Li: Primitive Beer in Ancient China

In ancient China, people consumed a kind of alcoholic drink called "Li" which was made from malted cereals. Li has been considered as a type of primitive beer in remote ancient times. After Han Dynasty or so, Li was substituted by rice wine made by Qu ( it is called "Qu" in Chinese). Then, Li, due to its low alcohol content, was obsolete from the banquet and even nobody knew exactly how Li was brewed. 
Li was first recorded in "Jia Gu Wen" ( inscription on bones or tortoise shells) in Shang Dynasty ( from 16th century B.C. to 11th century B.C.). Although there were no complete descriptions about brewing process of Li, some characters and phrases carved on the bones or tortoise shells have been identified to be related to brewing process, such as "NIE", meaning malted cereals or malting, "JIAN", meaning "filtration. There were newly brewed Li and aged Li used on different occasions.
In Zhou Dynasty, alcoholic beverages was classified into two types: rice wine and "Li". In Han Dynasty, Li was no longer the major alcoholic drink consumed because the rice wine brewing techniques had been spreaded out everywhere. Li was absolute gradually. A kind of drink characterized by low alcohol and made with Qu in a short time was also called "Li", probably because of misunderstanding meaning of the original "Li"； During the period of Northern and Southern Dynasty (420- 581 A.D.), Li made from malted cereals had been throughly absolete. Among more than 40 varieties of alcoholic drinks mentioned in << Qi Ming Yao Shu>>, there was no "Li", although the techniques for making wheat malt were described in detail. Now that rice wine made by Qu had the advantages of high proof of alcohol (usually 15% by volume), there was nothing strange that Li made from malted cereals had been substituted by rice wine.
It is concluded that Li and beer should belong to the same type of beverage with much lower alcohol content than rice wine in remote ancient times. With the changes of times, the primitive beer, Li made from malted cereals disappeared in China.