What are the characteristics of tea making in past dynasties?

China is the first country in the world to discover and utilize tea trees. In ancient times, people have discovered and used tea trees, such as Shennong, who tasted a hundred herbs and encountered 72 poisons every day, and removed them with tea. "In BC1122-116, it was recorded that tea was a" tribute "in Bashu, China. From China Tea and Wine Information Network.

When Xuan Di, Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty was in power, Wang Bao, a Shu native, wrote Hanshu < Yue Yue > with "Wuyang real tea" and "tea making utensils". Wuyang is now pengshan county, Sichuan Province, which shows that in the Qin and Han Dynasties, Sichuan tea production has begun to take shape, and tea production has also improved. The characteristics of color, fragrance and taste of tea sets have been used for many purposes, such as medicine, funeral, sacrifice, eating, or for the upper class to eat. Formed a tea distribution market like Wuyang. From China Tea and Wine Information Network.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and the early Western Han Dynasty, there were several large-scale wars and population migrations in China's history, especially after Qin unified Sichuan, which promoted the commodity and economic exchanges between Sichuan and other places. The cultivation, production techniques and drinking customs of Sichuan tea trees began to spread to Shaanxi and Henan, the economic, political and cultural centers at that time, and Shaanxi and Henan became one of the oldest northern tea areas in China. Later, they gradually moved along the Yangtze River to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It has spread to the southern provinces. According to historical records, Hanwang went to the Ming Tombs in Yixing, Jiangsu Province to \ "teach children art tea \" and enjoy real tea \ ",and Ge Xuan, a famous scholar in the Han Dynasty, opened a \" tea garden \ "in Tianshan, Zhejiang Province, indicating that tea trees in Sichuan in the Han Dynasty had spread to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The record of drinking tea for the first time in Jiangnan began in the Three Kingdoms, in Wuzhi. An obscure biography >; & gt Sun Hao once told the story of replacing wine with tea. From China Tea and Wine Information Network.

During the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties (265-587), the output of tea increased gradually, and there was also a record of Zheng Yu drinking tea in history books. After the Jin dynasty, the commercialization of tea has reached a considerable level, and the output of tea has also increased, which is regarded as a precious luxury by the Ministry. After tea becomes a commodity, it is carefully collected and processed in order to obtain high price and improve quality. At the beginning of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the above-mentioned tea was used as a tribute, and later to the Southern Dynasties. & lt Wu >; The middle load: "There is Wenshan in the west of Wucheng County (now Xing Wu County) in Zhejiang Province, and the tea produced is a tribute. "In the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced to China from the Western Regions, and it was more prevalent in the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Buddhism advocates meditation, drinking tea can soothe the nerves, and drinking tea at night can drive away drowsiness. Tea has an indissoluble bond with Buddhism, and tea has gained a reputation. It is famous all over the world. Therefore, some famous Buddhist and Taoist temples in famous mountains and rivers and feudal manors began to plant tea trees. Many famous teas in China were originally planted in Buddhist and Taoist resorts, such as Mengding, Lushan Yunwu, Huangshan Mao Feng, Tiantai Huading, Yandang Mao Feng, Sunlight Cloud, Tianmu Cloud, Tianmu Ding Qing, Jingshan Tea and Longjing Tea. , all produced near the famous mountains and great rivers temples. In this respect, collection, processing and dissemination also played a certain role. After the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the so-called scholar-officials paid tribute, escaping from reality, and were light all day, tasting tea and writing poems, and consuming more tea. In Jiangnan, tea has become an ordinary drink "better than drinking in the whole room" and "drinking on the table", which shows that it has long been a gift for guests in Jiangnan. From China Tea and Wine Information Network.

The Tang Dynasty dominated the whole country and attached importance to farming, which promoted the development of tea production. Due to domestic peace and social stability, with the development of agriculture and handicraft production, tea production and trade have also flourished rapidly, becoming the first peak in the history of China. Tea drinkers are all over the country, and in some places, it has become a custom for every household to drink tea. Tea producing areas are distributed in many counties in 14 districts such as Yangtze River, Pearl River Basin, Shaanxi and Henan. At that time, the steamed green tea made from Wuyishan tea was very famous. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, there were more than 70 tea-producing states in China, with jurisdiction over more than 340 counties, and tea production was now in 14 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The Song Dynasty gradually developed on the basis of the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties. The country's tea producing areas have expanded, and there are many refined famous teas in various places, and the tea output has also increased. From China Tea and Wine Information Network.

