- Martini Observes That The Grapes In Shan-Si Were Very Abundant And
The Best In China.
The Chinese used them only as raisins, but wine was made
there for the use of the early Jesuit Missions, and their successors
continue to make it.
Klaproth, however, tells us that the wine of T'ai-yuan
fu was celebrated in the days of the T'ang Dynasty, and used to be sent in
tribute to the Emperors. Under the Mongols the use of this wine spread
greatly. The founder of the Ming accepted the offering of wine of the vine
from T'aiyuan in 1373, but prohibited its being presented again. The finest
grapes are produced in the district of Yukau-hien, where hills shield the
plain from north winds, and convert it into a garden many square miles in
extent. In the vintage season the best grapes sell for less than a farthing
a pound. [Mr. Theos. Sampson, in an article on "Grapes in China," writes
(Notes and Queries on China and Japan, April, 1869, p. 50): "The earliest
mention of the grape in Chinese literature appears to be contained in the
chapter on the nations of Central Asia, entitled Ta Yuan Chwan, or
description of Fergana, which forms part of the historical records
(Sze-Ki) of Sze-ma Tsien, dating from B.C. 100. Writing of the political
relations instituted shortly before this date by the Emperor Wu Ti with the
nations beyond the Western frontiers of China, the historian dwells at
considerable length, but unluckily with much obscurity, on the various
missions despatched westward under the leadership of Chang K'ien and
others, and mentions the grape vine in the following passage:
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