Eurasia which still lacks in-depth research and thus deserves more attention and efforts by fellow archaeologists. About the Author Wang Binghua is one of China’s most distinguished archae- ologists, Director of the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology, and Director of the new Silkroad Museum in Urumqi. He is an authority on the early history of the peoples of Xinjiang. Among his many publications are: (with Wang Minzhe) Wusun yan jiu . Urumqi: Xinjiang renmin chubanshe; Xinjiang xinhua shu dian faxing, 1983. The Ancient Corpses of Xinjiang: The Peoples of Ancient Xinjiang and Their Culture , tr. Victor Mair. Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House: 2002 (in Chinese and English). (with Corinne Debaine-Francfort and Henri Francfort) “Agriculture irrigué et art bouddhique ancien au coeur du Taklamakan (Karadong, Xinjiang, IIe-IVe siècles): premiers resultats de l’Expedition franco-chinoise de la Keriya.” Arts Asiatiques, 49 (1994): 34-52. (with Mu Shunying and Christine Kontler-Barbier) “ Introduction aux études de Turfan, présentation générale des travaux des spécialistes chinois.” In: Contributions aux Études de Touen-houang , vol.III. Paris: École Française d’Extrême- Orient, 1984, pp. 1-21. “New Finds in Turfan Archae- ology.” Orientations, 30/4 (1999): 58-64. “Recherches historiques pré- liminaires sur les Saka du Xinjiang ancien.” Arts Asiatiques , 42 (1987): 31-44 __________ 23 In early July 2004 I made a short trip to Turfan. The people there were warm, friendly, extremely hospitable and love dancing and drinking. Although they are good Muslims, drinking is a part of their way of life. 1 Our guide, Dr. Julaiti, a Uyghur ophthalmologist, repeatedly advised us to enjoy wine with our hosts for otherwise, he said, “they would be angry!” He further informed me that Muslims in Turfan not only drank, but also performed religious rituals somewhat differently than Muslims of other regions. There is, he continued, a slight Buddhist flavor in their ritual performances and music. As Dr. Julaiti is a scholar and seasoned traveler of many Islamic countries, I trust his judgment. In fact, it is not at all surprising that there are some Buddhist survivals in Turfan since this was the predominant religion of the country in earlier centuries. This raises the inter- esting question of whether Buddhists in ancient Turfan drank alcoholic beverages? The obvious answer, of course, is no; Buddhists are not supposed to drink. The Turfan region is well known for its viticulture, but not necessarily for its wine. Dotting the landscape are numerous shelters used for drying grapes to make raisins; the current winery of the region is a recent phenomenon fol- lowing French techniques and tastes. However, the people of Turfan often prefer distilled grain alcohol to grape wine. In short, even though there is a long tradition of viticulture, or grape cultivation, viniculture, the making of wine and its associated culture and rituals, may not be an ancient tradition in Turfan. However, current conditions and common sense cannot answer historical questions, especially for the oases along the Central Asian Silk Road. Turfan and Dunhuang, the gate to the Chinese interior, have preserved many historical documents, some of which indicate that viticulture began there in Han times and developed into a mature vini- culture by the T’ang. Moreover, this development was linked to the spread of Buddhism into this region. Viticulture is as ancient as agriculture. Recent research traces wine back to the Neolithic period. Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Holy Land all had their wine drinking traditions. Viticulture reached its apex in the ancient world in the Greco-Roman era where grape cultivation, wine making, and special drinking paraphernalia were encased in a complex set of rituals, and where the Dionysus-Bacchus cult made drinking an essential component of public festivals [McGovern 2003; Unwin 1991: 94-133]. In the Mediterranean world, wine was an important sector of the economy and was extensively and widely traded. But this is not the case of East Asia or even the eastern part of Central Asia. Ancient Chinese did drink alcohol, but this was produced from fermented food grains. As for Turfan and the Central Asian oases, they had to wait for the introduction of advanced irri- gation technology that made the Viticulture and Viniculture in the Turfan Region Xinru Liu The College of New Jersey Ewing, N. J.
Transcript
Eurasia which still lacks in-depthresearch and thus deservesmore attention and efforts byfellow archaeologists.
About the Author
Wang Binghua is one of China’smost distinguished archae-ologists, Director of the XinjiangInstitute of Archaeology, andDirector of the new SilkroadMuseum in Urumqi. He is anauthority on the early history ofthe peoples of Xinjiang. Amonghis many publications are:
The Ancient Corpses of Xinjiang:The Peoples of Ancient Xinjiang andTheir Culture, tr. Victor Mair.Urumqi: Xinjiang People’sPublishing House: 2002 (inChinese and English).
