Compiled by Asiapac Editorial Illustrated by Fu Chunjiang Translated by Qiu Yao Hong

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Compiled by Asiapac Editorial Illustrated by Fu Chunjiang Translated by Qiu Yao Hong"

Amice Marlene Russell
5 years ago
Views:

1 Compiled by Asiapac Editorial Illustrated by Fu Chunjiang Translated by Qiu Yao Hong

3 Contents Tea Culture 1 The Origins of Tea 2 Lu Yu: The Tea Master 5 Tea Processing 8 The Types of Tea 12 The Ten Famous Teas in China 14 Tea Cultivation in China 16 Brewing Water 26 Tea Sets 32 How to Choose Tea 40 Storing Tea 41 How to Make a Good Brew 42 How to Appreciate Tea 47 The Philosophy of Tea 49 The Tea Ceremony 50 Tea Customs 54 Offering Tea 58 Tea and Chan* 60 Tea Houses 62 Tea Dishes 66 Tea and Health 71 Things to Avoid in Tea Drinking 76 The Many Uses of Tea Dregs 77 Tea Drinking Practices of Minority Races 78 Modern Tea Drinking 81 The Spread of Tea 83

Wine Culture 87 The Earliest Wine 88 Other Names for

Vessels 115 Wine Customs 117 Wine Etiquette 122 Wine

Health 137 Cooking and Warming Wine 141 The Harm of

4 Wine Culture 87 The Earliest Wine 88 Other Names for Wine 95 The Home of Chinese Wines 106 Ancient Wine Vessels 115 Wine Customs 117 Wine Etiquette 122 Wine and Scholars 130 Wine and Martial Arts 134 Wine and Health 137 Cooking and Warming Wine 141 The Harm of Drinking 144 Drinking Customs of the Minority Tribes 148

5 TEA CULTURE China is the earliest country to cultivate and drink tea. It is a popular beverage that is enjoyed by people from all social classes in China. 1

6 The Origins of Tea The discovery of tea 1. It is said that tea was discovered by the legendary ruler Shennong. He sampled numerous herbs in order to find out their possible uses as food or medicine for his people. 2. One day, he collapsed under a tree after tasting some poisonous leaves. Some water droplets happened to trickle down from the tree into his mouth and revived him. 3. The tree was a tea plant. From then on, people knew about the detoxifying and curative effects of tea, and began using it as a medicine. 4. Because it is refreshing, thirstquenching and fragrant, tea gradually became an everyday drink. 2

7 The tea plant In the old days, the tea plant was known as The Good Wood ; such was the high regard people had for tea. Tea originated in China, and could be found in the wild as early as a few thousand years ago in places such as Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. In the jungles of Nannuo Mountain in Menghai, Yunnan, there is a wild tea plant that is over 30 metres tall and over 1,700 years old. It is called the King of Tea Plants. Tea scholars travel great distances to view the plant, some coming from as far as Japan. Tea plucking The harvests of tea leaves can be classified by season: spring, summer, autumn and winter. The best green tea can also be divided into Ming Qian Tea (plucked before Qing Ming Festival) and Yu Qian Tea (plucked before the rainy season). New Tea is freshly gathered from the tea plant. Mature Tea is tea that has been kept for a year or longer after plucking. The word tea in English, thea in Latin and chay in Turkish all originated from the word cha in Cantonese or te in the Xiamen dialect from the Fujian province of China. 3

8 The origin of the tea plant There is an interesting story behind the origin of the tea plant. One day, Da Mo, the founder of the Chan sect of Buddhism, fell asleep while meditating. I actually dozed off! What a waste of precious time! These damn eyelids! I d be better off without them! Suddenly, a tall tree with swaying leaves sprung out from the spot where the eyelids had landed. In a fit of anger, he cut off his own eyelids. Da Mo plucked some leaves from the tree and boiled them in water. The drink energised him immediately. Ah, this drink is really refreshing! From then on, Da Mo never fell asleep again. The tree that grew from his eyelids was a tea plant, and tea became an indispensable drink in the temple. Of course, this is only a legend. The tea plant was around long before Da Mo s time. 4

9 Lu Yu: The Tea Master During the Tang Dynasty, there emerged an expert on tea Lu Yu. He wrote the Tea Classic, the world s first treatise on tea leaves. The book had detailed accounts on how to grow, prepare and drink tea; the varieties of tea and tea utensils; the quality of water used for brewing, as well as the customs of tea drinking. It had a far-reaching influence on the development of tea culture, elevating tea drinking into a specialised art. Statue of Lu Yu. Photo courtesy of Yu Zhu Tea Oasis. The classic also made Lu Yu the patron saint of tea merchants, who often decorated their desktops with porcelain statues of the Tea Master. When business was slow, the vendors would pour boiling water on the hole in the figurine s head, a ritual that was believed to improve business. 5

10 The story of Lu Yu, the Tea Master During the Tang Dynasty, a newborn baby boy was abandoned by his parents at the river-bank in Jingling, Fuzhou. His cries alerted a monk at the nearby Longgai Temple. Wah, wah! Ah, an abandoned baby? The monk adopted the child and named him Lu Yu. Lu Yu was often bullied while he was at the temple. Lu Yu, go clean the windows! He couldn t take the bullying, and ran away. During his wandering days, he once acted as a comedian. A little tip please if you enjoy my show! Lu Yu, go sweep the floor! But even in those difficult days, he never forgot to study, and learnt a great deal through self-study. Confucius said: Isn t it a happy occasion when you have a visitor from afar? Lu Yu befriended many of the scholars of his time, and met up with them frequently for tea drinking and poetry sessions. Mr Lu, since you know so much, why don t you go get yourself a scholar s title? I have no interest in government. To me, a happy life is one spent drinking tea and enjoying nature! 6

