The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup or Eight Immortals Indulged in Wine () were a group of
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
scholars who are known for their love of
alcoholic beverages
Drinks containing alcohol are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—with alcohol content typically between 3% and 50%. Drinks with less than 0.5% are sometimes considered non-alcoholic.
Many societies have a di ...
. They are not deified and ''
xiān'' ("immortal; transcendent; fairy") is metaphorical. The term is used in a poem by
Du Fu
Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician during the Tang dynasty. Together with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai, Du is often considered one of the greatest Chinese poets of his time. His greatest ambition was to serve ...
, as well as in the
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...
of
Li Bai
Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...
in the
New Book of Tang
The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...
.
They appeared in Du's poem in the following order:
*
He Zhizhang (賀知章 Hè Zhīzhāng)
*
Li Jin (李璡 Lǐ Jìn)
*
Li Shizhi (李適之 Lǐ Shìzhi)
*
Cui Zongzhi (崔宗之 Cuī Zōngzhī)
*
Su Jin (蘇晉 Sū Jìn)
*
Li Bai
Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...
(李白 Lǐ Bái)
*
Zhang Xu
Zhang Xu (, fl. 8th century), courtesy name Bogao (), was a Chinese calligrapher and poet of the Tang dynasty.
A native of Suzhou, he became an official during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Zhang was known as one of the Eight Immort ...
(張旭 Zhāng Xù)
*
Jiao Sui (焦遂 Jiaō Suì)
See also
{{portal, Poetry
*
Chinese alcoholic beverage
External links
*Pieter Eijkhoff
Wine In China Its History And Contemporary Developments
Cultural lists
Groups of Chinese people
Tang dynasty poets
Chinese alcoholic drinks
Octets