Tea-drinking is a constituent part of Chinese culture, is an old custom of Chinese people which has played a vital role in their daily life. Chinese tea culture covers all aspects of tea production and consumption, such as, planting, processing, trading, brewing and drinking. Tea-brewing is an art. The method of brewing tea is diverse and complicated. Chinese people usually brew tea with a tea set showing exquisite craftsmanship. All the utensils, namely, teacups, teapots, tea saucers and tea trays, are works of art. Chinese tea culture has spread widely all over the world. It was brought to European countries by merchants along the ancient silk road. Japanese Tea Ceremony(or Osato) came out of Chinese Kungfu Tea in Chaozhou Prefecture. Tea is a healthy drink. Both Taoists and Buddhists love tea. They believe that the tea helps to refresh themselves, remain calm and cultivate an air of nobility.
China is the oldest tea producer in the world. She boasts a long history of drinking tea. Legend has it that Shen-Nong was the first tea drinker. Shen Nong lived about 4,700 years ago, and served as a chieftain of a primitive tribe. He tasted hundreds of different herbs to find out which were poisonous or edible, so that his people would not eat the inedible ones. It is said that the chieftain was poisoned seventy-two times in a single day, and he survived the crises by chewing some tea leaves. When he swallowed the tea juice, he felt that the tea juice was moving up and down in his stomach as if it was searching for something. Therefore, tea was named Cha, meaning to search and check. Unfortunately, Shen Nong was killed by a highly poisonous herb. After he ate it, an intense pain made him unable to move to the place where the tea leaves were. His intestines broke into pieces and he passed away. People called the herb “intestine-destroyer grass”, which killed the chieftain.
According to historical records, the practice of drinking tea can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty(1100B.C.-221B.C.). Tea-drinking became popular during the period when the Duke of Lu-Zhou helped his nephew to rule the country. The Duke of Lu-zhou was one of the younger brothers of King Wu, the Zhou Dynasty. After the king went to heaven, the duke always remained loyal to the country and the successor, King Cheng. The Duke of Lu-zhou was good at managing affairs of state and dedicated his life to stabilizing the county. Confucius praised the duke for his nobility and talents.
The first tea planter was Wu Lizhen. He was born in Ya’an Prefecture in the Western Han Dynasty(202B.C-8A.D.). Wu Lizhen became a Taoist and was in charge of several temples in Mengding Mountain. He planted seven tea trees in a small field near one of his temples. Mengding Mountain is a suitable place for planting tea due to its red soil and humid climate. Li Shangying was a celebrated poet in the Tang Dynasty(618-907). He once highly commended the tea leaves produced in Mengding Mountain in one of his poems. It goes that the tea leaves from Mengding Mountain are of top quality, and then the tea brewed with the water from the Yangtze River is absolutely tasty. We can conclude that the tea produced in Ya’an has become famed since the Tang Dynasty.
Ya’an was the starting point of the Ancient Tea and Horse Path which is also known as the Southern Silk Road. In ancient times, the merchants from Sichuan transported tea and salt products to Tibet, Yunnan, Myanmar and India along a winding path with horses and donkeys. The tea leaves were fermented and made into tea-bricks. Both tea and salt are basic necessities for Tibetans and some other peoples. The Ancient Tea and Horse Path was an important trade route in Southeastern Asia. It can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty.
Lu Yu(733-804) was a tea-lover in the Tang Dynasty. He was good at writing. One of his works was the Book of Tea. It is the first literature on tea in the world. Lu Yu mentioned in his work that tea-drinking was started by Shen Nong and became a popular drink during the period when the Duke Lu-Zhou lived. He also pointed out that the earliest tea mart was located in Wuyang County, the present Xinjin County, Sichuan Province.
In order to spread Buddhism to Japan, Master Jianzhen, a famous Buddhist monk of the Tang Dynasty, sailed from Yangzhou to Nara. He became the founder of the Ritsugku Buddhism of Japan. The disciples accompanied him to Japan were monks, architects, artists, doctors and pharmacists. In the Tang Dynasty, many Japanese students traveled to China for studying. They were called Kentoshi. Both bonsai and tea-drinking spread to Japan from China during the peak of cultural exchange between China and Japan. In the following centuries, Japanese developed Chinese tea-drinking in Chaozhou Prefecture into the present Japanese Tea Ceremony(Osato).
Tea used be a luxury in Britain during the reign of Queen Victoria. In order to improve Britain’s trade deficit, the British East India Company began to sail opium to China. The trade conflict leads to the Opium War which broke out in 1840.
Tea products can be divided into three types, namely, the green tea, the black tea and Oolong tea.
The Green Tea refers to those which are dried directly after being gathered. It has a delicate fragrance and flavour. Both Longjing of the West Lake and Zhuyeqing of Emei Mountain are the most famous brands of green tea. Zhuyeqing means green bamboo leaf in English. It is produced in Emei Mountain, Sichuan Province.
The Black Tea is completely fermented. British people love it very much. However, the Black tea was called the Red Tea by Chinese. It has a strong flavour and is considered as the most healthy drink with the least caffeine. Both Tibetan tea and Pu’er tea are well-known brands of the black tea in the world.
Oolong tea is semi-fermented. It has a pleasant fragrance and does not taste as strong as the black tea. Olong tea is mainly produced in Fujian Province, Guangdong Province, Sichuan Province and Hunan Province. It is quite popular among Japanese, is noted as a beauty product.
Author: Tina Luo
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