By the Yuan Dynasty, tea production had a greater development. By the mid-Yuan Dynasty, the people's tea-making technology was constantly improved, and they paid attention to tea-making kung fu. Some of them became teas with local characteristics, which were regarded as treasures at that time and were very popular in the south. Another achievement of tea production in Yuan Dynasty was making tea by machine. According to Wang Zhen's records, water-to-water continuous grinding was used in some areas at that time, that is, water was used to drive tea to grind and crush tea, which was obviously more advanced than tea grinding in Song Dynasty.

In the first year of Hongwu in Ming Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang got rid of some disadvantages in the past and established the Feng Gong Dragon Group in the tea industry. This measure has promoted the development of tea-making technology to a certain extent. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty was an important era with the fastest development and greatest achievements in ancient China, which laid a good foundation for the development of modern tea-making technology. The development of tea-making in Ming Dynasty was first reflected in the progress of tea-making technology. In the Yuan Dynasty, the green tea was only steamed and kneaded. "Just. In the Ming dynasty, it was generally fried, and a few places used sun drying. They began to notice the beauty of tea and kneaded it into strips. So later, tea was no longer boiled, and gradually changed to make tea. From China Tea and Wine Information Network,

At the end of Qing Dynasty, tea production in China was quite developed. There are 16 provinces (regions) in China, and more than 600 counties (cities) produce tea, with an area of 1.500 mu, ranking first in the world in terms of tea production, accounting for 44% of the world's tea garden area, and the output exceeds 8 million tons, ranking second in the world, accounting for 17% of the world's total output. It accounts for about 16% of the world's total tea exports. Tea cultivation in Jiangnan is more common. According to the data, China exported 2.54 million tons of tea in 1880, and reached 2.68 million tons in 1886, which was the best record of tea export in China at that time. As a China native, you must be proud! China is the origin of tea trees. China's contribution to human beings in the tea industry mainly lies in the earliest discovery and utilization of this plant, which has developed into a splendid and unique tea culture in China, the East and even the whole world.

The tea industry in China first flourished in Bashu, spread to the southeast and spread all over the country. It spread to Japan and Korea in the Tang Dynasty and to the West after16th century. Therefore, the spread history of tea can be divided into domestic and foreign routes.

The Spread of Tea in China

Tea tree is a kind of "good wood" in the south of China, so the tea industry in China was first bred, produced and developed in the south.

(1) Bashu is the cradle of China tea industry.

Gu once pointed out that "tea drinking began after Qin people took Shu", that is, tea drinking in China was slowly spread after Qin unified Bashu, which means that tea culture in China and even the world was first developed in Bashu. This statement has now been recognized by most scholars.

According to written records and textual research, the production of Bashu tea can be traced back at least to the Warring States period, when Bashu tea area had formed a certain scale and tea was regarded as one of the tributes.

The prominent position of Bashu tea industry in the early history of tea industry in China was not recorded until Wang Bao's Children's Covenant when he proclaimed himself emperor in the Western Han Dynasty, in which there were two sentences: "Cook all the tea" and "Five sheep buy tea". The former reflects the surrounding areas of Chengdu. During the Western Han Dynasty, not only tea drinking became the norm, but also special utensils appeared. As can be seen from the last sentence, tea has been commercialized, and there has been a tea market like "Wuyang".

During the Western Han Dynasty, Chengdu not only became the consumption center of tea in China, but also probably formed the earliest tea distribution center according to later literature records. Not only before the pre-Qin, Qin and Han Dynasties, but also before the Western Jin Dynasty, Bashu was an important tea production and technology center in China.

(2) The middle reaches of the Yangtze River or Central China became the center of tea industry (Three Kingdoms and Western Jin Dynasty)

After the Qin and Han Dynasties unified China, with the economic and cultural exchanges in Bashu and other places, the tea industry was strengthened. In particular, the processing and planting of tea first spread to the southeast region. For example, the naming of Chaling in Hunan is very telling. Chaling is a county established in the Western Han Dynasty, which is famous for producing tea. Chaling is close to the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong, indicating that tea production in the Western Han Dynasty has spread to the surrounding areas of Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi.

During the Three Kingdoms and the Western Jin Dynasty, with the development of Jingchu tea industry and the spread of tea culture all over the country, and due to favorable geographical conditions, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River or Central China gradually replaced Bashu in the spread of tea culture in China, which became obviously important.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Wu owned a part of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi, and the southeast half of all the land in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang. This area was also the main area for the spread and development of tea industry in China at that time. At this time, the scale and scope of planting tea trees in the south have been greatly developed, but drinking tea has also spread to the noble families in the north.

