What is known about the drinking and brewing of alcohols from legendary stories of the Han Dynasty and the Han Bricks？
2 min readIn the late 1970s，a large amount of ancient bricks and stones dating from the Eastern Han Dynasty were unearthed in the suburbs of Chengdu.On the surface of eacl stone or brick are figures，animals or houses from ancient local people’s daily life，and some patterns in relief display how people brewed or drank wine and managed public wine houses.
A love story between Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun that occurred in a small town near Chengdu in the Han Dynasty.One day，a well-learnedscholar named Sima Xiangru fell in love with Zhuo Wenjun.However，Zhuo’s parents did not approve，so the two secretly ran away.They arrived at the western suburbs of Chengdu，where they managed a public wine house as means of livelihood.Sima Xiangru sold wine，while Zhuo Wenjun cleaned utensils and cups.Before long，Sima Xiangru went to Chang’an，the capital of the Han Empire for an imperial examination.Finally Sima Xiangru returned and picked up Zhuo Wenjun.They two wentto the capital because Sima Xiangru had a position in the court government there.
The Han Bricks and the story imply the winemaking industry was well developed in the Han Dynasty.
Was the fruit wine and milk wine the first generation of alcoholic drinks？
During the 01d Stone Age Period，wild fruits were a staple food.These contain much natural sugar，and under the action of microorganisms，the sugar easily turns into alcohol when fermented.Animals’milk contains protein and milk sugar that likewise easily turns to alcohol.At the same time，ancient hunters might have chance to get animal milk.The alcoholic drink called 1ilao recorded in The Yellow Emperor’s Cannon of Internal Medicine is a kind of sweet milk and might be the earliest milk wine.
Some ancient Chinese books have recorded matters relating to fruit wine production through the natural fermentation of fruit.Gui Xin Za Zhi by Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty says that mountain pears stored by local people in urns turned to alcohol.The preface to Pu Tao Jiu Fu by Yuan Haowen of the Yuan Dynasty says that a certain person who lived near a mountain ran away from the ravages of war and sought safety in the mountains.In hi house was a pile of grapes stored in an urn.When fermented，the grape juice turned to alcohol under the action of the natural sugar of the grapes.
