Festive toast to the moon(1)
A huangjiu brewer shows the process of making the liquor at the opening ceremony of the 16th China Shaoxing Huangjiu Festival in Zhejiang province on Nov 7, 2010. [Photo by Song Haojian / for China Daily]
BEIJING - Chinese wine culture is old as history, and there is a trove of wine tales that is probably delved into every time friends and family gather around some fine vintage.
When the moon is mellow and yellow, when the crabs are full of roe and milt, when the chrysanthemums are blooming as large as the moon and perfuming the garden with their subtle scent, it's time to break open the earthen jar of nu'er hong or virgin red.
Virgin red? That's the name of a famous yellow wine from Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, where it is customary to brew a batch and bury them underground for at least 18 years or until the daughter in the family marries. These jars would be broken into and served to guests at the wedding feast - hence the name.
If it was a son, the same batch of wine would be named "scholar red" and served at the celebratory feast thrown for the child when he rises to expectations and scores well in examinations.
No one knows when this tradition really started, but it has been for as long as the wine-makers of Shaoxing can remember.
Drinking has been associated with scholarship and the arts since recorded history, and at the height of Chinese culture during the Tang and Song dynasties, poets and courtesans, moon and blooms, fine wine and good food inspired and were inspired in poetry, painting and music.
The Tang poet Li Bai was as much known for his works as for his love of the cup. One famous tribute from his fellow poet Du Fu was a four-line seven-character poem that described it best.
