 |
| The elegant tea room and gentle music take people's mind into a tranquil world. | The Chinese love drinking tea. They drink tea to relieve thirst when thirsty, to sober up when drunken, to help digest after a meal, and to stay awake and fresh when staying up at night. Men of literature and writing take tea not only as a material enjoyment, but also as a spiritual pleasure. They refine the ceremony of tea drinking and are particular about water, apparatus, occasion, time, and people that are involved in tea drinking. This activity Summarizes the essence of Chinese culture and implies the affection and pursuit of Chinese people.
 |
| The purple-grit tea pot made by Chen Mingyuan, a famous ceramist of Qing Dynasty. |
Good tea requires good water, because only in that way can tea have good taste, So tea lovers from ancient time to the present have always taken water as a key point in tea drinking. "Water of Yangtze River and tea of Mount Mengshan top" has been said for thousands of years. The world-known tiger-running spring of Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province can best match Longjing tea. Lu yu wrote in his The Book of tea that "water in mountains is best, in rivers is ok, and in wells is second rate. "Water is valuable for being the active Water at the source of rivers. Lu Yu held that mountain water that flowed from white rock cracks Was the best while spouting or dropping water usually caused diseases in people's necks. The stale water in valleys was inedible but river water from those less inhabited
 |
 |
 |
| Warming up the tea utensils before tasting Kungfu Tea. | sections was better because it was less polluted. Well water from the deep wells with Waves was preferred. Lu Yu even divided the water of all China into 20 grades.
Liu Bochu, another man of letters-chose the NaMing water of Yangtze river as the best in the world and the well water from Huishan Mount of Wuxi, Jiangsu as the second best. Nanling water was situated in the vicinities of Jinshan, Jiangsu. Only the water fetched in copper bottles tied to long ropes from deep down the water from 0a.m. to 2 a.m. and from 12.a.m. to 2 p.m. could be called Nanling water. Since it was so hard to get, the second best-Huishan Mount well Water-became the coveted target of all. Chancellor Li Deyu of Tang Dynasty used his power to es
 |
| A purple-grit tea pot of Qing Dynasty covered with colorful enamel. |
|
 |
| The purple-grit tea pot made by Yang Penguian, a famous ceramist of Qing Dynasty. | tablish a special water-passing organization, just in order to have constant access to Huishan Mount well water. The well water would be transported all me way from Wuxi to Xi'an for his enioyment. The Song Dynasty still held Huishan Mount well water in a high position. To keep the freshness of water during the long Journey Song people invented fresh-keeping methods like sprinkling through fine sand and impurity' ridding. In Ming Dynasty, it was common to put white stones in Water to better water¡¯s quality.
Tea tastes thin and distant, embodying a spiritual state of serenity and indifference to fame and fortune, and epitomizing the Chinese social philosophy of 7' remaining tranquil in favor or humiliation "and¡° contentment brings happiness." Unlike wine drinking, which demands a lot of people to show excitement, tea drinking exactly needs to avoid excitement. Ancient people believed that it was better to involve few people when drinking tea, because as long as there was communication with nature, even drinking alone can be cheerful. Drinking tea alone accentuates spiritu
 |
| Putting some oolong tea gently into a purple-grit tea pot. | al comprehension and enjoyment, for ¡°being content with poverty and keen on morality¡± is the utmost spirit of tea.
Chinese tea culture reached its height of fame and splendor in Song Dynasty, and tea ceremony also climbed to its peak at that time. From emperor and ministers to common citizens, almost everyone had the habit of drinking tea. There even appeared a" Contest of Tea" for people to compete in their skills of making tea.
 |
| Pouring boiling water into tea pot, heating tea leaves evenly. |
The contest of tea emphasized three points: tea leaves, water, and apparatus. The leaves should be picked in the same year, with Dragon&Phoenix Cake being the most precious. Spring water, rain or snow was preferred. As to apparatus, black porcelain from Jianzhou of Fujian Province was best known. The Contest Was pretty complex. First, warm the cups, then start boiling water which Was also called ¡°soup waiting.¡± Song people usually used tea vase to boil water so they could not observe the ¡°Three Boil¡± process in Fu as Tang people did. They could only rely on their listening ability.
 |
| Distributing the first-round tea soup into fragrance-appreciating cups circularly. | Books about tea of Song Dynasty recorded the ways of differentiating Water by their sound. If the water in vase sounded like cicada or insect singing, it was ¡°First Boil.¡± If it sounded like ears driving in a distance. It was "Second Boil." When it sounded like pines waving in the wind, "Three Boil" Was achieved.