(with Corinne Debaine-Francfortand Henri Francfort) “Agricultureirrigué et art bouddhique ancienau coeur du Taklamakan(Karadong, Xinjiang, IIe-IVesiècles): premiers resultats del’Expedition franco-chinoise de laKeriya.” Arts Asiatiques, 49(1994): 34-52.
(with Mu Shunying and ChristineKontler-Barbier) “Introductionaux études de Turfan,présentation générale destravaux des spécialistes chinois.”In: Contributions aux Études deTouen-houang, vol.III. Paris:École Française d’Extrême-Orient, 1984, pp. 1-21.
“New Finds in Turfan Archae-ology.” Orientations, 30/4 (1999):58-64.
“Recherches historiques pré-liminaires sur les Saka du Xinjiangancien.” Arts Asiatiques, 42(1987): 31-44
__________
23
In early July 2004 I made a shorttrip to Turfan. The people therewere warm, friendly, extremelyhospitable and love dancing anddrinking. Although they are goodMuslims, drinking is a part of theirway of life.1 Our guide, Dr. Julaiti,a Uyghur ophthalmologist,repeatedly advised us to enjoywine with our hosts forotherwise, he said, “they wouldbe angry!” He further informedme that Muslims in Turfan notonly drank, but also performedreligious rituals somewhatdifferently than Muslims of otherregions. There is, he continued,a slight Buddhist flavor in theirritual performances and music.As Dr. Julaiti is a scholar andseasoned traveler of manyIslamic countries, I trust hisjudgment. In fact, it is not at allsurprising that there are someBuddhist survivals in Turfan sincethis was the predominant religionof the country in earliercenturies. This raises the inter-esting question of whetherBuddhists in ancient Turfan drankalcoholic beverages?
The obvious answer, ofcourse, is no; Buddhists are notsupposed to drink. The Turfanregion is well known for itsviticulture, but not necessarily forits wine. Dotting the landscapeare numerous shelters used fordrying grapes to make raisins;the current winery of the regionis a recent phenomenon fol-lowing French techniques andtastes. However, the people ofTurfan often prefer distilled grainalcohol to grape wine. In short,even though there is a longtradition of viticulture, or grapecultivation, viniculture, the
making of wine and its associatedculture and rituals, may not bean ancient tradition in Turfan.
However, current conditionsand common sense cannotanswer historical questions,especially for the oases along theCentral Asian Silk Road. Turfanand Dunhuang, the gate to theChinese interior, have preservedmany historical documents, someof which indicate that viticulturebegan there in Han times anddeveloped into a mature vini-culture by the T’ang. Moreover,this development was linked tothe spread of Buddhism into thisregion.
Viticulture is as ancient asagriculture. Recent researchtraces wine back to the Neolithicperiod. Egypt, Mesopotamia andthe Holy Land all had their winedrinking traditions. Viticulturereached its apex in the ancientworld in the Greco-Roman erawhere grape cultivation, winemaking, and special drinkingparaphernalia were encased in acomplex set of rituals, and wherethe Dionysus-Bacchus cult madedrinking an essential componentof public festivals [McGovern2003; Unwin 1991: 94-133]. Inthe Mediterranean world, winewas an important sector of theeconomy and was extensivelyand widely traded. But this is notthe case of East Asia or even theeastern part of Central Asia.Ancient Chinese did drink alcohol,but this was produced fromfermented food grains. As forTurfan and the Central Asianoases, they had to wait for theintroduction of advanced irri-gation technology that made the
Viticulture and Viniculturein the Turfan RegionXinru LiuThe College of New JerseyEwing, N. J.
cultivation of the vine feasible inthis arid environment. Therefore,viticulture and eventuallyviniculture came with theelaboration of the Silk Road.
Zhang Qian probably broughtknowledge of viticulture to China.But only after General Li Guanglimade his expeditions to Dawan(Ferghana) and obtained the“heavenly horses” did Han Wudisent missions back to Dawan toprocure seeds of alfalfa and thegrape for China. According toHanshu, the Han History, Wudimade this decision because therewere many heavenly horses tofeed and many foreign envoys tobe entertained [Ban Gu 1964:96a/3895]. In this he wasfollowing the practice of ancientIran and neighboring regionssuch as western Central Asiawhere alfalfa was important inbreeding and feeding high qualityhorses. At the same time Wudiobtained the alfalfa from Dawan,he became aware of theviticulture of that region [Laufer1967: 208-245]. In this period,around 100 BCE, Dawan andAfghanistan, then under thecontrol of the Yuezhi-Kushans,already had a mature viniculture.Elites stored large quantities ofwine which could last for severaldecades before it soured [BanGu 1964: 96a/3894]. However,there is no indication that theHan Chinese made wine out thegrapes.
