The Alcohol Culture in Water Margin

羅藝

【Abstract】Song Dynasty played an important role in promoting the development of alcohol or wine industry, and in the normalization of its production. The application of Corpus Linguistics to the analysis of Water Margin fully illustrates the vivid and rich alcohol culture.

【Key words】Corpus Linguistics; Water Margin; Alcohol Culture; Wine

1. Introduction of Corpus Linguistics

Corpus linguistics is the science of language study by using the computer technology, especially database and network, in various ways that conform to linguistic theories and language pedagogical principles. It is often viewed as a methodological basis for pursuing linguistic research, which analyses data and evidence for claims that are inherently empirical, quantitative and probabilistic.

2. Corpus Linguistics in Literary Analysis

The application of Corpus Linguistics in literary work focuses on the words themselves, the detailed analysis of large quantities of language data for lexical and to subsequently decode the meanings of these patterns. This is a brand-new aspect to do literary research, especially the study of diction, it also makes simplicity to get a view on some unfamiliar or irregular linguistic phenomena.

3. Application of Corpus Analysis Approach in Water Margin

“酒”(jiu, in Water Margin, it mainly refers to white wine or white spirit) becomes one of the prominent factors in the novel. Through analyzing word “酒” in Microsoft Visual FoxPro in aspects of the verb which describes the action of drinking and the vocabulary used to contain white wine, readers will have got a clear understanding about the importance of “酒” and the comprehensive knowledge of alcohol culture in Song Dynasty. In the program Visual Fox9, the word “酒” appears approximately 2029 times.

3.1 Verb about the Action of Drinking

吃酒(chi jiu)、飲酒(yin jiu)、勸酒(quan jiu)、喝酒(he jiu) are searched out from the statistics. Comparatively speaking, the verb describing the action of drinking is quite similar to the present day. For an instance, “喝” (he, drink/have) is commonly used in daily life. The difference in North Song Dynasty is that “吃”(chi)is much more frequently adopted than “喝”, which only appears four times in Water Margin. “吃” (chi) gives us an impression of Song peoples bold and forthright, and their preference to wine. It also indicates the development of “alcohol industry” in Song Dynasty. Wine historically became an indispensable part in Chinese society, and alcohol industry had been well developed in Song Dynasty.

3.2 Vocabulary about White Wine Containers

The household utensils or pots for alcohol in Water Margin are also attractive and plentiful. At the present, a bottle of wines, or a glass of wine (一瓶酒、一杯酒) are frequently employed, but in North Song Dynasty there are various utensils for containing alcohol, such as “杯、碗、盞、樽、瓶、瓢、桶、擔”(bei/zhan/zun/ping/piao/tong/dan). On the one hand, Naian Shi adopted different containers in different situation, which in some degree showed those characters distinctive characteristics. On the other hand, it demonstrated Naian Shis exquisite depiction of details.

The two words “樽” and “碗” were taken as examples. When樽(Zun) appeared, the involving person would be the upper class or the involving situation would be very official and serious in some sense. Zun is a medium-sized ancient Chinese wine container, with a round or square shape, a long neck. Zun had prevailed in the Shang Dynasty to the Western Zhou Dynasty. With the development of bronze, it was gradually used as one of the wine container in royal court. When碗(Wan, bowl) presented, the person who drank with bowl would be straightforward and uninhibited, also be bold and unconstrained, usually were from lower class. In the story of Wu Song fought the tiger(武松打虎, Wu Song da hu), “三碗不過崗”(san wan bu guo gang) is the interesting and impressing part. The word “碗” showed that Wu Song was in great appetite of alcohol, and also reflected the extraordinarily brave.

4. Conclusions

As a mirror of social life, the alcohol culture in Water Margin was the vital and prominent part. Under the well-designed creation of Naian Shi, Water Margin gives readers a real and lively reflection about the life in North Song Dynasty. Through the study on “酒”(jiu) in Corpus, readers will have a better understanding that all the wine images or symbols function to develop the plot, reach the climax and represent the theme of the novel.

References：

[1]Leech G.Corpora and theories of linguistic performance[J].Directions in Corpus Linguistics Proceedings of Nobel Symposium,1992.