Wine is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It has a long history. People from different regions and nationalities attach great importance to the legend of wine, wine-making technology, drinking customs and etiquette, wine tasting and the choice of wine utensils, thus forming a unique and rich wine culture. With the arrival of the great maritime era in the Middle Ages, the Maritime Silk Road was established and continuously expanded. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, China has carried out trade with some countries in Southeast Asia and West Asia, as well as ceramics, tea and silk with some European countries. Trade between countries and regions has also brought cultural exchanges.
Porcelain is China's great invention and China's great contribution to the progress of human civilization. After15th century, Jingdezhen became the porcelain making center of China. The porcelain here is deeply loved by people because of its rich styles, hard texture, smooth appearance and beautiful shape. It has many advantages such as low water absorption, easy cleaning, good sealing, easy storage, acid resistance, alkali resistance and high temperature resistance, and is the best choice for making dining utensils.
Wherever wine is, its invention is full of mystery. Taking Europe as an example, the ancient Greeks believed that wine was brought to the world by Dionysus, the god of wine, and wine was closely related to goodness and beauty, love and happiness. Christian culture, on the other hand, according to the Bible, Jesus announced to his disciples at the last supper that wine was his blood, which made red wine feel saved and sacred. From the choice of producing area to the planting and picking of grapes, from the brewing of wine to the storage of aged wine, Europeans have strict standards, and their taste of wine will naturally be very particular.
Before the era of great navigation, China porcelain was often transported to Europe through Arab countries in West Asia due to inconvenient transportation, and the quantity was extremely limited. Besides, Europeans knew little about porcelain at that time. They not only regard porcelain as a rare treasure, but once they have it, their identity will be exposed, so the transaction price is very expensive, even exceeding gold. Moreover, they also endowed it with supernatural magic, thinking that using it as tableware can achieve the effects of strengthening the body, preventing and treating diseases, ward off evil spirits and preventing viruses.
It is conceivable that it was a great thing for Europeans to eat and drink with porcelain tableware at that time. Only people with such conditions were rare at that time. For the general public and even some upper-class aristocrats, this is just an extravagant hope. Even aristocrats with this condition were not willing to do so at that time, because European porcelain was too expensive at that time.
From the end of 15 to the beginning of 16, European explorers finally got through the sea routes in East Asia, which opened a new era of direct trade between China and other East Asian countries and European countries. /kloc-In the 6th century, the trade between Europe and China was almost monopolized by Portugal and Spain. By the end of16th century, there were nearly 30 merchant ships every year in Spain alone, and millions of China porcelain, tea, silk and handicrafts were shipped to Europe through direct flights or transshipment, gradually alleviating the situation that China porcelain was once very tight in Europe. Even so, in 1607, the French prince once drank broth from a porcelain bowl, which will be recorded in historical materials and considered? Is a very remarkable thing. The rarity of porcelain in Europe at that time can be imagined.
16-17th century, the production technology of China porcelain, represented by Jingdezhen, is very mature, which makes Europeans envy but can't be replicated for a while. If European countries want exquisite porcelain, they mainly buy it from China by sea. In order to expand the market of porcelain in Europe, China has been developing and producing porcelain suitable for Europeans, including wine vessels in tableware, according to the requirements put forward by European businessmen and the drawings or samples of other materials provided by them. By the end of Europe17th century, China porcelain was basically popular, and many civilian families began to conditionally replace pottery or wooden tableware used by their ancestors with China porcelain, which made the utensils for holding food more hygienic and food consumption more secure, thus making people's eating habits evolve.
From a porcelain order sent to Jingdezhen by Dutch East India Company 1608, it can be seen that besides ordering? A large glass? 500 yuan (maybe mugs, to be verified). What other orders are there? Hip flask? And then what? Hand pay and a small hip flask? 500 [4] each; 1635, a Dutch East India company, placed orders for porcelain, except for ordering? A new flat-bottomed pot and hip flask? 735 outside, what else? Small cup? 13025, and other varieties that may completely belong to wine sets. Only one company orders at a time? Small cup? 13025, and this variety accounts for nearly one tenth of the total order.
The reason for such a sharp increase in quantity and such a large proportion of orders can only be explained by the demand in the European market, because these are custom-made porcelains, and this demand just proves that China porcelain has become an indispensable member of European wine culture. It is also worth noting that this? Small cup? Is it not suitable for drinking beer, because Europeans usually drink beer in large beer cups, and most of them are mugs, so this? Small cup? It is likely to be used to taste wine or drink brandy, whisky, cocktails and other alcoholic beverages.
