The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup or Eight Immortals Indulged in Wine (Chinese: 飲中八仙; pinyin: yǐnzhōng bāxīan) were a group of Tang Dynasty scholars who are known for their love of alcoholic beverages. They are not deified and xian ("immortal; transcendent; fairy") is metaphorical. The term is used in a poem by Du Fu, and in the biography of Li Bai in the New Book of Tang.
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 (李白 Lǐ Bái)
- Zhang Xu (張旭 Zhāng Xù)
- Jiao Sui (焦遂 Jiaō Suì)
Famous quotes containing the words wine and/or cup:
“Good wine warms people’s faces; good money warms their hearts.”
—Chinese proverb.
“I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man: wine is not so noble a liquor; and think of dashing the hopes of a morning with a cup of warm coffee, or of an evening with a dish of tea! Ah, how low I fall when I am tempted by them! Even music may be intoxicating. Such apparently slight causes destroyed Greece and Rome, and will destroy England and America.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)