Meanwhile, the Han govern-ment took measures to protectthe trade routes extending fromthe oases of Central Asia throughthe Hexi Corridor between theQilian Mountains and the GobiDesert. Wudi had a line ofgarrison towns built in HexiCorridor, and the Great Wallextended to the Jade Gate andto the western most of thesegarrison towns, Dunhuang. Toestablish a military presence inthe frontier and to ease theproblem of transporting foodgrains to these remote areas,the Han government imple-
mented the tuntian system whichplaced garrisons around thewatch towers and in well-irrigated agricultural colonies.Thus, the soldiers in the frontiercould cultivate the land duringthe periods of peace. The Hangovernment soon extended thetuntian system beyond the JadeGate, with Turfan as one of itsmajor headquarters. As Turfancontrolled the lines ofcommunications between theWestern Region and the Chineseinterior, this garrison, called WujiJiaowei, was the center of allmilitary-agricultural coloniesbeyond the Jade Gate. ThoughHan government did not alwayscontrol the Western Region,agriculture developed rapidly inall the oases, thanks to the profitof the passing trade and theintroduction of irrigation tech-nology. After a couple ofhundreds year, the region fromDunhuang to Turfan became afertile land growing food grains,mulberries for silk, hemp, andgrape. Because of its strategiclocation and agricultural riches,the Han government stationedgarrisons and tuntian head-quarters wherever possible andstrenuously fought the Xiongnufor control of the region [Fan Ye1965: 88/2914]. In consequence,viticulture along with sericulturereached Turfan by the first or thesecond centuries, the time of theLater Han.
It is during this period thatthe volume of trade along the SilkRoad accelerated. In Palmyra,the caravan city in Syria desertand a principal trading depot ofthe eastern Roman frontier, manypieces of Han silk textiles havebeen recovered from tombs,striking testimony to the fact thatHan China and the Mediter-ranean world were commerciallylinked by the Silk Road. However,not all these silks werenecessarily produced in the Hanterritory inside the Great Wall. Apolychrome silk of compoundweave from Palmyra depictscamels under a vineyard [Kat.
240 in Schmidt-Colinet 2000, Tafel96, 97]. This unique piece hasattracted the notice of scholars,and Elfriede Regina Knauer,among others, believes it wasmade in Turfan [Knauer 1998:111n92]. I agree with Knauer’sjudgment, not only becauseviticulture was established inTurfan during the Later Han, butalso because of the presencethere of sericulture. If this is thecase, it is not only viticulture thatreached Turfan but also a newindustry and element of materialculture worthily expressed in thisexquisite silk textile.
The next question is whetherviniculture accompanied grapecultivation to Turfan and otherCentral Asian oases. As men-tioned above, when Han Chinabrought in grape cultivation,viticulture and viniculture werealready well established in thewestern part of Central Asia, thatis, in the regions of modern daynorthern Afghanistan andUzbekistan. Moreover, becauseyeast for fermentation naturallyoccurs in grape skins, thetransition to wine making in theoases of eastern Central Asianseems an easy and obvious step.This, however, did not happen inthe Han period.
Viniculture in northern Afghan-istan and Uzbekistan developedunder Hellenistic influence.Starting in the later fourth centuryBCE, Greek colonists brought invineyards, wine making, drinkingvessels and other aspects of theDionysian festivals. After nomadicpeoples took over HellenisticBactria, viniculture persisted andflourished under the KushanEmpire. During the first couplecenturies CE when the KushanEmpire also flourished, thanks tothe expansion of the Silk Roadtrade passing through itsterritory, the center of Buddhistactivity migrated from the lowerGanges to northwest region ofSouth Asia and Afghanistan, thecore territory of the Kushans.Greco-Roman influence, including
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viniculture, is well expressed inGandharan Buddhist art.Amphorae, craters, goblets andall kinds of vessels used inDionysus-Bacchus festivalsappear in the many drinkingscenes in stone sculpturesassociated with Buddhistmonuments and shrines. Themotifs of grapes and grape vinesin these bacchanalian scenesindicate that the beveragedepicted was grape wine.