The author found that Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, Britain, France, Denmark, Sweden and other countries sent ships to China for business activities during the process of collecting and sorting out the relevant materials on Sino-European trade in the15-18th century. In May of the forty-eighth year of Wanli in Ming Dynasty (1620), the board of directors of the Dutch East India Company wrote a letter urging Cohen, an office worker in Asia, to buy a batch of porcelain cups, saucers and saucers made in China and ship them to Europe as soon as possible. Only 6 1500 pieces are urgently needed in the list. In the third year of Ming dynasty (1623), Dutch merchant ship? Morittu? There are 6393/kloc-0 pieces of China porcelain in the freight list for returning to Europe.
Although the maritime ban in the early Qing Dynasty had a certain impact on the export of China porcelain, with the increasingly stable political situation in the Qing Dynasty, the British East India Company shipped nearly 30 million pieces of China porcelain to Europe in the early18th century, and the Dutch East India Company sold nearly 30 million pieces in the seven years from the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728) to the twelfth year of Yongzheng (1734).
It is conservatively estimated that during the 200 years from 17 to 18 century, more than 1 100 million pieces of China porcelain were sold to Europe in each century, which shows a large number. From the existing catalogue and list of15-18th century China porcelain exported to Europe, the proportion of tableware is over 70%, which shows that China porcelain has a great influence on European catering culture. Wine belongs to dining utensils. It is difficult to determine the proportion of porcelain wine vessels in such a large volume that China porcelain is exported to Europe, but what is certain is that this quantity cannot be too small.
The wine culture all over the world pays attention to drinking. Take wine drinking in Europe as an example. Because they have special feelings and preferences for wine, in order to show respect for wine, there is also a set of rules when drinking. For example, the order of drinking is generally to drink white wine first and then red wine; The first product is lighter and the second product is thicker; Drink the short one first, then the long one.
If wine is served with meals, there are usually aperitif, main course wine, after-dinner wine and after-dinner wine in the order of wine matching. For another example, in the choice of wine glasses, drinking different wines requires different wine glasses, drinking wine generally requires glass glasses, drinking brandy requires white glasses, and drinking punch has another set of relatively complete etiquette and special wine utensils. Relatively speaking, there is relatively little emphasis on drinking beer.
As we all know, drinking is inseparable from wine utensils, so the important role of wine utensils in wine culture is self-evident. In some articles on European wine culture, the influence of wine utensils on European wine culture is relatively narrow. For example, wine must be a goblet, and beer is basically a mug of a flat cup. Perhaps due to the lack of a large number of reliable empirical data, few scholars have devoted themselves to this research so far, and the results they can learn from are limited. When discussing the influence of China porcelain on European wine culture, they are either vague or simply avoid talking about it.
In fact, the influence of China porcelain on European wine culture is very obvious. In sorting out the catalogues and orders of15-18th century China porcelain sold to Europe, the author found many times that? Beer glass? In that case. It's not hard to find among the treasures of European museums? Beer glass? For example, the Victoria and Albert Museum in Britain has a collection of European Toby cups (beer cup map 1) and mermaid white porcelain wine glasses produced in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. It can be said with certainty that since China porcelain was introduced to Europe, Europeans began to drink beer in porcelain cups, which gradually became popular and formed a custom that continues to this day.
When it comes to why Europeans must use goblets when drinking, people basically think that the reason is that Europeans drink. Product? Instead of. Drink? . What about this? Product? In addition to the love and respect for wine, enjoying the feeling of wine is also an important reason. It is necessary to observe its color, taste its taste and enjoy its rhyme. Without a transparent glass, you can't appreciate the color of wine, and a non-goblet may change the taste of wine because of the influence of hand temperature. Impure color and taste will inevitably greatly reduce the significance of wine appreciation [7]. This statement should be quite reasonable, but if we put this view in the background of 15- 18 century European society, I think it may be somewhat biased. There are two main reasons:
First, Europeans attach great importance to it? Product? Wine also pays great attention to porcelain. 15-18th century, Europeans not only endowed China porcelain with supernatural magic, but also flaunted their identity by owning China porcelain. How can a romantic, open, enterprising and adventurous European not be attached to such a precious thing?
