Fragrant Tea and Tea Culture of Bashu

Zhang Xuejun

Fragrant Tea and Tea Culture of Bashu

Zhang Xuejun*

The Chinese tea drinking habit started during the Qin and Han dynasties, and had its origin in Bashu. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Bashu tea reached a high level of production with large sales. As the birthplace of the tea culture, Bashu has made great contributions to both the Chinese and global tea culture.

ancient Bashu; tea production; tea ceremony; tea culture

As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, people in the Bashu area were in the habit of drinking tea; accordingly, there formed the production and sales markets for tea. Gu Yanwu offered this insightful statement inRi Zhi Lu (Reading Notes), “After the Qin people’s occupation of the Shu area, people started to drink tea.”

During the Tang and Song dynasties, Bashu tea, as daily consumption goods, was supplied to the domestic markets. By virtue of the improvements in production and processing technologies, the Bashu tea plantations developed a variety of tea of good quality, which were regarded as a kind of expensive drinking of the upper class and teahouse customers. As tea drinking prevailed in the ethnic regions, the mass transport of Bashu tea took place via the “Tea–horse Trade” in the northwest and southwest of China. Supply of brick tea and horse tea fell short of demand because of the continuous increase of coarse tea production, tea processing technology in Bashu began to drop behind that in the southeast. Thus, the production of tea, the processing technology and even tea drinking customs naturally lapsed into silence in the areas of Bashu.

1．The Rise and Fall of Bashu’s Tea Industry

1.1 The origin of Bashu’s tea industry

As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, Bashu people had the habit of drinking tea. Wang Bao of the Western Han Dynasty recorded inTong Yuethe scene of a widow, Yang Hui, cooking tea at home in the Western Shu area. “Every time there were visitors to her home, she would take a pot to buy wine to entertain guests; she also cooked tea for guests with an exquisite tea set, and put away the tea set carefully after cooking.” It is evident that hosts bought wine and cooked tea for their guests as a custom. When people “cooked tea” at that time, tea leaves were put into the kettle first. When it boiled, it was ready to be served. This is the earliest detailed record of tea drinking by the Shu people. An article inTong Yuerecorded that a host ordered his servant to, “Offer geese for sale with a dog on the lead, and purchase tea leaves in Wuyang,” indicating that a tea market appeared in Wuyang at that time (Pengshan today). InShudu Fu(a book with descriptions of products, mountains and rivers, and social customs and habits of Bashu, written by Zuo Si, a litterateur of the Western Jin Dynasty), it is recorded, “Spring was coming and the air was fragrant with scents from the flowers. Tea shrubs were budding luxuriantly. There were many varieties of different colors like fresh green, light yellow and purple.”[1]In spring, Shu people planted a huge variety of tea shrubs everywhere. This indicates that the Shu people created a heavy demand for tea leaves. In the records of the Han Dynasty, “Tea had a different name of She in the southwest of Shu,”[2]it was also named “bitter tea,”[3]and “soup was brewed with tea leaves.”[4]How did people make soup? People baked tea leaves until they turned red, ground them into powder and put them in a porcelain container. They then poured boiling water into the container and mixed with onion, ginger, and orange. Then the tea soup was ready,[5]which was also called tea porridge.[6]

During the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhang Zai ascended Baitu Tower in Chengdu, and wrote a poem in admiration of the tea–drinking customs in Chengdu, “Tea of Chengdu topped six drinks, spread quickly in the whole country and won the favor of all the people, due to its delicate fragrance.”[7]“Six drinks” refers to water, syrup, sweet wine, rice with water and ice cubes, wine, and rice wine. They are“the six drinks” mentioned inZhou Li (Rites of the Zhou)?State Official Prime Ministeri?Chief Cook. Zhang Zai wrote, “Tea of Chengdu topped six drinks due to its delicate fragrance,” suggesting that the tea of Shu people topped in “six drinks” as early as the Western Jin Dynasty. In the description of “Spread quickly in the whole country and won the favor of all the people,” it indicates that tea–drinking customs of Bashu seemingly had spread to provinces in the north and in the south of China. The Qiwu Emperor of the Southern dynasties proclaimed publicly four kinds of sacrificial offerings and tea was one of them and was allowed to be presented before the tablet of the deceased, regardless of the social status of the family. It is thus evident that tea was included as one offering gift for the deceased relatives of the common people.[8]

