The Grape- Vine 233 



road to Turkistan, and was the centre from which Iranian ideas radiated 

 into China. 



The curious point is that the Chinese, while they received the grape 

 in the era of the Han from an Iranian nation, and observed the habit 

 of wine-drinking among Iranians at large, acquired the art of wine- 

 making as late as the T'ang from a Turkish tribe of Turkistan. The 

 Turks of the Han period knew nothing of grapes or wine, quite natu- 

 rally, as they were then restricted to what is now Mongolia, where soil 

 and climatic conditions exclude this plant. Vine-growing, as a matter 

 of course, is compatible solely with a sedentary mode of life; and only 

 after settling in Turkistan, where they usurped the heritage of their 

 Iranian predecessors, 1 did the Turks become acquainted with grape 

 and wine as a gift of Iranians. The Turkish word for the grape, Uigur 

 bziim (other dialects iiziim), proves nothing along the line of historical 

 facts, as speculated by Vambery. 2 It is even doubtful whether the word 

 in question originally had the meaning "grape"; on the contrary, it 

 merely seems to have signified any berry, as it still refers to the berries 

 and seeds of various plants. The Turks were simply epigones and 

 usurpers, and added nothing new to the business of vine-culture. 



In accordance with the introduction of the manufacture of grape- 

 wine into China, we find this product duly noted in the Pen ts'ao of 

 the T'ang, 3 published about the middle of the seventh century; further, 

 in the $i liao pen ts'ao by Moh Sen j§L %9c (second half of the seventh 

 century), and in the Pen ts'ao H i by C'en Ts'ah-k'i ffl. W. H, who wrote 

 in the K'ai-yuan period (713-741). The T'ah pen ts'ao also refers to 

 the manufacture of vinegar from grapes. 4 The Pen ts'ao yen i, pub- 

 lished in 1 1 16, likewise enumerates grape-wine among the numerous 

 brands of alcoholic beverages. 



The Lian se kun tse ki by Can Yue (667-730) 5 contains an anecdote 

 to the effect that Kao-£'ah offered to the Court frozen wine made from 

 dried raisins, on which Mr. Kie made this comment: "The taste of 

 grapes with thin shells is excellent, while grapes with thick shells are 

 bitter of taste. They are congealed in the Valley of Eight Winds 

 (Pa fun ku A %> ^) . This wine does not spoil in the course of years." 6 



1 This was an accomplished fact by the end of the fourth century a.d. 



2 Primitive Cultur des turko-tatarischen Volkes, p. 218. 



* Cen lei pen ts'ao, Ch. 23, p. 7. 



* Ibid., Ch. 26, p. 1 b. 



6 See The Diamond, this volume, p. 6. 



8 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 25, p. 14 b. A different version of this story is quoted 

 in the T'ai P'in yii Ian (Ch. 845, p. 6 b). 



