At the beginning of Part II in Dark Princess, Matthew Towns and an Italian man are told to fight each other by the kitchen steward of the ship they’re on. The steward saw the Italian punching Matthew before. Instead of trying to stop the tension between his workers, he got the upper class on the boat to pay to watch them continue the fight. Perhaps because of solidarity, or maybe to keep their pride, Matthew and the other man refuse to fight for the wine-drunk rich.
Wine is the result of natural fermentation of grapes, so it’s difficult to discern where people first made and drank it. That’s why instead, I’ll be discussing a country that is not necessarily known for the beverage, but has a history with wine to rival that of Greece and Rome: China! In my opinion, this country should be included more often when discussing wine. “Distillation of alcohol in China started 500 years earlier than in Europe” according to a novel on China’s Wine Industry. But alcohol there isn’t just made of fermented grains and grapes. In fact, grape wine used to be seen as an exclusive, exotic beverage only for the emperor. Rice wine was more local and more popular in China. In fact, during the Shang dynasty, rich and poor people were buried with their favorite rice wine jars. I’m glad I had this opportunity to explore this other significant part of wine’s history.
Dark Princess pg 40
https://www.grin.com/document/298622#:~:text=During%20the%20Han%20Dynasty%20(206,mainly%20for%20the%20emperor’s%20table.
Leah, thank you for your contribution on China’s early history of wine consumption. I never knew the consumption of rice wine was so common for the people you described. I, myself, have never tried rice wine and look forward to it now. The belligerent wine drunk situation described in Dark Princess makes me think about the many circumstances and manners by which people consume alcohol. The situation you wrote about is a rowdy, manly drunk which leads to violence, whereas my initial thoughts of wine consumption is children/teens trying wine with their parents at the dinner table.