Ancient Chinese literati's fondness for wine and the Taoist cultural tradition

Li Yousheng

Mr. Li Xian’s article, “Many Literary Giants Are Drinkers” (World Journal, May 22-25, 2008), lists anecdotes about famous writers throughout history and across the world who enjoyed drinking, which is quite interesting to read. However, the conclusion that many literary giants were drinkers is highly debatable. The author did not provide any statistics, nor did he provide a measurable definition of “literary giant” and “drinker.” There is insufficient reason to say that most literary giants are drinkers. Even compared to other groups, there may not be more drinkers among literary giants. To avoid creating a misconception for readers, clarification is necessary. Generally speaking, the development of a person’s love of alcohol depends on the combined effects of genetic, social, cultural, and economic factors. The idea that ancient Chinese literati regarded drinking as a refined lifestyle is closely related to the Taoist cultural tradition, not to any inherent connection between drinking and literary creation.

Modern genetic research has identified several genes linked to alcoholism, primarily affecting drinking habits by influencing alcohol metabolism. For example, many Asians carry a mutation in a certain metabolic enzyme gene; these individuals experience facial flushing and fever within minutes of drinking, making them less prone to developing a drinking habit. Therefore, these genetic changes are unlikely to be related to literary creation. Li Xian’s article mentions that “alcohol can enhance inspiration and creativity. Poets do indeed compose many good poems after drinking,” etc. This inspirational effect is not specific; like smoking while writing, it’s simply a personal preference. Alcohol induces the brain to release substances like polyamines, producing a feeling of pleasure, which is the main reason for alcohol addiction. Alcohol can impair memory, slow thinking and reaction time, and is one of the main causes of car accidents. Furthermore, it weakens self-control and can even lead to hallucinations and other symptoms of intoxication. Therefore, alcohol does more harm than good to literary creation, and literary giants are not necessarily associated with alcoholics.

Among literary figures, there are various personality types, one of which is the unrestrained and unconventional personality of Li Bai, which can develop into bipolar disorder in its extreme form. This is relatively common among poets, suggesting that so-called genius and mental illness may share the same genetic brain type, only to varying degrees. An unrestrained personality doesn’t necessarily predispose one to alcoholism, but alcoholism can easily lead to a loss of control, what Li Bai refers to as a drunkard.

Literary writing is a creative process that requires breaking free from the constraints of worldly habits. As Li Bai said, “With soaring spirits and boundless thoughts,” it’s unlikely that one can master the mundane routines of ordinary writing. Alcohol may have the effect of making one forget reality, which is not unlike the transcendent thinking of writers during creation. This may provide inspiration for a specific poet, but inspiration can also come from countless other things and activities. Du Fu’s portrayal of Li Bai is truly like that of a poetic immortal: “Li Bai drinks a bucket of wine and writes a hundred poems, sleeping in a tavern on Chang’an Street. The emperor summons him, but he won’t board the boat, proclaiming himself a wine immortal.” This is merely an ideal image of the poet; in reality, literary creation is arduous labor, and excessive drinking undoubtedly leads to mistakes. Many alcoholics in today’s society are unemployed and rely on state aid; true alcoholism and great literary achievement are incompatible.

In fact, genius and creativity can appear not only in writers but also in other professions. For example, politicians can be divided into two categories: one is those who enter politics through elections or inheritance, and these people, in their interactions with others, are as open-minded as Li Bai and Su Dongpo; the other category includes people like De Gaulle, Churchill, and Mao Zedong during World War II, who blazed new trails and opened up new horizons amidst opposition. Like scientists and writers, they also need creative talent.

The genetic link between genius and certain mental illnesses has been confirmed by modern medicine. This is easily understood by ordinary people; geniuses and those with mental illnesses are both different from ordinary people. They both have unusual thinking, wanting to think of things that others cannot. De Gaulle was famously neurotic, Mao Zedong suffered from severe insomnia, and one of his sons suffered from mental illness. Although Mao himself was not exactly an alcoholic, he had a heavy smoking habit; in terms of losing control of his habits, alcohol and tobacco are the same. Churchill, like many poets, suffered from bipolar disorder, and Hemingway, mentioned in Li Xianwen’s article, also suffered from the same illness.