After the Kaiyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty (713–741), with the prevailing of the tea–drinking habit in Zen Buddhism, tea drinking customs were formed in north China and the tea ceremony of China became prosperous. Major books are essentially in agreement regarding the development and popularization of tea drinking, likeClassic of Tea, Fengshi Wen Jian Ji(a note novel written by Feng Yan of the Tang Dynasty), andCook Book/Book of Tea, that is, before the Kaiyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty, people drank tea in south China and it was rare to drink tea in north China. After the Kaiyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty, Zen Buddhism becamepopular, and monks drank tea and sat in meditation. Scholarly officials were wild about following them“day and night,” and “gradually it became local custom to taste tea.”[9]It also spread so quickly among common people that the tea ceremony prevailed. The customs of tea drinking spread in the court and among the commonalty, and its influence extended as far as minority areas of northwest China.

After the late Tang Dynasty, tea became a necessity for life. Common people wanted to maintain basic living of a simple diet. “As a drink, tea was as essential as rice and salt for people. People shared this habit and customs and recovered from fatigue by drinking tea. Farmers in the field liked to drinking tea.”[10]Particularly after the Jianzhong Period (780–783 AD), a wide range of people, in different industries and from various walks of life were fond of drinking tea. People in the border minority areas drank tea as well as people of the Central Plains. There were teashops in all parts of the country “ranging from Zou, Qi, Cang to Di and the capital city. In these cities, teashops were open widely; tea was cooked and offered for sale, and people paid and took a cup of tea, regardless of the customs.”[11]

As a necessity for life, high quality tea rapidly increased in value. Famous tea and tea of good quality were provided in many production regions. A wide variety of tea were of excellent quality and among the best ones, like “Mengding Rock Flowers,”[12]the top ones considered by people of the Tang Dynasty, were Que She (sparrow tongue tea) of Hengyuan, “Scattered Flowers,”[13]Niao Zui (bird beak tea), Mai Ke (wheat grain tea), Pian Jia (tablet tea), Chan Yi (cicada wing tea) as well as Shenquan Xiaotuan (hawk tea) and Changming Shoumu (beast eyes tea). People of the Bashu area “paid tribute with newly picked and processed tea leaves” to the emperor every year,[14]and the fragrant tea of Shu found favor in the eyes of officials and scholars. It was recorded by people of the Tang Dynasty that the personnel of censorate system often purchased tea of the best quality in Shu, stored in pottery jars to avoid summer heat and humidity. When drinking, “the censor opened the jar personally, so it was named‘department of tea jars.”[15]Tea was cherished. Since tea from Shu was favored by the upper class, its position as the best gift was determined.

A friend of Bai Juyi sent him tea as a gift, and Bai Juyi wrote a poem to extend his thanks, “I was surprised at the freshness of the tea from Shu, and did not realize its rarity until it was cooked with Weihe water. It was already leisurely and carefree to taste the fragrance while looking at the tea leaves floating in the cup, not to mention me, a man who was drunken and thirsty in this late spring.”[16]Bai Juyi served as an official in the capital city Changan, and he was pleasantly surprised by the Shu tea sent from his bosom friend. A cup of Shu tea, cooked with Weihe water, exuded flavorful taste. He found it novel and precious, and was content when he held the cup full of scanted tea like milk. The tea was as wonderful as sweet dew for such a drunken manwho was badly in need of water to quench his thirst in late spring. The poet Shi Jianwu visited an old temple in the mountains of Jiangnan. The monk offered him a cup of delicious Shu tea, and in return, he wrote a poem, “The brewed newly picked and processed tea leaves of Sichuan were in a porcelain cup produced in the Tang–dynasty ceramic kilns in Zhejiang. The tea was exceptionally nice when stirred, just like spreading thin green smoke. It was even tasteful and lovely green. (The ancient people before the Ming Dynasty crushed tea leaves before brewing). The monk asked me what the tea was compared to;idared not to say “good wine” as it offended their sensitivity.”[17]

Bai Juyi

The Shu tea Shi Jianwu drank was not cooked. The tea leaves were put in a “Yue Cup,” and the tea was stirred with a gadget when the hot air dissipated. The tea was of the same concentration in the cup. The gadget here mentioned should be the cover of the cup. It is just like what was later called“covered tea.” The monk asked him about the tea. His immediate feeling was jade–like wine; however, he was afraid that it was offensive.

