Alcohol in China
Open-knowledge reference entry
There is a long history of the production and consumption and use of alcohol in China. Alcoholic beverages in China have included rice and grape or other fruit wine, beer, fermented milk beverages, and distilled products such as whisky and various other liquors including baijiu, the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world. From ancient China to modern China there is a multi-millennial history continuing through the present day.
There are various names for Chinese beverages of differing types, however the generic term jiǔ is primary. By whatever name, the cultural significance of alcohol in China is extensive.
The history of alcohol in China includes the ancient period which is mostly known by archeological evidence supplemented with early classical texts together with mythographic material. During the various dynasties of imperial phases of China there were continuing developments both in terms of technology and cultural references, distillation being one of the important developments. Cultural developments around wine and other alcoholic beverages include poetry, painting, calligraphy, and ceremonial use. There are various unknowns, including the development of distillation. There have been many variations in terms of recipes and regional differences.
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This entry incorporates text from “Alcohol in China” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.