Wine In Chinese Poetry

In the Chinese poetry we have read there is a recurrent appearance of wine as a drink that represents prosperity and happiness. In “The Return” T’ao Ch’ien writes, “Where there is a bottle filled with wine./I draw the bottle to me and pour myself a cup.” T’ao Ch’ien is alluding to the fact that wine represents peace and tranquility and in turn happiness can be found in his work in the field rather than conforming to the bustling unfulfilling life of a magistrate.

            Wine loosens the tongue, and T’ao Ch’ien felt that wine frees the mind from the earth. His poetry benefits from this and in “Twenty Poems After Drinking Wine” he writes, And once I am drunk I write a few verses for my own amusement.” He writes for pleasure and to please himself, and the wine helps him in his struggle. It is always wine throughout his poems that he drinks, rather than any other alcohol. I think that this common recurrence of wine shows that wine was thought of as an artists drink, whereas other types of alcohol might pertain to different classes of society. The making of wine itself is seen as an art, and it only makes sense that artists and writers would see something such that must be artfully created as a type of food or drink that would be most relatable to their own struggles.