Afterwards, put the triturated tea powder in cups, add little boiling water and mix them into paste. This was called "paste making" Then came the step of "Diantang" water adding). Pour water from vase into cup. The wrist holding the vase should turn deftly while pouring, so that water would
 |
| Distrbuting the rest tea soup to each cup evenly, showing respect to each guest. | burst out like a stable water spout, which couldn't be off and on or thick at one time and thin at another but should be even and straight. When the cup was about 60%full of water, stop pouring. The water spout, too, had to stop suddenly without any loose drops. When "Diantang" Was going on, ¡°jifu¡± incessantly stir water with tea chopstick) was performed at the same time to produce pure white froth in the cup. While Stirring, fingers were brought to move by wrist at an even speed and with even power, otherwise you couldn't attain the best effect. The simultaneous performance-of "Diantang" and
 |
| Pouring the first-round tea soup on the tea pot to "nourish" it. |
 |
| Covering the fragrance-smelling cups with tea-drinking cups. | "Jifu" required excellent cooperation of both hands. Any carelessness or neglect might result in losing the contest. General Remarks On Tea by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty divided the contest into seven phases from paste making to Diantang and Jifu, each phase involving different technique.
How did people decide the result of the contest? The first step was to observe the color of tea Water and to compare the froth. Since tea cake lost its juice during the process, the tea took on a whitish color. Pure white indicated that leaves were fresh and tender and finely proc
 |
| Pouring the second-round tea soup in fragrance-smelling cups into tea-drinking cups. | essed, so it was the best choice. In contrast, darkish color of the tea water suggested that the step of steaming green wasn7t thoroughly done, yellowish color pointed out old leaves, and reddish color showed over-baking. All of these colors indicated low quality of tea. The evaluation of froth was even more demandin9. Froth should be even, tiny and dense, like a few stars around a brilliant moon, or even taking on the shapes of birds, beasts, insects or fish.
Tasting with tongue Was after observing with eyes. The taste was considered better
 |
| Strong fragrance lingering in the fragrance-smelling cups. | if it included four characters-fragrant, sweet, heavy, and smooth. The smell was deemed better if it permeated quickly once the tea got in the cup. The winner could only be decided after a comprehensive evaluation.
With the complete substitution of loose tea for roll tea and cake tea, the once flourishing fashion of contest of tea in Song Dynasty died out, and Chinese tea ceremony took up various forms. Today, Kungfu tea, which is popular in Fujian, Guangdong, Taiwan and other places, is a representative of Chinese tea Ceremony.
 |
| Take the tea-drinking cup, smell the fragrance first, and then tasting the tea. |
Kungfu means sophisticated and adept skills. Since Qing Dynasty, Kungfu tea has had its fixed formalities. The best apparatus for Kungfu tea is purple-grit pottery. The pot is as tiny as a fist, and the cup is just the size of half a table tennis ball. The apparatus are made small so that once the tea is made, you can finish it immediately, thus preserving the fresh taste of tea. The cooking-enduring oolong tea is normally cooked as Kungfu tea. Before cooking, pot and cup are washed with hot water to raise their temperature. Then leaves are added to about 70% or 80% full, so that the teapot is just full after water is poured in. After that boiling water is poured in from high; first round is not to be drunk but thrown away at once. The purpose of it is to wash tea-to clear the leaves of the dust and impurities on them. Later boiling water is added again until it Overflows the pot. Remove the floating froth with pot lid, put oil the lid, and drench the whole pot with boiling water.
|