1.2 Characteristics of the Tea Industry of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties

Following the tea drinking customs of the Tang Dynasty, people in the ethnic areas were also fond of tea. InFu for Nice Tea in South China(Fu is an important literary style of Chinese classics) written by Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty, “People in the capital city and remote areas had the habit to drink tea every day, and they did not get bored of it; people rich or poor drank tea all the time, otherwise, they would think something important was missing.”Tea was indispensable in daily life. “It was among the necessities for people’s life, which were fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy, vinegar, and tea.”[18]Tea became one of “the seven necessities of life.” But it is worth noting that the quality of Shu tea was confronted with a significant decline when tea had been rooted in people’s daily life. Its quality was even inferior to that of the regions south of the Yangtze River. Ma Duanlin wrote inComprehensive Textual Researchwhen he made a comparison between Shu tea of the Song Dynasty and tea of the regions south of the Yangtze River:

Even the most delicate teas of Shu were not as good as that of South China. Only a few of them were of good quality and were cherished by local people, like Zhaopo Tea of Guanghan, Shuinan Tea of Hezhou, Baiya Tea of Emei, and Mengding Tea of Ya’an. But the production of these tea was rather low, not comparable to that of two regions like Jiang and Jian.[19]

Why did tea quality improve in the regions south of the Yangtze River while tea quality declined in the Shu area in the Song Dynasty? The main reason,ibelieve, is the difference in sales regions and customers.

From the Five dynasties to the Song Dynasty, particularly in the Southern Song Dynasty, the regions south of the Yangtze River had become the most prosperous and densely populated areas of economy and humanities. Royal and noble people, government officials, and refined scholars gathered there, and had the elegant hobby of drinking tea. Readings and friends meeting could not do without tea, so there was a great demand for tea. The tea paid as tributes by the Liao State and Jin State and tea sold on the market were not of inferior quality. In the preface ofResearch on the Tea Culturewritten by Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, it records that eunuchs, merchants, and common people received bounties bestowed by the imperial court, and were influenced by moral edification. Therefore, from this year on, people have plucked tea leaves in a more meticulous way and tea has been produced with a more sophisticated process. Tea is increasingly higher quality, and skills for cooking and brewing tea have been more superb. Everythingabout tea drinking is coming to a climax.” Tea–growing areas like Jianzhou of Fujian (Fuzhou today) had warm and humid weather, and were suitable for planting tea. They naturally became the main supply basis of high–grade tea plus the distance advantage, i.e. not far away from the sales regions like Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The production and processing of tea with delicate fragrance constantly strived for excellence to meet the requirements of consumers’tastes, and new varieties were bred to the market’s demand. Mei Yaochen of the Song Dynasty wrote a poem to express his appreciation for the homemade Mengding Tea presented by Lei Taijian as a gift.

In theClassic of Tea, the first book in the world about tea, written by Lu Yu, Mengding Tea was highly prized, however, Tuanpian Tea, grown in Jianxi of Fujian, is priceless and can be compared with gold. Yueming Tea of Fujian is also regarded top grade. In recent years, people of the regions south of the Yangtze River are fond of Shuangjing Tea, which is of tender taste. Mengding Tea grown in Sichuan is of thin flavor, so it has passed the prime. It is not as rich in flavor as the tea homemade by my friend.[20]

Mei Yaochen wrote frankly in his poem that Mengding Tea was not popular any more due to its thin flavor, and was incomparable with Fujian’s famous tea like “Tuanpian” and “Yueming.”