The Buddhist institutions andpractices developed in theKushan era then spread toCentral Asia and China. Unfor-tunately, there is a dearth ofChinese information concerningthe Western Region after thecollapse of the Han central power.Archaeological finds indicate theSilk Road trade continued, and sodid the development ofviticulture, probably also vini-culture. When the WesternRegion finally emerged from thedarkness, Turfan, now calledGaochang in the Chinese records,is a country famous for grapewine, in addition to its millets,wheat, sericulture and manyvarieties of fruit. People thereworshipped a number of localgods but also adhered toBuddhism [Wei Zheng et al. 1973:83/1847]. The Gaochang statesurvived the Sui Dynasty, but wasconquered by the T’ang. Thehistory of the T’ang, written inthe Song Dynasty, repeats theenumeration of the localproducts, but adds a new item,cotton [Liu Xu 1975: 198/5294].Native to India, cotton reachedTurfan as a cultivated crop in thepost-Han and pre-T’ang period,along with viniculture andBuddhism.
The final question is did theBuddhist population of Turfandrink wine? At various times,Central Asia people have beenfollowers of Buddhism, Mani-chaeism, and Islam, all of whichformally ban the consumption ofalcohol. However, despite suchprohibitions, they regularly drank
wine for centuries. For example,while Manichaean doctrinebanned alcohol, their monas-teries in Qocho nonethelessproduced wine.2 It is likely thatBuddhists behaved similarly.There is no direct evidence ofwine-drinking among Buddhistsin Turfan, but there is abundantevidence that wine-drinking wasa common practice of Buddhistsliving on the Tang frontier,particularly in Dunhuang. A largenumber of manuscripts fromDunhuang generated by layBuddhist societies (sheyi)document their establishment,regulations, etc. A special kindof document, called a ShesiZhuantie, announcing Buddhistfestivals, social events andbusiness meetings, was cir-culated among members of layBuddhist organizations. Almostall of these notices include astatement concerning thepunishment for tardiness andabsence: “Each of those who arelate should pay the fine of onehorn of wine, and of those whodo not come at all should pay thefine of half a jar of wine, to thegroup. The wine will be dividedamong all the members.” Finesof the same type also appear inregulations for lay societies [NingKe and Hao Chunwen 1997]. Nodoubt wine played an indispen-sable role in both social andreligious activities of Buddhism.But these announcements nevermention the kind of wineinvolved; they simply use thecharacter jiu, the generic term foralcoholic beverage.
Jiu also appears frequently asan item in accounts of monasticexpenditures, some of whichhave survived in the famouscaves of the Mogao Grottos, inDunhuang. Buddhist monasteriesprovided oil, food grains and wine(jiu) for the Spring festivals,Autumn festivals, and parades ofBuddha images. All theparticipants, members of laysocieties and monks, enjoyed thefood and wine. There were alsomany other occasions when the
monasteries had to provide foodand wine, sometimes only formonks, sometimes for visitorsand the artisans working there.It seems that the monasteries ofDunhuang stored oil and foodgrains, but paid for wine withtheir food grains. Two differentverbs are used to express“buying wine”: gujiu, and wojiu.The former is a straightforwardphrase “to buy wine,” but themeaning of the latter is unclear.Probably due to this ambiguity,some scholars insist that thewines used in Buddhist festivalswere made from grain. If the termwojiu meant to make wine withthe allotted wheat or millet, thenthe wine was fermented fromfood grain like traditional Chinesewine. However, as the food grainwas allotted for immediate use,festival banquets or meals forworkers, this seems mostunlikely. For instance, an accountof expenditure of JingtuMonastery in Dunhuang, dated inthe period 936-947, notes thatsome millet was spent for bothgujiu and wojiu, for the purposeof a forthcoming festival [ibid.:774; Pelliot 2032 back]. Anaccount dated in 991 for thesame monastery list millets paidfor the principal of wine(jiubensu) [Ibid.: 777; Pelliot4907]. Here the character bencould either be the capital forinvestment in trading wine, or themillet used for making wine.However, millet is a better sourcefor vinegar than for wine. InChina, since ancient times, themost common materials forfermenting wine have been riceand sorghum. In Dunhuang,during the T’ang and post-T’angperiod, millet, sometimes wheat,was currency for payment ofgoods. On the same account,millet was used to pay foractivities of lay societies such asprinting Buddha images. Milletand wheat were local agriculturalproducts, but rice and sorghumwere not. Thus in this case, themillet is most likely the paymentfor grape wine. In short, one
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cannot exclude the possibilitythat the Buddhists in Dunhuang,lay persons and monks, drankgrape wine. There was noreason why the residents ofDunhuang could not haveobtained the well known grapewine of Turfan a short distanceto their west.
Evidently, Buddhists inDunhuang drank wine during theT’ang time, and Turfan wasfamous for producing grape wine.Based on these two facts, onemay speculate that during theT’ang times Buddhists, laypersons and monks, enjoyedgrape wine at many festivals andsocial occasions. This reminds usof one of the famous lines onfrontier military life by the T’angpoet Li Bo:
Holding a glowing gobletfilled with grape wine,
Following the melody of alute, I am about to drink,
The neighing horse urges meto ride on him.
