232 Sino-Iranica 



they do not know it, accordingly, and make no use of it." 1 This doubt- 

 less was correct for southern China, where the information of the 

 Arabic navigators was gathered. The grape, however, is chiefly to be 

 found in northern China, 2 and at the time of Soleiman the manu- 

 facture of grape-wine was known in the north. The principal document 

 bearing on this subject is extant in the history of the T'ang dynasty. 



In a.d. 647 a peculiar variety of grapes, styled ma %u p % u fao $1 

 ^L li) 3sf ("mare-nipple grapes") were sent to the Emperor T'ai Tsun 

 ^C ^ by the (Turkish) country of the Yabgu M IS. It was a bunch 

 of grapes two feet long, of purple color. 3 On the same occasion it is 

 stated, "Wine is used in the Western Countries, and under the 

 former dynasties it was sometimes sent as tribute, but only after 

 the destruction of Kao-5'an M H (Turf an), when 'mare-nipple grapes' 

 cultivated in orchards were received, also the method of making wine 

 was simultaneously introduced into China (a.d. 640). T'ai Tsun 

 experienced both its injurious and beneficial effects. Grape-wine, when 

 ready, shines in all colors, is fragrant, very fiery, and tastes like the 

 finest oil. The Emperor bestowed it on his officials, and then for the 

 first time they had a taste of it in the capital." 4 



These former tributes of wine are alluded to in a verse of the poet 

 Li Po oi the eighth century, "The Hu people annually offered grape- 

 wine." 5 Si Wan Mu, according to the Han Wu ti net Iwan of the 

 third century or later, is said to have presented grape-wine to the Han 

 Emperor Wu, which certainly is an unhistorical and retrospective 

 tradition. 



A certain Can Hun-mao DJt ^ M, a native of Tun-hwan in Kan-su, 

 is said to have devoted to grape-wine a poem of distinct quality. 6 

 The locality Tun-hwan is of significance, for it was situated on the 



1 M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits par les Arabes et les Persans dans 

 l'lnde et a la Chine, Vol. I, p. 23. \ 



2 In the south, I am under the impression it is rather isolated. It occurs, for 

 instance, in Sah-se cou Jh. f§> '}\i in the prefecture of T'ai-p'ih, Kwan-si Province, 

 in three varieties, — green, purple, and crystal, — together with an uneatable wild 

 grape (San se lou li, Ch. 14, p. 8, ed. published in 1835). "Grapes in the neighbor- 

 hood of Canton are often unsuccessful, the alternations of dry heat and rain being 

 too much in excess, while occasional typhoons tear the vines to pieces" (J. F. Davis, 

 China, Vol. II, p. 305). They occur in places of Fu-kien and in the Chusan Archi- 

 pelago (cf. T'u Su tsi Ven, VI, Ch. 1041). 



3 T'an hui yao, Ch. 200, p. 14; also Fun H wen Men ki H .0Q P9 JL fS ( Ch. 7, 

 p. 1 b (ed. of Ki fu ts'un Su), by Fun Yen Jhj" Q| of the T'ang. 



* Ibid., p. 15. 



5 Pen ts'ao yen i, Ch. 18, p. I. 



6 This is quoted from the TsHen Han lu "ftj ^ §jfc, a work of the Tsin dynasty, 

 in the Si leu kwo Vun ts'iu (T'ai pHn yu Ian, Ch. 972, p. 1 b). 



