Chemical Engineering in Daily Life – Question 62: What kind of wine did Wu Song drink at Jingyang Ridge?

At that time, the technology for distilling rice wine did not exist yet

Maybe it’s refined rice wine. There is an answer in the section about cleverly seizing the birthday gifts; using wine to quench thirst indicates that its alcohol content is not high.

5. Rice wine; other items didn’t seem to exist at that time

Beer – let’s talk about this first. Such a premium beverage; in that era (even during the Song Dynasty), there was certainly no equivalent to it. Even if there had been, 18 bowls, with one bowl weighing one jin each, would be enough to get someone completely drunk, even if it were 18 bottles. Baijiu… haha, forget about it. Someone with such a high tolerance for alcohol probably doesn’t exist on Earth, or else they would be dead by the time they finished drinking it. There are no tales of such people in the martial arts world. Apple cider – well, it can be considered vinegar. After drinking 18 bowls of it, one’s bones would have long since become weak. Wine – fine wine served in moon-shaped cups; one person can drink seven or eight cups. According to legends in the martial arts world, that’s about the limit. Wu Song drinking 18 cups far exceeds those limits. The remaining option is rice wine. Rice becomes wine, and wine becomes rice; there’s no distinction between the two. When eaten, it’s rice; when drunk, it’s wine. Wu Song, constantly avoiding the authorities and longing deeply for his brother, returned to Qinghe. After traveling for days, he passed by Jingyang Gang, having not eaten a grain of rice or drunk a drop of water in three days. In such a state of extreme hunger and thirst, it’s understandable that he would eat several bowls of food.

Rice wine. Using the process of elimination, with 18 bowls, the alcohol content must be low; therefore, baijiu can be ruled out. Beer didn’t exist at that time, so that’s out. Fruit production must have been low at that time, and the people generally could not satisfy their hunger; apple cider and wine are excluded from this

5. Rice wine has a low alcohol content; otherwise one would be drunk already. Even if someone has a high tolerance for alcohol, after drinking so much of it, they probably wouldn’t have the strength to fight a tiger

I choose baijiu, which is made from pure grains. The owner of the small shop, while cooking, noticed the steam rising from the pot and had an idea; he developed an indigenous distillation technique. Through this process, the alcohol content of the wine produced earlier was increased further, resulting in a rich and aromatic flavor. Even a tall man couldn’t resist having three bowls of this homemade wine. But my Wu Erlang is nine feet tall; just his muscles weigh more than what other people weigh in their entire bodies. He has been able to drink since he was young – he can drink a hundred cups without getting drunk, and a thousand cups without any effect; as long as his stomach can handle it, he can drink however much is given to him. However, after trying the homemade liquor made by the shop owner, I finally realized my own limits. Although I had a large appetite, by the time I had drunk 18 bowls, my mind could no longer take it, so I had to pay and leave. On the way, still under the influence of the alcohol, I killed the only precious creature in Jingyanggang: a big tiger. Tigers can no longer be seen on Jingyang Gang today. Why? I heard that there are drunkards acting violently, using excessive force, so I don’t dare to go there. It must be said that the Great Song Dynasty was truly an era of explosive development for Chinese civilization. Unfortunately, the literati who held power preferred literature to military affairs; they did not support local businesses or show concern for the small shops in areas like Jingyanggang. Those shops also failed to apply for patent protection. As a result, centuries later, foreigners were able to take the lead. Everyone talks about the hero who fought the tiger at Jingyang Gang, but what they don’t realize is that there was a great shop before that hero existed. If, back then, the fine quality of the wine from that small shop had been promoted just as Wu Erlang was promoted, then its reputation would have endured for hundreds of years.

A glass of fine wine in a luminous cup; eager to drink, the lute urges on at once. Do not laugh at me lying drunk on the battlefield; how many have returned from ancient wars? This is from the Tang Dynasty; it probably existed in the Song Dynasty as well. But oh, those luminous cups filled with fine wine – one person was supposed to be able to drink seven or eight cups, and that was the rule in the martial arts world; if someone drank more than that, they would be executed. It was my nephew who told me that “one person can drink seven or eight cups.” A first-grader like him managed to modify a Tang Dynasty poem in this way

Rice wine, beer, and apple cider – those were not from the right era; there was no distillation technology for liquor, and wine was too far away in terms of time period. Rice wine is the most likely candidate

I also think rice wine is the most likely one.