Do not laugh if you see melying drunk on the battle field,
Few soldiers ever came backfrom the military expeditions,anyway.
Li Bo did not actually serve onthe western frontier region of theT’ang Empire. His poem simplyevokes romanticized picture ofthe frontier life: music played onlute, neighing horses ready todepart, and soldiers dinkinggrape wine to pluck up theircourage for coming battle anddeath.
The wines of Turfan retainedtheir fame well into the Mongolianera. The Mongols were used towine made from mare’s milk, butquickly acquired a taste for grapewine after their conquest ofCentral Asia. Marco Polomentioned that Carachoco, thename of Turfan of his time,produced good wine and corn(millet) [Polo 1938: 156]. Thefamous scholar of the Il-Khans,Rashid al-Din, notes that Qara-
Khocho was a town of Uyghursand produced good wine [Rashidal-Din 1971: 286]. The wine ofTurfan was so well known thatthe official history of the MongolYuan Dynasty records the tributeof grape wine (putao jiu) fromthere [Yuanshi 1978: Ch. 34, p.755, line 2]. This means that thehigh quality of Turfan wine wasknown across the continent andthus, at the time, it was probablythe best known vintage in theworld. The peoples of Turfan,whether Buddhists or Muslims,always seem to enjoy wine. Thecurrent viniculture of there,though now integrated with theglobal market, has deep roots inhistory.
About the Author
A specialist on Ancient India andcross-cultural trade in ancientand medieval Asia, ProfessorXinru Liu teaches in the Depart-ment of History at the College ofNew Jersey, Ewing, N.J. She iswell known for her two majorbooks, Ancient India and AncientChina: Trade and Religious Ex-changes, AD 1-600 (Oxford Uni-versity Press, 1988; reprinted1994) and Silk and Religion: an Ex-ploration of Material Life and theThought of People, AD 600-1200(Oxford University Press, 1999)and has written a short introduc-tion to the Silk Road for theAmerican Historical Association(The Silk Road: Overland Trade andCultural Interactions in Eurasia,1998). She may be contacted [email protected].
References
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Fan Ye 1965Fan Ye. Hou Hanshu. Beijing:Zhonghua Shuju, 1965.
Jarring 1993Gunnar Jarring. Stimulants amongthe Turks of Eastern Turkestan: An
Eastern Turki Text. Stockholm:Almqvist and Wiksell, 1993.
Knauer 1998Elfriede Regina Knauer, TheCamel’s Load in Life and Death.Akanthvs, 1998.
Lieu 1985Samuel N. C. Lieu, Manichaeism.Manchester: Manchester Uni-versity Press, 1985.
Liu Xu et al. 1975Liu Xu, et al. Jiu Tangshu.Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1975.
McGovern 1991Patrick E. McGovern. AncientWine, the Search for the Origins ofViniculture. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 2003.
Ning Ke, Hao Chunwen 1997Ning Ke and Hao Chunwen, eds.Dunhuang Sheyi Wenshu Ji Jiao.Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe,1997
Polo 1938Marco Polo. Description of theWorld, Vol. 1. A. C. Moule and P.Pelliot, tr. London: Routledge,1938.
Rashid al-Din 1971Rashid Al-Din, Successors ofGenghis Khan. John A. Boyle, Tr.New York: Columbia UniversityPress, 1971.
Schmidt-Colinet et al. 2000Andreas Schmidt-Colinet, et al.Die Textilien aus Palmyra, Neueund Alte Funde. Mainz-am-Rhein:Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2000.
Unwin 1991Tim Unwin. Wine and the Vine: AnHistorical Geography of Vinicultureand the Wine Trade. London andNew York: Routledge, 1991.
Wei Zheng et al. 1973Wei Zheng et al, Suishu. Beijing:Zhonghua Shuju, 1973.
1. The Koran bans wine drinkingas a great sin, but promisedMuslims wine in Paradise. UnderIslamic rule, viticulture suffered atthe early stage of conquest, butrecovered by the eleventhcentury. See Unwin 1991: 150-
Chinese Characters
gujiu
jiu
jiubensu
Shesi Zhuantie
sheyi
wojiu
155. As for eastern Turkistan,namely today’s XinjiangAutonomous Region of China,grape wine was produced, butdrinking was held in contempt asimmoral behavior in the earlytwentieth century. See Jarring1993: 1, 13.
2. For a Manichaean monasterywith wine, see Lieu 1985: 200-201.