What Li Xian’s article doesn’t mention is that the fondness for wine among ancient Chinese literati was related to the Daoist cultural tradition. Zhuangzi describes a drunkard as follows: “A drunkard who falls from a carriage, though swiftly, will not die. His bones and joints are the same as others, but the harm he suffers is different; his spirit is intact. He is unaware of riding, unaware of falling; fear of death and life does not enter his heart.” According to the interpretation of the renowned scholar Qian Mu, this uses the image of a drunkard to depict an ideal state of being, disregarding life and death—the sage in Zhuangzi’s mind. Therefore, Zhuangzi immediately follows: “If someone is so completely absorbed in wine, how much more so if he is completely absorbed by Heaven? The sage is hidden in Heaven, therefore nothing can harm him.” (Translation: A drunkard falls from a carriage, and though injured, he is not killed. His joints are the same as others, yet his injuries differ because of his perfect spirit. He is unaware of being in the carriage, and unaware of falling to the ground. Life, death, and fear do not enter his mind. If even the spirit induced by alcohol is so perfect, how much more so the sage who follows the natural way of Heaven? The sage conceals his body and mind in the natural way of Heaven, and nothing can harm him. – Zhuangzi, “Reaching Life”)

Alcohol can induce euphoria, detach people from worldly utilitarian thinking, or bring them to a near-optimal state of mind, akin to aesthetics. Many ancient religious traditions used alcohol, or other drugs, to temporarily impair reason. The Temple of Apollo in ancient Greece was built on a natural crevice that released poisonous gas, allowing priestesses to enter a trance-like state. They believed that in this intoxicated state, one could experience divine revelation. This bears a resemblance to Zhuangzi’s idealization of intoxication, both placing the forgetting of reality and rationality as prerequisites for approaching truth.

In other words, Taoism viewed alcoholism as a way to transcend the secular world, much like religion. Thus, drinking became a refined pastime for scholars, and they even took pride in being drunk. Under this cultural influence, alcoholism was common among scholars, but the very few literary giants who made truly outstanding contributions likely achieved their success through years of arduous work. Beneath their seemingly carefree exteriors lay rigorous discipline and excellent self-control. However, the latter is less likely to be remembered. Ruan Ji, one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove mentioned by Li Xian, did not want to marry into the Sima family, a powerful court family, and lacked the power to refuse outright. He drank continuously for sixty days, leaving the Sima family no opportunity to object, forcing them to give up. Such painstaking effort and perseverance for sixty days demonstrates his remarkable self-control; calling him a drunkard is inappropriate. Li Bai died of illness, but Li Xian used the legend of drowning after drinking, influenced by the Taoist view of drunkenness as a transcendent state of immortality.

The first drunkard mentioned in Li Xian’s article is Qu Yuan. Judging from Qu Yuan’s poems, which are very romantic, he was a cautious and self-disciplined person who would not be dissolute. I wonder what the author’s basis is for listing Qu Yuan as a drunkard? I respectfully request Mr. Li Xian and readers to correct me.

Many literary giants were also heavy drinkers (Li Xian)

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　　”Since ancient times, scholars have loved fine wine, and wine has accompanied poetry and prose for thousands of years.” Since ancient times, Chinese and foreign scholars have had an inextricable bond with wine, a blood relationship that can be described as inseparable and interdependent.

　　Before the Jin Dynasty, great literary figures such as Qu Yuan, Jia Yi, Sima Qian, Cai Yong, Kong Rong, Cao Cao, Cao Zhi, Wang Xizhi, and Tao Yuanming were all heavy drinkers. After the Han Dynasty, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, seven people emerged: Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Liu Ling, Xiang Xiu, Ruan Xian, Shan Tao, and Wang Rong, who were historically known as the “Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.”

　　These people were eccentric and outwardly appeared carefree and extraordinary, but harbored unbearable pain within, often using alcohol to numb themselves. As Lu Xun said, “Eating vegetables and drinking wine were the most prominent characteristics of the famous scholars of the Wei and Jin dynasties.”

　　During the Tang Dynasty, the custom of drinking was also very popular. Eight people, including He Zhizhang, Li Jin, Li Shizhi, Cui Zongzhi, Li Bai, Zhang Xu, Su Jin, and Jiao Sui, were known as the “Eight Immortals of Wine.” Meng Haoran, Wang Changling, Du Fu, Pi Rixiu, Yuan Zhen, Cen Shen, Bai Juyi, Liu Yuxi, Li Shangyin, Liu Zongyuan, and Jia Dao, among others, were all considered great poets and drinkers.

　　Subsequently, famous literati of all dynasties, such as Su Shi, Xin Qiji, Shi Nai’an, Zheng Banqiao, Tang Xianzu, Luo Guanzhong, Cao Xueqin, and others, all used wine to inspire their emotions, and their masterpieces have been passed down through the ages.

　　People who earned nicknames because of their drinking habits include Li Shiqi, who called himself “Gaoyang Wine Addict” in the early Western Han Dynasty, and Cai Yong, who was nicknamed “Drunken Dragon” because he was drunk and slept by the roadside in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

　　Zhou Kai, the Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel during the Jin Dynasty, fled to the south of the Yangtze River after the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty. He spent his days drinking and was often sober, only having three sober days a year. People nicknamed him “Three-Day Minister”.

