IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Sino-Iranica : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
THE GRAPE-VINE 2 2 I
prove that the origin of viticulture itself is traceable to Indo-Europeans. The Semitic origin seems to me to be more probable. The Chinese received the grape-vine in late historical times from Fergana, an Iranian country, as a cultivation entirely unknown in previous epochs; and it is therefore sufficient for our purpose to emphasize the fact that vine-culture in its entire range was at that time firmly established in Western Asia, inclusive of Iran.
The first knowledge of the cultivated vine (Vitis vinifera) and of wine produced from its grapes was likewise obtained by the Chinese through the memorable mission of General Can Kien, when in 128 B.C. he travelled through Fergana and Sogdiana on his ' way to the Yûe-6i and spent a year in Bactria. As to the people of Fergana (Ta-yüan), he reported, " They have wine made of grapes." The same fact he learned regarding the Parthians (An-si) . It is further st4ted in the same chapter of the Si ki that the wealthy among the people of Fergana stored grape-wine in large quantity up to ten thousand gallons (, a dry measure) for a long time, keeping it for several decades without risk of deterioration; they were fond of drinking wine in the same manner as their horses relished alfalfa. The Chinese envoys took the seeds of both plants along to their country, and the Son of Heaven was the first to plant alfalfa and the vine in fertile soil; and when envoys from abroad arrived at the Court, they beheld extensive cultivations of these plants not far from the imperial palace. The introduction of the vine is as well authenticated as that of alfalfa. The main point to be noted is that the grape, in like manner as alfalfa, and the art of making wine, were encountered by the Chinese strictly among peoples of Aryan descent, principally of the Iranian family, not, however, among any Turkish tribes.
According to the Han Annals, the kingdom Li-yi .` . -t, which
depended on Sogdiana, produced grapes; and, as the water of that country is excellent, its wine had a particular reputation.'
K`arn (Sogdiana) is credited with grapes in the Annals of the Tsin Dynasty.' Also grape-wine was abundant there, and the rich kept up to a thousand gallons of it.4 The Sogdians relished wine, and were fond of songs and dances.' Likewise in gi (Tashkend) it was a favorite bever-
1 This is also the conclusion of J. HOOPS (Waldbäume und Kulturpflanzen, p. 561).
2 Hou Han lu, Ch. I18, p. 6 (cf. CHAVANNES, T'oung Pao, 1907, p. 195).
3 Tsin Su, Ch. 97, p. 6 b (ibid., p. 6: grape-wine in Ta-yuan or Fergana).
4 Sui su, Ch. 83, p. 4 b.
5 Tais Su, Ch. 221 B, p. I.
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