The development of tea industry in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the Western Jin Dynasty can also be proved by the Book of Jingzhou in the Western Jin Dynasty. It says "Tea is the first in seven counties of Wuling", which shows that the tea industry in Han Jing has developed obviously, and the advantage that Bashu is the only champion in China seems to have disappeared.

(3) the development of tea industry in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the southeast coast (Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties)

After the Western Jin Dynasty, the northern giants crossed the river and settled abroad, and Jiankang (Nanjing) became the political center of southern China. During this period, due to the prevalence of tea worship in the upper class, tea drinking and tea culture in the south, especially in Jiangdong area, developed greatly, which further promoted the development of tea industry in China to the southeast. During this period, tea was planted in the southeast of China, from the west of Zhejiang to the coastal areas of Wenzhou and Ningbo. Moreover, Lu Tongjun records that "Xiyang, Wuchang and Jinling all produce good tea", with Changzhou as Jinling and Yixing as its tea. It shows that the tea industry in Yixing in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River became famous in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties.

After the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, the trend of the tea industry's center of gravity moving eastward became more obvious.

(4) The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River became the center of tea production and technology in China (Tang Dynasty).

As mentioned earlier, before the Six Dynasties, tea production and drinking in the south had developed to some extent, but there were not many tea drinkers in the north. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, as recorded in the Chef's Manual, "Now all villages in Kansai, Shandong and Lv Yan eat it, but they don't eat it for a few days, and there is no tea for a day." Both the Central Plains and the northwest minority areas are addicted to tea, so the tea production in the south has achieved unprecedented development. Especially in Jiangnan and Huainan tea areas with convenient transportation in the north, the production of tea is particularly developed.

After the middle Tang Dynasty, the tea production in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River increased greatly, and the tea-making technology reached the highest level at that time. As a result of this high level, Huzhou purple bamboo shoots and Changzhou Yangxian tea have become tribute teas. The center of tea production and technology has been officially transferred to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Tea production in Jiangnan is in full swing. At that time, according to historical records, tea was planted everywhere in Qimen, Anhui Province and within a thousand miles of Fiona Fang, and there was no soil in the mountains. At present, the tea industry in northeastern Jiangxi, western Zhejiang and southern Anhui really developed greatly in the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, as tribute tea is located in the south of the Yangtze River, it greatly promotes the improvement of tea-making technology in the south of the Yangtze River, and also promotes the production and development of China's tea areas.

According to the Tang Dynasty's "Tea Classic" and other documents, tea-producing areas in this period were all over Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and other 14 provinces and regions. , almost reached the same situation as the modern tea-producing areas in China.

(5) The focus of tea industry shifted from east to south (Song Dynasty)

From the Five Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, the national climate changed from warm to cold, which made the tea industry in the south of China develop faster than that in the north, gradually replacing the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and becoming the focus of the tea industry in the Song Dynasty. It is mainly manifested in the change of tribute tea from ancient bamboo and purple bamboo shoots to Fujian Jian 'an tea, and the tea industry in Minnan and Lingnan areas, which have not yet formed a climate in the Tang Dynasty, has developed actively.

The main reason why the center of gravity of tea industry moved south in Song Dynasty was climate change. Due to the temperature drop in early spring in the south of the Yangtze River, the germination of tea trees was delayed, and it was impossible to ensure that the tea was delivered to Kyoto before Qingming. The climate in Fujian is warmer, as Ouyang Xiu said, "Jian 'an is three thousand miles away, and the capital tastes new tea in March. "Jian' an tea, as a tribute tea, will inevitably strive for Excellence and become more and more famous. It has become the main technical center for making group tea and cake tea in China, which has promoted the rise and development of tea areas in southern Fujian and Lingnan.

