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China is one of the countries with the
longest history of the production of alcoholic
beverages. One legend says that at the
early stage of the Xiz Dynasty, a woman
named Yi Di presented to Yu with a tasty
wine that she made by fermenting rice
wrapped in mulberry leaves.
Another legend says that people started
brewing alcoholic drinks during the era
of Huang Di. An ancient book entitled
The Yellow Emperor’s Cannon of Internal
Medicine records a conversation between
Huang Di and Qi Bo. Huang Di said, “Please
tell me how to make a sweet alcoholic
drink from rice?” Qi Bo replied,
“Rice of fine-quality rice is required,
and rice straw can be used to warm it.”
The most popular legend concerns Du Kang,
who is said to have been a shepherd during
the Zhou Dynasty. One day when he was
herding sheep, he mindlessly dropped a
bamboo tube in the pasture. He soon forgot
about his loss; and the tube was full
of millet. 14 days later when he found
the tube, the millet had turned into fragrant
wine. This new discovery made him happy.
He began brewing the wine. Since then,
he never shepherded sheep on the grassland.
Today his name is still associated with
alcohol.
This
article by Yang Tianqing and Daniel Kister.
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