劉伶，竹林七賢之一。劉伶所以耽於酒，一以時風使然，一以酒可使人臻乎體道之絕對境界。正始之世，儒教既盡，玄風正熾，故〈酒德頌〉之立意蓋與老莊若合符契，並效莊子寄道於理想人物，而使具體可見焉。其理想人物由於「酒」而臻乎體道之絕對境界，與莊子理想人物之由於「心齋」、「坐忘」，功能相同，此「酒德」之所以可頌也。「頌」之為體，其內容雖如銘之敬慎，然無銘之規戒；且篇旨當如汪洋之淵深。其形式雖似賦之敷寫，然無賦之華侈也。本篇觀察〈酒德頌〉，意深遠而辭整鍊，信符頌體之規範也。

Liu Ling was one of the Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove in the period of Zhengshi (the dynasty name of Tsaur Fang, the third emperor of the Wei Kindom during the era of the Three Kindoms, 240 年~249 年) The reason that Liu Ling indulged in wine was largely influenced by the atmosphere of his era. The other reason was, through wine, people can reach the highest level of absolute understanding of "Dao". During his time, people completely ignored Confucianism. Instead, they loved the mysticism of philosophers Laozi and Zhuangzi. Therefore, Liu Ling's "Praise of the Wine's Merit" coincided with the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi. Following the example of Zhuangzi, objectifying "Dao" through idealized person, one can reach the highest level of absolute understanding of "Dao" through 'wine' in the "Praise of the Wine's Merit", just like Zhuangzi's ideal person can do through "Emptying the Heart" and "Transcendental Meditation'. This is the reason why the merit of "Wine" was praised. The literary style of 'Praise' share the common trait of serious and short content as "Motto", but contains no precepts, and the theme of the article runs deep as an ocean. Its structure of article was written the same as "Poetic Essay" but less extravagant and less gregarious. The description above is the principle of "Praise". Examining "Praise of the Wine's Merit" based on this principle, it does match the model of a "Praise" with its deep content, succinct and elegant format.