Therefore, by the Song Dynasty, tea had spread all over the country. The tea areas in Song Dynasty are basically the same as those in modern times. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was only the evolution of tea-making methods and the rise and fall of various teas. Due to the development of tea production in China and people's drinking fashion, it has also had a great impact on foreign countries. On the one hand, the imperial court set up special shipping companies in some coastal ports to manage maritime trade, including tea trade, and allowed foreign businessmen to buy tea and transport it back to their countries. During the Yongzhenyuan period in Tang Shunzong, the most sincere Japanese Zen master returned from studying Buddhism in China and planted the tea he brought back in Jinjiang (Shiga County). In August15, when Emperor Emei of Japan visited Fan Shi Temple in Shiga County, the monks offered delicious tea. The emperor was very happy after drinking it, so he vigorously promoted tea drinking and planted tea in a large area in Japan. In the Song Dynasty, Japanese Zen master Rong came to China to study Buddhist scriptures. After returning home, he not only brought back tea seeds for sowing, but also made his own tea drinking ceremony according to the tea drinking method in China temple. The book Eating Tea for Health, written in his later years, is called the first tea book in Japan. The book calls tea "holy medicine" and "elixir of life", which has played an important role in promoting the development of tea drinking fashion in Japanese society.

During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the number of foreign trade ports in China increased to 89. At this time, ceramics and tea have become the main export commodities of China. Especially in the Ming Dynasty, the government adopted an active foreign policy and sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean seven times. He traveled all over Southeast Asia and Arabia, reaching the east coast of Africa, strengthening economic ties and trade with these areas, and greatly increasing the output of tea.

During this period, merchants from western European countries came to the East one after another, and brought China tea from these areas, which promoted the drinking of tea by the upper class in their country. In the thirty-fifth year of Ming Shenzong Wanli (1607), Dutch ships came to Macau from Java to sell tea and transshipped it to Europe, which was the earliest record that China tea was directly sold to Europe. After that, tea became the most fashionable drink in Holland. Due to the propaganda and influence of the Dutch, the wind of drinking tea quickly spread to Britain, France and other countries.

163 1 year, an English captain named Victor made a special trip to lead his fleet eastward, and for the first time, he brought a large amount of tea directly from China.

After the Qing Dynasty, the wind of drinking tea gradually spread to some European countries. When tea first spread to Europe, it was expensive, and both the Dutch and the British regarded it as a "tribute" and a luxury. Later, with the increasing investment in tea, the price gradually declined and became a folk daily drink. Since then, the British have become the biggest tea drinkers in the world.

India is the country with the largest output and export of black broken tea, and its tea varieties originated from China. Although there are wild tea trees in India, Indians don't know how to grow them or how to drink tea. Only in 1780, the British and Dutch began to import tea seeds from China and grow tea in India. Today, Assam is the most famous black tea producing area. That is, in 1835, tea seeds were introduced from China to grow tea. Experts from China went to guide the methods of growing and making tea, including the production technology of small-scale black tea. After the invention of tea cutter, black broken tea began to appear and became a global bulk beverage.

By19th century, China's tea was almost all over the world. In 1886, the tea export volume reached 2.68 million tons. The word "tea" in western languages mostly comes from the pronunciation of "tea" in Xiamen, Fujian, a maritime trade port at that time, and the Guangdong dialect. It can be said that China gave the world the name of tea, tea knowledge, tea planting and processing technology, and tea from all over the world, which are directly or indirectly inextricably linked with tea in China. In a word, China is the hometown of tea, and our hardworking and intelligent people have created this delicious drink for the people of the world, which is worthy of our future generations' pride.

Introduction to tea history

Tea is the national drink of the Chinese nation. It originated in Shennong, heard in Duke Zhou of Lu, flourished in Tang and Song Dynasties. Now it has become one of the three non-alcoholic beverages (tea, coffee and cocoa) that are popular all over the world, and will become the king of beverages in the 265,438+0 century. Tea-drinking hobbies are spread all over the world, and tea is planted in more than 50 countries around the world. Tracing back to the source, the earliest tea, introduced tea species, tea drinking methods and cultivation in all countries of the world. China is the birthplace of tea, known as "the motherland of tea". Tea is the pride of the Chinese nation!

Tea tree originated in the southwest of China, and China was the first country to discover and utilize tea tree in the world. The history of Chinese tea has gone through five stages:

First, the wild medicine stage. Tea was originally used as a medicinal material. In the book Shen Nong's Classic of Materia Medica, it is pointed out that "Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs and encountered 72 poisons every day, so he eliminated them with tea" (note: tea was originally named tea), saying that tea was discovered by Shen Nong as early as 2737-2697 BC and used as a medicinal material. Since then, tea has been gradually popularized as medicine. However, when it was first used as a drink, historical materials were extremely scarce. Only the article Tongyue written by Wang Bao in 59 BC mentioned the work contents of "Wuyang buying tea" and "making tea to do everything", which is the earliest record of tea being used for drinking.

