirit accompanied with alcohol culture. While alcohol culture developed to a certain degree, schools of ideology came into being. In order to push the development of alcohol culture we should do our utmost to promote the international communication of the alcohol culture. I. History of alcohol1.1 In ChinaThe earliest evidence of alcohol in China are wine jars from Jiahu（Jiahu (贾湖 pinyin: Jih) was the site of a Neolithic Yellow River settlement based in the central plains of ancient China, modern Wuyang, Henan Province ）which dated back to about 7000 BC1:314. This early drink was produced by fermenting rice, honey, and fruit. A variety of alcoholic beverages was used in China since prehistoric times. Alcohol, known in Chinese as ji was considered a spiritual food rather than a material (physical) food, and extensive documentary evidence attests to the important role it played in the religious life. In ancient times people always drank when holding a memorial ceremony, offering sacrifices to gods or their ancestors, pledging resolution before going into battle, celebrating victory, before feuding and official executions, for taking an oath of allegiance, while attending the ceremonies of birth, marriage, reunions, departures, death, and festival banquets1:314. A Chinese imperial edict of about 1116 BC makes it clear that the use of alcohol in moderation was believed to be prescribed by heaven. Whether or not it was prescribed by heaven, it was clearly beneficial to the treasury. At the time of Marco Polo (1254-1324) it was drunk daily and was one of the treasurys biggest sources of income.Alcoholic beverages were widely used in all segments of Chinese society, were used as a source of inspiration, were important for hospitality, were considered an antidote for fatigue, and were sometimes misused. Laws against making alcohol were enacted and repealed forty-one times between 1100 BC and AD 1400. However, a commentator writing around 650 BC asserted that people will not do without beer. To prohibit it and secure total abstinence from it is beyond the power even of sages. Hence, therefore, we have warnings on the abuse of it.1.2 In west countriesIn Pre-Columbian American, alcoholic beverages were developed by many Native American civilizations some of which are still produced today. The traditional native beverage of Mesoamerica was pulque or octli which was made from the fermented juice of maguey. Mezcal was obtained by distilling pulque and tequila is a form of mezcal. It is believed to be beer but the main carbohydrate was a complex form of fructose and not starch. 3:178 South America produced Chicha which is a Spanish word for a variety of traditional fermented beverages. Fruits, maize and manioc root formed the main ingredients of chicha. The Native American populations of Brazil made the traditional alcoholic beverage known as Cauim which was very similar to chicha and made using the same ingredients. A characteristic feature that set cauim apart from other alcoholic drinks was that the starting material is cooked, chewed and then re-cooked before fermentation. The saliva that is present in the ingredients of the cauim break down the starches into fermentable sugars.During the early modern period (1500-1800), Protestant leaders such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, the leaders of the Anglican Church, and even the Puritans did not differ substantially from the teachings of the Catholic Church: alcohol was a gift of God and created to be used in moderation for pleasure, enjoyment and health; drunkenness was viewed as a sin.A beverage that clearly made its debut during the seventeenth century was sparkling champagne. The credit for that development goes primarily to Dom Perignon, the wine-master in a French abbey. Around 1668, he used strong bottles, invented a more efficient cork (and one that could contain the effervescence in those strong bottles), and began developing the technique of blending the contents. However, another century would pass before problems, especially bursting bottles, would be solved and sparkling champagne would become popular.The original grain spirit, whisky and its specific origins are unknown but the distillation of whisky has been performed in Scotland and Ireland for centuries. The first confirmed written record of whisky comes from 1405 in Ireland, the production of whisky from malted barley is first mentioned in Scotland in an entry on the 1494, although both countries could have distilled grain alcohol before this date.Distilled spirit was generally flavored with juniper berries. The resulting beverage was known as jenever, the Dutch word for juniper. The French changed the name to genievre, which the English changed to geneva and then modified to gin. Originally used for medicinal purposes, the use of gin as a social drink did not grow rapidly at first. However, in 1690, England passed An Act for the Encouraging of the Distillation of Brandy and Spirits from Corn and within four years the annual production of distilled spirits, most of which was gin, reached nearly one million gallons. It should be noted that at that time corn in England meant grain in general.II. Alcohol culture in China and western countries 2.1 Similarities in alcohol culture2.1.1 Beautiful legends on the origin of alcoholAlthough there is much difference of alcohol culture between China and western countries, we can not neglect the similarities. In the first place, both China and western countries have a beautiful legend about the origin of the alcohol. In China, some people think that Du Kang invented the method to make alcohol with a history of 4000 years, while other people think that Yi Di was the first person to brew alcoholic drink. However, there is a basically clear record about the origin of alcohol. In the west, though there is a not clear historical record, a beautiful legend about the origin of alcohol was handed down. It was said that an ancient Persian king sealed the remnant grapes in the barrel and labeled the word poison to prevent others from eating them. There was a concubine disfavored by the king and lived painfully opportunely to see the poison barrel and wanted to die at that time. She opened it and drunk for a few mouths. She felt not painful but a sense of intoxication when she was waiting to die. Then she told the king the matter. A test is unavoidable. This, of course, is a beautiful legend. But the alcohol beverages, indeed, enhanced the enjoyment of mankind. 