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Ancient Drinking Appurtenances
Wang Han's poem, "Song of Liangzhou" reads, "Fine wine of the grape, cup of
phosphorescent jade. Ready to drink, the pipa plays wildly on horseback. Why
laugh when they fall asleep on the sand? How many soldiers ever come home?" This
poem describes life on the Tang Dynasty frontier garrisons in northwestern
China, and the cup of phosphorescent jade referred to belonged to a famous
drinking set from Jiuquan, Gansu Province. More than 2,000 years ago there
existed a lake named Quanhu (Fountain Lake), into which General Huo Qubing,
after defeating the Xiongnu invaders, poured a jar of wine awarded by the
emperor, so as to share it with his officers and men. Hence its name, Jiuquan.
The lake is now a famous tourist spot. Cups of phosphorescent jade have always
been regarded as the very best for drinking wine and liquor.
During the Zhou Dynasty, one such set was given as tribute to the monarch
from the Western Regions. Jiuquan City is an important town on the Old Silk
Road, and also a trade center linking the East and the West. Here, grapes from
the Western Regions were made into wine, and phosphorescent jade was fashioned
into cups. More recently, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center successfully
launched a spacecraft into outer space.
Drinking sets of the Song
Dynasty
In the Tang Dynasty, drinking sets of gold and silver, as well as of jade,
were used by the ruling class. The imperial court would use them to reward
officials and well-known poets.
 In 1970, among the 270 gold and silver artifacts unearthed
in the southern suburbs of Xi'an, were several exquisite sets of drinking
implements. They included a gold bowl weighing 400 grams and a silver decanter
in the shape of herdsmen's sheepskin water carrier, indicating the influence of
nomadic culture.
In 1982, a Tang Dynasty silver vessel used for drinking games was unearthed
in Dantu County, Jiangsu Province. It has a tortoise-shaped pedestal and a
barrel containing 50 gilded silver counters. Each counter is inscribed with a
quotation from "The Analects of Confucius", and an instruction to "drink,"
"persuade others to drink," "punish" or "let go." It was used by men of letters
when they got together to drink, in order to determine the style of drinking,
who should drink, and how much would be imbibed in one game.
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