The second is to plant a small amount for monks and nobles to drink. The habit of drinking tea should have originated in Sichuan and Sichuan at the earliest, and then gradually spread to other places. By the end of the Western Han Dynasty, tea had become a senior drink for monks, royalty and nobles, and it was more frequent in the courts of the Three Kingdoms.

Third, a large number of stages of development ...

The origin of tea

China has a long history of drinking tea, and the exact time cannot be verified, but there is a general statement about the time. We can also find evidence that the habit of drinking tea in many parts of the world was handed down from China. Therefore, many people think that drinking tea was initiated by China people, and the habit of drinking and growing tea in other parts of the world was passed down directly or indirectly from China.

However, some people can find evidence that the habit of drinking tea was invented not only in China, but also in other parts of the world, such as India and Africa. 1823, a major of the British invading army discovered wild tea trees in India, so some people began to believe that tea originated in India, at least in India. Of course, there are records of wild tea trees in China, all of which are concentrated in the southwest, and some areas in Gansu and Hunan are also recorded. Tea tree is a very old dicotyledonous plant, which is closely related to people's lives.

In China, there are also arguments about the earliest origin of tea trees, and there are several opinions. Now many people believe that in Yunnan, a scholar asserted after careful study that Xishuangbanna, Yunnan is the origin of tea trees. The earliest written records of artificially cultivated tea trees began with Mengshan tea in the Western Han Dynasty. This is recorded in Sichuan Tongzhi.

Actually, for those of us who drink tea, it doesn't matter where we are now. Maybe it has cultural significance. Let's take a look at some academic statements first:

The origin time of tea drinking:

1, Shennong period: Tang Lu Yu's Tea Classic: "Tea is a drink, which originated in Shennong." In the history of cultural development in China, the origin of all things related to agriculture and plants always belongs to Shennong. After coming back here, you can't push it up any more. Because of this, Shennong became the god of agriculture.

2. Western Zhou Dynasty: Jinchangqu's "Eight Records of Huayang Country": "Zhou Wuwang really won the teacher of Bashu, ... tea honey ... and all the tributes." This record shows that when Zhou Wuwang attacked the week, Pakistanis had paid tribute to it with tea and other precious products. The Records of Huayang Country also recorded that there were artificially cultivated tea gardens at that time.

3. Qin and Han Dynasties: Western Han Dynasty. Wang Bao's Tongyue: "Exhausting tea" and "Wuyang buying tea" are the teas after the exam. In recent years, in the tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Mawangdui, Changsha, "? A "and"? " Textual research on bamboo slips woodcut "?" That is, the variant of "rhyme" shows that tea drinking in Hunan was quite extensive at that time.

We still drink the same drinks as our very old ancestors, such as Jiang Taigong and others, which is really exciting. Can give us a lot of reverie.

Textual research on the origin of tea drinking;

The exploration of this point often focuses on the study of the birthplace of tea trees. There are several sayings about the birthplace of tea trees:

1, Southwest said: "Southwest is the origin and birthplace of tea trees." This statement refers to a large range, so it is more accurate.

2. Sichuan said: Yanwu's "Rizhilu" in the Qing Dynasty: "After Qin people took Shu, they had tea." The implication is that before Qin people came to Shu, drinking tea was known in Sichuan today. In fact, Sichuan is in the southwest, and Sichuan says it is established, so the southwest says it is established. Sichuan is more "accurate" than the southwest, but the risk of correctness will be greater.

3. Yunnan said: It can be completely considered that Xishuangbanna, Yunnan is the birthplace of tea trees, and this area is the kingdom of plants. However, there is a risk of "humanism" in this statement, because tea trees can be local, and Chaze is the result of activating labor.

4. East Sichuan and West Hubei said: Lu Yu's "Tea Classic": "Bashan Xia Chuan embraced each other." Bashan Gorge and Sichuan are now East Sichuan and West Hubei. There is no evidence that anyone has used such excellent tea trees in this area as tea.

5. Jiangsu and Zhejiang said: Recently, it was suggested that it started from the ancient Yue culture represented by Hemudu culture. At present, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are the most developed areas of tea industry in China. If history can take root here, it is a very meaningful topic. In fact, I think there must be more than one place where tea trees originated naturally in ancient times. Where there are tea trees, the custom of drinking tea may not necessarily develop. As mentioned earlier, tea was invented by Shennong, so where does it live? If we find the intersection of "tea tree native place" and "Shennong activity place", we may have the answer, at least narrowing the scope of the answer.