2.1.2 Alcohol and literatureIn the second place, the alcohol culture has the surprising similarities on literature. In the realm of literature and art, the alcohol spirit is everywhere and affects the men of letters and refined scholars deeply in that freeness, art and beauty is united. Freeness reaches art and art produces beauty. To get the free state of art with intoxication is an important channel to get rid of bind and get the ability of creation by the ancient Chinese arts. 6：101 Alcohol, more than any other beverage, had a great impact on men of letters as it seems that many of them produced their peak masterpieces in states of drunkenness. Being drunk, and so being released of inhibition, was and is an important way for men of letters to unleash their artistic and creative talents. After drinking the mysterious liquid, many famous poets, such as Li Bai and Du Fu, excelled in writing and left us surprisingly marvelous poems. 7:54 The famous poet Li Bai of the Tang Dynasty (AD618-907) is known as the Immortal of Wine because of his love for alcohol. Guo Moruo, a modern scholar, compiled statistics about Lis poems and found 17 percent of them were about drinking. Alcohol inspired the poet and helped him create many beautiful poems. When Li Bai was happy he wrote: People should enjoy drinking as much as possible when they succeed. When he was sad he wrote: I tried to comfort myself with wine but the wine made the sadness even worse. Not only poetry but also painting and calligraphy were elevated to new heights with the consumption of alcohol. Wang Xizhi, the famous Chinese calligrapher respectfully called the Saint of Calligraphy, tried dozens of times to outdo his most outstanding work, Lantingxu (Orchid Pavilion Prologue), which was finished when he was drunk, but he failed. The original one was the best. The consumption of alcoholic beverages isnt just acoincidentally recurringquirk in the literary world: its downright traditional. For many famous writers of the past and present, a cocktail glass is as at home in their hand as a pen. Consider what Ernest Hemingway said, “Aman does not exist until he is drunk.” or William Faulkner, “Civilization begins with distillation.” and, famously, F.Scott Fitzgerald who spent the majority of his writing career (and life) in a state of perpetual tipsiness, “First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you.” 2.2 Differences in alcohol culture2.2.1 Different categories of alcohol China is one of the three ancient countries in the world and has thousands of years of history to brew alcohol. Today, China is also famous for its masterly technology and distinctive style of alcohol and is more renowned for the long history and profound culture. The world people gradually realized the great value of alcohol culture of China as the rapid development of Chinese alcohol since the foundation of China. In China, the word for alcohol jiu is used to mean all types of alcoholic beverages, from pijiu(beer) to liquors (just called jiu) to grape alcohol (putaojiu). The origins of the alcoholic beverages from fermented grain in China can not be traced definitely. The distilled drink was not popular until the 19th century. Traditionally, Chinese distilled liquors are consumed together with food rather than drunk on their own. 8:59The alcohol can be generally classified into two types, namely, yellow liquors (huangjiu) or clear (white) liquor (baijiu). The yellow liquor is fermented alcohol that is brewed directly from grains such as rice or wheat. Such liquor contains less than 20% alcohol due to the inhibition of fermentation by ethanol at this concentration. This alcohol is traditionally pasteurized，aged, and filtered before their final bottling for sale to consumers. Yellow liquor can also be distilled to produce white liquor or baijiu. White liquor (baijiu) are also commonly called shaojiu, which means hot liquor or burned liquor, either because of the burning sensation in the mouth during consumption and the fact that they are usually warmed before being consumed, or because of the heating requirements for distillation liquors of this type typically contain more than 30% alcohol in volume since they have undergone distillation. 9:25There are a great many varieties of distilled liquors, both unflavored and flavored. According to different kinds of material, there are a large number of types of famous Chinese liquors and wines familiar to us, such as: Fen Jiu (汾酒)- this liquor was dated back to Northern and Southern Dynasties (5500 A.D.). It is the original Chinese white liquor made from sorghum. Alcohol content by volume: 63-65%;Zhu Ye Qing Jiu(竹叶青酒)- this sweet liquor is Fen Jiu brewed with a dozen or more selected Chinese herbal medicine. One of the ingredients is bamboo leaves which give the liquor a yellowish-green color and its name. Its alcohol content ranges between 38 and 46 percent by volume;Mao Tai Jiu(茅台酒)- this liquor has a production history of over 200 years. It is named after its origin at Mao Tai town in Guizhou province. It is made from wheat and sorghum with a unique distilling process that involves seven iterations of the brewing cycle. This liquor is famous to the western world when the Chinese government served this in state banquets entertaining the US presidents. Alcohol content by volume: 54-55%;Gao Liang Jiu (高粱酒)- Gaoliang, commonly written Kaoliang, is the Chinese word for a specific type of sorghum. Besides sorghum, the brewing process also use barley, wheat etc. The alcohol was originated from Da Zhi Gu since the Ming Dynasty. Nowadays, Taiwan is a large producer of sorghum. Alcohol content by volume: 61-63%;Mei Gui Lu Jiu(玫瑰露酒rose essence wine)-a variety of sorghum with distilling from a special species of rose and crystal sugar. Alcohol content by volume: 54-55%;Wu Jia Pi Jiu (五加皮酒)- a variety of gao liang jiu with a unique selection of Chinese herbal medicine added to the brewing. Alcohol content by volume: 54-55%;Da Gu Jiu (大麴酒)- originated from Sichuan province with 300 years of history. This alcohol is made of sorghum and wheat by fermenting in a unique process for a long period in the cellar. Alcohol content by volume: 52%;Yuk Bing Shiu Jiu (玉冰烧酒)- a rice alcohol with over 100 years history. It is made of steamed rice and stored a long period after distillation. Alcohol content by volume: 30%;Shuang Jing(双蒸酒double distillation)