At that time, people's general psychology, tasting wine with porcelain glasses, was it not more enviable and romantic than the French prince drinking broth with porcelain bowls? According to the Catalogue of Porcelain in Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, since the middle of Ming Dynasty, a series of Chinese porcelain wine-making has been formed, including small and exquisite goblets suitable for drinking spirits, flat glasses with large opening capacity suitable for wine tasting and mugs with larger capacity than those suitable for drinking beer.
According to friends who have been to France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and other countries, bars and restaurants in these places are mostly made of glass, porcelain, high feet and flat bottoms. Although different glasses are used for drinking different wines, there is no doubt that porcelain cups have been accepted by Europeans.
Secondly, in the15-18th century when Europeans could not independently produce porcelain, it was impossible for China porcelain to enter Europe in large quantities without extensive market demand. At first, because it was hard to come by, only the imperial court and the royal family had the conditions to enjoy it. This rare treasure, enjoyed with high taste, will naturally be envied by the vast majority of people in society. No matter which country or nationality, elegance and fashion are often effective as long as the conditions are met.
From the perspective of social psychology, once ordinary people have the opportunity to own China porcelain, they can easily follow the trend and form an atmosphere. This is also the case. /kloc-from the end of the 7th century to the end of the 8th century, with the continuous increase of purchasing volume in European countries and the improvement of shipping capacity, the purchasing cost and transportation cost were reduced. It was no longer the patent of a few nobles to enjoy China porcelain, and the middle class began to have it conditionally, so it became possible for ordinary people to get China porcelain. /kloc-In the late 8th century, China porcelain tableware gradually replaced European wood, bamboo, pottery and even gold and silver tableware, which changed the eating habits of Europeans and evolved people's dining civilization including wine culture.
According to the conservative estimation of the number of porcelain sold to Europe in the above literature, the average number of wine utensils converted in proportion every year is at least100000. Although porcelain is fragile, it is very durable as long as you are careful. At that time, it was impossible for people to use China porcelain wine utensils casually, and the number accumulated year by year was bound to be huge. Nevertheless, on average, a large number of wine sets need to be purchased every year. How could it not be caused by the drinking demand of Europeans at that time, and how could it not have a certain impact on the local wine culture at that time, including wine culture. Now people talk about European wine glasses, as if there were only glasses. From a historical perspective, this is obviously biased.
When we talk about the influence of China porcelain on European food culture, we can't help but mention the popularity of punch and special punch bowls in Europe. Punch originated in the British colony of India. Originally, it was a general term for juice-containing drinks, which were divided into alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic drinks. /kloc-It was brought to Britain by the merchant ships of the British East India at the beginning of the 0/7th century, and gradually spread in Europe.
Punch in? From Indian dialect, should it be? 5? The homonym of "punch wine" is called punch wine because five kinds of materials are usually used in the initial preparation of this kind of beverage. 1632 began to appear in English literature? Punch in? One word, department? Punch in? Transliteration of. Non-alcoholic punch in India is mainly made of sugar, juice, tea and other raw materials, while alcoholic punch is made of wine ingredients. Europeans make punch based on wine or rum, so most of them contain alcohol. Interestingly, while punch was spreading in Europe, China porcelain was gradually popularized in Europe, and Europeans directly combined this novel exotic drink with their extremely precious China porcelain. It can be seen that the appreciation of this drink seems romantic enough, and it is easier to cultivate passion.
They even think that the punch bowl made in China must be used to brew punch wine, otherwise it will not be authentic and difficult to taste, which makes the punch bowl made in China occupy a place in the construction of European wine culture in the17th century. Today, there are dozens of kinds of punch in Europe, including so-called Meng Qi punch, fruit punch, planter punch and red wine punch. Different varieties have different recipes, which Europeans classify as a branch of cocktails and are common drinks at cocktail parties or friends' parties.
The formula of punch wine is no longer limited to five materials, and the production methods are also ice, heating, fruit juice and fresh fruit, which are really varied.
At that time, punch bowls customized by China to meet the demand of European bartending were usually open, deep-bellied, curved-walled and round-footed, with diameters ranging from 25 to 60 cm. Big punch bowls are mostly used to mix wine, and then they are put in small bowls for one person to drink or many people to enjoy. Different from the mood of appreciating color and rhyme when drinking, many people drink together at one time, tell stories to each other and bless each other. This kind of scene will only appear when ordinary family members get together or friends visit, and an invisible etiquette atmosphere begins to emerge.