11 If you love tea so much, why don t you write a book on it? Ah, that s a good idea! It would be great if I can introduce the joy of tea drinking to more people! And so, Lu Yu began his journey all across the country to study the tea and water of various regions. He climbed high and low and travelled deep into forested areas to seek out all kinds of tea. He then retreated to Tiaoxi (now northwest of Zhejiang) to concentrate on writing his book. The government heard that he was a talented man and invited him to be an official. But Lu Yu s heart was in his book. After years of study, Lu Yu finally completed the Tea Classic, the world s first treatise on tea. Please inform the emperor that I have no interest in government. 7

12 Tea Processing Young buds were initially plucked from wild tea trees for use as medicine. They were chewed raw at first, and later boiled in water to make soup. The resulting tea porridge tasted like bitter medicinal soup, thus its name ku tu (bitter plant). Tea processing began after the Qin and Han Dynasties. Tea leaves were compacted into cakes and heated over fire until they turned red. The tea cakes could be cracked, ground into powder and boiled in pots to make tea. Shreds of scallion, ginger or tangerine were added as flavourings, and the tea would be ready for serving. 8

13 The process was further developed during the Tang Dynasty. Thus, the steps now include steaming, pounding, compacting, roasting, stringing and packing. The leaves were steamed in a cauldron before they were pounded to powder in a mortar. The powder was then compacted into cakes using an iron mould. The cakes were strung together, baked over a slow fire and sealed in airtight packaging. Making tea cakes was a way of preserving the tea leaves. To prepare a drink, one just had to crack a cake and boil the pieces in a tea brewer or a cauldron. 9

14 Loose tea was very popular during the Song Dynasty. It was made by steaming and then drying the tea leaves over a low fire. Not only was this method simple, it also preserved the fragrance of the leaves. Rare and precious tea In the Song Dynasty, there was a tea cake known as Longfengtuan. It was valued at two taels of gold a kati. Only on momentous occasions would the Emperor grant this tea as a gift, and each tea cake was shared by four persons. It can be seen how highly this tea cake was regarded. During another dynasty, tea could only be traded for exquisite silk materials. The palace at that time decreed that only officials above a certain rank, along with their families, were allowed to drink tea. Punishment would also be meted out to those who gave away tea leaves as gifts to others. During the Ming Dynasty, steaming was replaced by roasting. Tea leaves were roasted in hot, dry pans, which brought out the rich aroma of the leaves. This technique created the green tea that we commonly see today. 10

15 Modern tea making methods Different types of tea require different processing methods. Here are the basic steps. 1. Plucking Different types of 2. Withering tea leaves require Clamp the different ways of middle of the plucking. There are shoot between also leaf-collecting your index machines that are finger and fast and efficient. thumb, and snap it. Fresh leaves are dried in the sun or using hot air. 3. Roasting The leaves are dried at high temperatures. 4. Rolling The dry leaves are pressed in a rolling machine into their characteristic twisted shape. 5. Drying The leaves are dried in hot air inside the drying machine. 6. Curing This is the key to the leaves aroma and taste. The correct curing method can improve the quality of the tea. 11

16 The Types of Tea There are many different varieties of tea, which can be grouped into six main types: Green tea If you like delicate scents, I would recommend the green tea. This is an unfermented leaf that gives a lovely jade green brew. Oh yes, green tea is very popular now. Longjing (dragon well) tea and Biluochun tea are both green teas. And they both come from regions with picturesque scenery Longjing from West Lake in Hangzhou, and Biluochun, Tai Lake in Suzhou. Black Tea This is black tea, a fermented leaf that draws well and gives a red beverage. Among the black teas, Qimen tea from Anhui is the most famous. Oolong (black dragon) tea This is oolong tea, a semifermented leaf. It s dryer. And it keeps very well. Wuyiyan tea from Fujian is the bestknown oolong tea. 12

17 Yellow tea Yellow tea is lightly fermented tea. Its most striking feature is its yellow leaf and brew. This colour is the result of the process by which yellow tea is made. Yes! Yellow tea is very clear, light and fragrant. Among the better known yellow teas are Junshanbaizhen, Mengdinghuangya and others. White tea White tea is made from young leaves that still have fine white hairs on them. The famous Yinzhenbaihao is one of the varieties of white tea. Dark tea Dark tea is fermented for a longer time than other teas. Dark teas can be in the form of loose leaf or compressed tea, which is tea that has been compacted into the fiorm of bricks. The tea leaf is a deep brown. Renowned dark teas include Yunnan Pu er and Cangwuliubao tea. Other types of tea Apart from these six main types of tea, there are some varieties of tea which have undergone further steps to become what is known as processed tea. Scented tea Black, green and oolong teas are blended with various flowers to create teas with lovely fragrances. 13

The Qin and Han Dynasties

The Qin and Han Dynasties Four Chinese Dynasties Section Overview This section describes the first civilizations in China and how the geography of the region, especially its rivers, mountains, and deserts,