Tea grown in Jianzhou enjoyed fame in the upper class, and it was inevitable for people to strive constantly for perfection to better satisfy consumer’s demands, and to further innovation and development. The method of Fujian tea production is recorded in historical records, “The tea leaves were steamed and crushed, bamboo strips were woven into sieves. Tea leaves were placed in the sieves to be baked indoors. Tea leaves must be produced in the extremely clean tea room. There were totally twelve grades like dragon, phoenix, stone milk, white stone milk, etc., which were used as annual tributes and gifts for vassal states.[21]Beiyuan dragon and phoenix solid tea (cake tea), specifically for the emperor, was produced by the court in Beiyuan of Jianzhou. Its process was more sophisticated. There were twenty tea cakes per jin (half kilogram) for small dragon and phoenix solid tea. The price was as high as two liang gold, even though it was unavailable. “When there was fast activity in southern suburbs of the capital, the emperor would grant a reward of one cake of dragon and phoenix solid tea to the executive and military each. The cake teas were divided among four officials, who took the tea as treasure and dared to taste it themselves.”[22]

The sales regions were transferred to the western minority areas with nomadic people on the plateau and grasslands, thus the Shu tea declined in the Song Dynasty. Tea taxes were levied on Shu tea later than that of the southeastern areas, but were not removed. Shu tea became a military need for the country in the Song Dynasty. More coarse tea was produced than fine tea. Most of the Shu tea was sold to minority areas with meat and milk as the daily diet, and therefore it was of high production but low quality. It is proved by the doubled growth of Shu tea production. In the first year of the Yuanyou Period of the Zhezong Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty (1086), Lv Tao reported that the annual output of Shu tea was about 30 million jin.[23]In the Southern Song Dynasty, the total output of tea was roughly close to the annual output of 30 million jin of the Northern Song Dynasty. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Sichuan exceeded the southeastern areas like Huainan (the middle part of Anhui Province), Jiangnan (regions at the south of the Yangtze River), Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Jinghu and Fujian under jurisdiction of the Song Dynasty (about 22.8 million jin) by 23%, while it exceeded the output (17.81 million jin) by 40% in the Southern Song Dynasty.[24]Sichuan undertook double tasks, namely tea taxes payment and tea–horse trade. As a result, a large quantity of tea was inneed to meet the military requirements of the Song Dynasty, and that is the reason for Shu tea’s higher output than that of the southeastern areas. The ruler of the Song Dynasty purchased a huge amount of tea by monopoly purchasing and tea taxes, which was used to exchange for horses from the western ethnic areas. Tea–horse trade required a large quantity of low quality tea, coarse tea instead of fine tea, and most were brick tea and cake tea, processed by old pressed tea stalk. This was the main reason for the extremely high output of Sichuan tea while of lower quality than the tea produced in the southeastern areas. It must be admitted that the unprecedented production capacity of Shu tea in the Song Dynasty satisfied the huge demand of special markets. Shu tea did make special contributions to the harmonious relationships between the Song Dynasty and the surrounding minorities.

2．The Regions of Producing Bashu Fragrant Tea and Tea Production

2.1 Regions of Producing Fragrant Tea

Since the Han and Jin dynasties, Bashu tea was produced in the southwestern area of Sichuan. Shu tea “grew along the mountain route of Yizhou, could survive even in bitter winter, and was ready to be picked on March 3rd every year.”[25]In Shifang County of Guanghan “fine tea grew in the mountains,” while in Qianwei, “well–known tea grew in Nanan and Wuyang.”[26]In Fuling of the eastern part of Sichuan, “tea was produced.”[27]Tea was grown in Badong, north of Fuling. “Zhenxiang Tea is of the best quality and taste in the history of Badong. People would feel energetic when they tasted it after it is cooked.”[28]

After the Kaiyuan Period of the Tang Dynasty, the Bashu tea industry was in rapid development. The customs of drinking tea were popular in South and North China, and supply of tea failed to meet the demand, particularly after the middle Tang Dynasty. The production regions of Bashu were increasingly expanded ranging from the western part of Sichuan to the eastern part of Sichuan the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. A lot of cities produced fine tea, like Pengzhou, Mianzhou, Shuzhou, Qiongzhou, Yazhou, Luzhou, Meizhou, Hanzhou, Yuzhou, Fuzhou, Kaizhou, Zhongzhou, and Quzhou.[29]

