考察魏晉文士的生活，可發現飲酒之風相當盛行，孔融倡言「座上客恒滿，尊中酒不空」，曹操也云「何以解憂，唯有杜康」，曹植曾獲「飲酒不節」之評，阮籍「酣飲為常」，劉伶「唯酒是務」，張翰大言「使我有身後名，不如即時一杯酒。」可見「飲酒」已成為魏晉文士顯著的生活特徵。 而翻開《世說新語》，濃濃的酒香，撲鼻而來。魏晉名士與酒的關係，可謂焦不離孟、秤不離鉈。王孝伯言：「名士不必須奇才，但使常得無事，痛飲酒，熟讀《離騷》，便可稱名士。」王忱以為飲酒是名士標誌之一。「飲酒」成為名士的必備條件，也成為魏晉名士風流的無形徽章。 魏晉名士飲酒之因，表面似與前人相同，如祭祀成禮、宴會酬酢、消愁解憂等等，這都是與前人相同的。然而在這基礎之上，魏晉名士創造了更豐富的文化意涵，其飲酒的風貌已大異於前代──或是託跡慢形、或是避禍全身、或是睥眤禮教，魏晉名士已將飲酒賦予新價值、新風貌，有異於前代的飲酒文化內涵。

Shishuo Xinyu was full of descriptions of a thick aroma of wine entering one’s nose. Renowned scholars in Wei and Jin dynasties were closely connected with wine. Wang Xiaobo said, "scholars do not have to be talents; anyone who drinks wildly and reads Li Sao well can be thought of a scholar.” Likewise, Wang Chen regarded drinking as a symbol of renowned scholars. In short, drinking, a prerequisite for becoming a scholar, carried an invisible badge of unrestrained spirits of Wei and Jin scholars. The reason why scholars in Wei and Jin dynasties drank seemed to be similar with ones in previous dynasties. For example, they all drank on an occasion of rituals, ceremonies, banquet, etc. or drank to leave sorrow or worries behind. However, unlike their former counterparts, Wei and Jin scholars created an even more enriching cultural significance and value for drinking--drinking was an act of seeking refuge and disdaining conventional moral standards. Such drinking culture was absolutely different from what was seen in previous dynasties.