　　Pi Rixiu of the late Tang Dynasty was renowned for his literary talent and love of drinking, earning him the nickname “The Drunken Scholar.” Bai Juyi, also from the Tang Dynasty, called himself “The Wine Magistrate” while serving as an official in Henan. Zhong Fang, a recluse of the Song Dynasty, brewed and drank his own wine, calling himself “The Drunken Marquis of Yunxi.” Yu Bing of the Ming Dynasty called himself “The Drunken Old Man of the Wild.” Gu Sili of the Qing Dynasty was known as the “Emperor of Wine.” …

　　Alcohol can enhance inspiration and creativity. Poets do indeed compose many good poems when they drink, but the disadvantages of alcohol far outweigh the advantages.

　　Li Bai, among the ancient poets, was undoubtedly the most famous for his love of wine. He was known for “writing a hundred poems after drinking a bucket of wine,” “drinking three hundred cups a day,” and “claiming himself an immortal of wine.” He sang: “My dappled horse, my thousand-gold fur coat, call the boy to exchange them for fine wine, to dispel with you the sorrows of ages past.” He also said: “If Heaven did not drink wine, there would be no wine star in the sky; if Earth did not drink wine, there would be no wine spring on earth.”

　　His long-term heavy drinking caused hardening of his cerebral arteries and sluggish reactions; he needed to drink large amounts of alcohol to “awaken” his brain cells. Later, Li Bai traveled to Caishiji on the Yangtze River and drowned after jumping into the water to catch the moon’s reflection while drunk; alcohol was the cause of his death.

　　Tao Yuanming, a great poet who loved wine and was fond of drinking, wrote poems that can be said to all involve wine: “How can I express my feelings? I’ll just enjoy the turbid wine,” “If I have wine in the evening, I’ll drink every evening,” and “I have several dou of wine, and I’ll drink it leisurely and be happy.”

　　Tao Yuanming once wrote a poem rebuking his sons: “White hair covers my temples, my skin is too weak from hunger; though I have five sons, none of them are fond of paper and pen. Ashu is already sixteen, and his laziness is unparalleled; Chen Xuanxing aspires to study, but does not love literature. Yongduan is thirteen, and he doesn’t know the difference between six and seven; Tongzi is almost nine, and he only seeks pears and chestnuts. If fate is such, then let us drink from our cups.”

　　This literary giant, though he had five sons, all suffered from intellectual disabilities. Why was this? One reason is likely the severe damage alcohol causes to reproductive cells. Tao Yuanming only realized this in his later years: “The dullness of my descendants is due to what they drink.”

　　As for Cao Xueqin, he was also a lifelong lover of wine. In his later years, he lived in seclusion in Fragrant Hills, writing books and composing poems every day. Although his family ate porridge and he sold paintings to drink wine, he was still “drunk and looked slanted at the side” and remained aloof from the world. He poured all his pent-up feelings into his writing. He even sold his cleaver to buy wine, and when he had no money, he would “buy wine on credit”.

　　He died before the age of fifty due to his addiction to alcohol. His wife wrote in her eulogy, “I don’t blame my wife for my illness, I blame Du Kang (the legendary master of wine),” revealing the reason for his early death.

　　Bai Juyi was a true “drunkard of Gaoyang,” as evidenced by his poem “Encouraging Drinking”: “The Venus after my death hangs over the Big Dipper, but it’s not as good as a cup of wine before I’m alive.” Wine made him “look older than yesterday on his face, and his drunkenness was better than his soberness.” The poems he wrote in his blissful state, describing the vicissitudes of life, were as clear and refreshing as wine, suitable for all ages, and even women and children could recite them.

　　However, due to his long-term drinking, he damaged his eyesight, and his vision deteriorated rapidly at the age of forty-five. He lamented that “even small characters on paper show my sorrow.” More than forty of his poems mention his eye disease. If he had not been plagued by eye problems, he would surely have left many more masterpieces for posterity.

　　Wu Jianren, who called himself Foshan Ren, was a famous “condemnation” novelist in the late Qing Dynasty. He was the author of “Strange Events Witnessed in Twenty Years” and “Hate Sea”. He was addicted to alcohol and often ate alcohol as his staple food, sometimes going a whole month without eating a proper meal. Because of his excessive drinking, he would often drink alone until he was drunk, and eventually developed lung disease due to his addiction.

　　One day, a man from Wu was strolling through the market when he met a friend. Suddenly, he said, “I am about to die. I have always enjoyed drinking Fenjiu wine, but this morning when I drank it, I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my throat and tongue.” He returned to his lodgings, sat down on his couch, and softly recited two lines from Tao Yuanming’s poem, “Drifting in the vast transformation, neither joyful nor fearful,” before his voice faded and his eyes closed, ending his life.