It was recorded by people in the Tang Dyansty that “half of vegetable garden grew tea.”[30]A famous local product of Jianzhou was “tea.”[31]In Maozhou, “in the Baotang Mountain outside of Yulei Fort there grew tea trees on the cliff, only one or two leaves on the 3–inch or 5–inch long branches,”[32]which was regarded as the best part of tea. “There were three grades of tea in Fuzhou: the first grade was Binhua Tea produced in early spring; the second grade was Baima Tea; and the third grade was Fuling picked in April, the tender tea was good for people’s health while the coarse tea was harmful. The fine tea tasted better if it was baked by Biruo smoke.[33]In Nanping County of Yuzhou “Langroushan Mountain Tea was yellow black, treasured by Yu people, and picked and paid as tribute every October.”[34]Tea was produced in Kaizhou as well. In the poemTea mountain of Zhang Ji, “Purple bud connected with white flower, grew at one end of tea ridge; my family started to pick tea leaves with dewdrops flashing.”[35]There was“Xiangshan Tea” in Kuizhou[36]and “Flake Tea” in Qujiang.[37]There were four famous tea gardens in Nanbin Zhongzhou; “Duoling, Duobo, Boluo, and Silong. All of them were square cake tea with the tea grown in Duoling garden the best. It helped digestion when drinking after a meal, and it was not good for health to drink on an empty stomach. Tea grown in Duobo garden was fine as well, slightly inferior to Duoling garden, and the other two gardens produced tea of inferior quality.”[38]

The tea production of Sichuan in the SongDynasty had great development based on the development in the Tang Dynasty and the Five dynasties. The tea producing regions are still mainly distributed throughout the Chengdu plain, the Yangtze River Basin and the north mountainous area of Sichuan, with the most intensive area being in Chengdu Fulu. Fan Zhen, a native of Huayang in the Northern Song Dynasty, said, “There are totally eight regions for Shu tea production, namely Mengding of Yazhou, Weijiang of Shuzhou, Huojing of Qiongzhou, Zhongfeng of Jiazhou, Pengkou of Pengzhou, Yangcun of Hanzhou, Shoumu of Mianzhou, and Luocun of Lizhou.”[39]They were regions with the largest yield of tea and of self–owned brands. All of them were within the jurisdiction of Chengdu Fulu except Luocun of Lizhou. The Western Sichuan Plain of Chengdu Fulu was the production center of tea. In the Shaoxing Period of the Southern Song Dynasty, “There were twenty–three tea plantations in Chengdu Fulu and Lizhou Lu, which jointly produced 21.02 million jin annually. Chengdu Fulu produced 16.17 million jin in twenty plantations.[40]Tea yield of Chengdu Fulu accounted for 2/5 of the total tea yield of the Southern Song Dynasty of the same period.[41]Thus it can be seen that the tea production was highly developed in the Chengdu Plain in the Song Dynasty.

2.2 Tea production

The wild tea trees are evergreen trees, belonged to dicotyledon from the petal flower area double corolla Department of Hypericum Mountain Camellia Branch. Before the Tang Dynasty, tea was mainly picked from wild tea shrubs in the Bashu area. At the very beginning, shrubs were felled for tea picking. It did damage to the wild tea shrub resources, and was not beneficial for increased tea yield. Later tea pickers stopped felling tea trees and climbed the trees to pick the leaves. People had an increasing demand for tea in the Western Han Dynasty. Supplies of wild tea shrubs were short of demand, and therefore, people started to grow and cultivate tea shrubs in the Bashu area. Long–term breeding led to morphological variation of tea shrubs. The tea trees were shorter in the shape of small trees or large shrubs. There was a rapid increase in the quantity of cultivated tea trees in the Tang Dynasty, and the people at that time recorded the process they cultivated Mengding tea trees:

At the beginning, Shu tea was well known for Mengding tea. Before the Yuanhe Period, each jin of Mengding Tea could not be purchased at the price of a bundle of silk. So, people around the Mengding Mountain grew tea to make profit. Only after several decades, 10 million jin tea was traded in Suisian suburban market. Besides Mengding Tea, other tea was also welcome.[42]

