VINE. 
89 
of the provinces, under certain reigns, that the re- 
membrance of it has been entirely lost. When 
it was afterwards allowed to be planted, it would 
appear, from the manner in which some historians 
express themselves, that grapes and the vine began 
then to be known for the first time ; this probably 
has given rise to the opinion that the vine has not 
been long introduced into China. u It is, how- 
ever, certain,” says the Abbe Grosier, cc without 
speaking of remote ages, that the vine and grapes 
are expressly mentioned in the Chinese annals, un- 
der the reign of the emperor Vou-ty , who came to 
the throne in the year 1 40 before Christ ; and that 
from his time the use of wine may be traced from 
reign to reign even to the fifth century. 
“ The songs,” says Grosier, “ which remain of 
all the dynasties since that of Yven to Han , give 
us reason to believe that the Chinese have always 
been fond of wine made from grapes. The emperor 
Ouenti, of the dynasty of Ouei , celebrates it with a 
lyric enthusiasm worthy of Horace or Anacreon ; 
and we find in a large Chinese herbal, book 133, 
that wine made from grapes was the wine of ho- 
nour, which several cities presented to their go- 
vernors and viceroys, and even to the emperor. In 
1373, the emperor Tai-tsou accepted some of it for 
the last time, from Tai-yuen , a city of Chen-si , and 
forbade any more to be presented. e I drink little 
wine,’ said the prince, c and I am unwilling that 
what I do drink should occasion any burthen to my 
people.’ ” 