/kloc-In the middle and late 7th century, the punch bowl has gradually assumed the function of a baptismal basin in ordinary European families. The elders put the prepared punch wine in the punch bowl and distributed it to the younger generation to express their dignity and goodwill to the younger generation. The head of a family expresses his blessing to his family and hospitality to his relatives and friends by distributing large bowls of punch to them.
This way of expressing affection has gradually become a custom, a new cultural phenomenon in Europe where religion prevails, and it has been endowed with certain symbolic significance, so that even priests and missionaries have reverence for the Bingzhi Bowl, while the value orientation of ordinary people is more inclined to its festive and auspicious connotation. 18- 19 th century, punch bowls were very popular among Europeans, and almost every family had them. Some families put it in the living room as a decoration to pray for peace and happiness; Some people give it as a valuable gift to their loved ones and newlyweds to express their feelings and wishes.
Out of respect and love for the punch bowl, the decoration of the punch bowl has also been paid attention to. Some punch bowls are painted with Greek fairy tales, such as? The trial in Paris? It is one of the pictures that appeared on the punch bowl in the18th century. After the Renaissance, the story of Paris, a Greek mythical figure, ruled by Zeus, the most beautiful goddess was widely circulated in Europe, and many European painters successively created paintings on this theme. ?
The trial in Paris? The story praises the just judgment and the affirmation and pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty. In addition, the legendary life of Paris and her reputation as the most beautiful man in human beings also make related stories become hot topics in Europe, including the sad love story of Paris with Ernie and Helen. The picture of this theme appeared on the punch bowl made in China, which was obviously customized at the request of European businessmen. The punch bowl that painted this story is now collected by many museums around the world, including the Guangzhou Museum, which shows that the output at that time was not small.
Famous porcelain, famous paintings and famous wines are pleasing to the eye. How can it not greatly increase the taste of drinkers? Undoubtedly, the cultivation of this sentiment and the joy of the soul belong to the category of wine culture; A painting by the Di Mei Museum? Guangzhou thirteenth line? The boxing bowl at the scene painted the foreign trade scene of the Qing Dynasty on the bowl, leaving precious historical materials about foreign trade research for future generations, which can be called China's foreign ceramic trade? Riverside map on Qingming Festival? .
Guangzhou thirteenth line? Founded in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, it is a professional firm engaged in foreign trade with the permission of the imperial court. It was once the only firm with foreign trade qualification in Qianlong period of Qing Dynasty. At that time, China directly sold European porcelain through legal channels, which was operated by thirteen companies and delivered from Guangzhou. It is a long way for Guangzhou to go to European countries by sea, which is risky and very hard. Are European businessmen and merchant sailors right? Guangzhou thirteenth line? It is not difficult to understand that you have special feelings. Will. Guangzhou thirteenth line? Scenes are painted on the punch bowl, people can see things and feelings by themselves, friends can get together to increase their conversation, and family members can express their feelings by drinking, so wine culture has a new content.
Punchball used to be just an ordinary wine set, but with the expansion of its extended function, it has more connotations at the cultural level. It not only enriches the content of European wine culture, but also will inevitably have a certain impact on the construction of European wine culture and even the progress of social civilization.
The artistry of living ceramics and living ceramics are generally regarded as the way out for the development of modern ceramic industry. In fact, this phenomenon has appeared at least in the ceramic production in China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. What's in the punch bowl? The trial in Paris, the thirteenth line in Guangzhou? The decoration of this classic picture is very telling. It is worth noting that this exquisite color story can only be realized on porcelain wine sets, and it is difficult for any other wine set to be so perfect.
Ceramic art on wine utensils can also be realized on sculpture ceramics. As mentioned earlier, the European-style beer cups and mermaid-seat white porcelain wine glasses collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum in Britain and produced and sold in Europe during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty also belong to European-made wine sets. Since it is a customized product, it must be produced according to the needs of customers, which also reveals some information about the European wine culture in the17-18th century. Some people say that drinking in Europe is related to China? The meaning of drunkenness is not wine? No, when they drink, they care about the wine itself. It seems that this is not the case.
Culture is the sum total of social phenomena formed by various human activities, which is based on the material level and mainly manifested through the spiritual level. The formation of culture has both processes and laws, and once it is formed, it has relative stability. The culture of an open nation is also open, and it will enrich its connotation and expand its extension while accepting the influence of foreign cultures. Wine culture is no exception. /kloc-After the 5th century, China porcelain entered Europe and began to replace the traditional European dining utensils with its excellent quality, which had a far-reaching impact on the European dining culture, and the impact on the European wine culture was also obvious.