Mengding Tea was the representative of Shu tea. Due to its reputation at home, it had a high price. It was hard to exchange one jin of Mengding tea for one bundle of silk. People pursued interest by its high profit, and they started to grow tea in large scale. Only after several decades, 10 million jin of Mengding Tea was traded annually in Suisian suburban market, not far from Yazhou. Driven by the tea growers of Mengshan, it came into fashion to plant tea in the Bashu area. Cen Shen once looked far into the scenery of “half garden ridge grew tea.”[43]Fan Zongshi wrote a poem in Mianzhou: “People planted tea trees instead of vegetables in the garden and there were clumps of lush tea.”[44]Meng Jiao described his findings in Shu, “There were tea trees and tea buds everywhere on the mountains of Shu.”[45]These records prove that the main means of tea production was growing tea trees. In the practice of growing tea, people had summed up a lot of valuable experience. “The tea of finest quality grew in rotten stone, the tea with ordinary quality grew in gravel soil and the teawith poor quality grew in loess.”[46]Good drainage conditions were required for the growth of tea tree, and “tea would go dead if its root was soaked in water.”[47]Tea trees grew in shade and were intolerable to direct sunlight. Someone has made a philosophical exposition:

A careful study was required for land and orientation. The cliff exposed to the sun was good for tea growing, as tea branches and leaves could not absorb nutrition from the cold cliff stone. More sunlight was in need to cope with the lack of nutrition; the shady and cool belt of gardens was good for tea growing as tea leaves were of over nutrition due to fertile garden land. Tea had a rich flavor, so too much sunshine was needless. In this way, tea trees metabolized moderately slow. Sunshine and shadow complemented each other, which was the key for appropriate taste.[48]

Land of high humidity and difficulty for drainage should be shunned for growing tea trees.“The steep slopes in mountains are the most suitable areas for growing tea. If tea trees are planted on the even field, there ditch should be dug deep to discharge water, and the trees would die if the root is immersed in water.”[49]So, tea trees grow best on the mountain areas and deep hilly areas. Second, these fields are good for easy drainage. In the Tang Dynasty, Bashu people “planted tea trees in the mountain areas.”[50]The poor soil of the mountain areas was not suitable for growing crops, while tea trees remedied this defect. Hong Mai of the Southern Song Dynasty said, “The tea gardens of Shu were not suitable for growing crops but growing tea only.”[51]Most of the tea gardens mainly grow tea besides those who depended on wild tea shrubs for a living. In Luzhou, “People relied on growing tea for a living, and it was not famous for growing crops.”[52]The farmers of Binhua County of Fuzhou“did not engage in breeding mulberry and silkworm, but growing tea and producing wax instead.”[53]The production of tea was the same as that of crops in the Tang Dynasty, both of which took the place of the farm tax. Tea growers usually planted tea trees in their own mountain forest. In the tea picking season, they hired workers for tea picking or preliminary processing, and made profit after the tea was sold. For example, in Pengzhou, Zhang Shougui, a native of Jiulong, with a rich family, hired annually more than one hundred workers for tea picking in his tea garden. His garden was in Huaxianju Mountain of Yangping, where male and female workers picked tea leaves every day.”[54]More than one hundred workers were hired in this tea garden, which obviously was a large one.

The direct seeding method was applied for growing tea trees in the Tang Dynasty. “In February, people dug pits under the trees or the shady areas, with diameter of three chi and depth of one chi. When the pits were ready, fill in manure and soil. Sow sixty to seventy seeds in each pit, then cover them with more than one inch of soil. People left weeds grow and did not plough the field. The distance between pits was two chi. Water was applied to irrigate the land of drought.” This method of growing tea was time saving and cost effective, so it was applicable for mass growth. Tea growing had the disadvantage of a long growth period and it took three years for trees to mature and be ready to be picked. Two hundred and forty tea trees were planted per mu, and eight liang of tea leaves were gathered per tree, so totally “one hundred and twenty tea leaves were gathered.”[55]

During the Song Dynasty, there was a significant increase in the number of Bashu tea growing regions and in the tea yield. Many hilly areas and mountain areas were not suitable for growing crops, but were good for the growth of tea. As the population was getting larger, farmers brought barren hills under cultivation especially for growing tea. Lv Tao ofthe Song Dynasty said, “Tea gardens of Sichuan were previously used as farmland. The farmland did not grow any crops but tea trees instead. The government levied taxes on tea growth, and purchased tea from tea growers, who made a living by growing tea.[56]Lv Tao wrote a poem based on the tea growers’ lives in the Jiufeng Mountains,“Local people of Jiufeng Mountain lived by growing tea, and there were tea trees planted by millions upon millions of families on the mountain. Growing tea became the only way for local people to depend upon for living.”[57]The annual yield could be as much as 30,000 or 50,000 jin for the mass growth gardens. It was recorded by Lv Tao that the Pengkou tea garden gathered 60,000 jin of tea on 17th April in the 10th year of Xining (1077 AD), namely the Shenzong Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty. Local government was not able to afford such a huge quantity of tea, and tea was overstocked. Eventually, more than 5,000 tea growers swarmed into the tea sales field and beat up the government officials two days later.[58]In the same year, the Yongkang Army also “had over 560,000 jin of tea overstocked.”[59]It was clear that there were many tea gardens with annual yield of hundreds of thousands jin of tea or even one million jin of tea, so it was not surprising that Bashu exceeded the southeastern areas in annual yields of tea.

3．Tea Picking Season and Tea Processing Technology

3.1 Tea Picking Season

Tea picking was the vital part of tea production. Lu Yu recorded inClassic of Teathat tea picking took place mainly in “February, March and April”in spring.[60]The Bashu area had a large difference of climate. In the Yangtze River Valley at high temperatures, tea picking was in early spring. Fuling Tea, “gathered in April,” was classified as inferior.[61]There was low temperature in the western regions, and tea picking was in April. Part of the superior tea was gathered around Tomb Sweeping Day, for example, Mengshan Zhongding Tea of Yazhou“was picked around the spring equinox by a lot of workers and it lasted three days.”[62]“Dew bud and rice bud” were picked before Tomb Sweeping Day (fire before), and tea picked after Tomb Sweeping Day (fire after) was of slightly inferior quality. “Tea grown in the seven counties of Linqiong included varieties like fire before, fire after and vivid green and yellow, etc.,” and in Mianan, “Qihuo Tea was well–known in Longan.”[63]The finest tea was picked right on Tomb Sweeping Day, so it was called“on the fire.” The picking time for ordinary Shu tea was late April. “After grain rain, millions jin of of tea was gathered annually.” The late mature tea “was picked for tribute in October,” which was of top quality and especially for the emperor. There was also early mature tea in Shu, which was picked in early spring, for example, Pianjia piece tea grown in Shuzhou (Chongzhou today) was called “tender tea of early spring.”[64]

Tea was picked usually on sunny days. Most of the high quality tea was picked before sunrise, since tea leaves were not allowed to be contaminated by rain, or sweat. The contaminated tea “was only of medium quality despite of mass growth.”[65]Tea leaves had to be processed immediately after picking, otherwise, they would ferment and spoil in a short time. “Newly picked tea was fried and brewed.”[66]It was recorded inResearch on the Tea Culture, “Several factors had to be taken into consideration for making tea, like length of brewing, number of workers, quantity of tea leaves picked. All the tea leaves had to be fried and brewed within one day instead of staying by overnight, otherwise, they would taste bad.” This was the vital part of picking and production of high quality tea. If this rule was not strictly followed, tea was just of ordinary quality.

Mengshan Zhongding Tea of Yazhou

3.2 Tea processing technology

Tea grown in the Bashu area during the Tang Dynasty roughly fell into two categories, namely cake tea and piece tea. Cake tea traced back to the Han Dynasty and became popular in the Tang Dynasty. “Pengzhou cake tea was small, and the tender buds looked like wonderful flowers.”[67]Most cake tea was made in Meizhou and Yazhou. Fire cake tea was produced in Qiongzhou, “weighing 40 liang each,”[68]specifically sold to the Western Sichuan Plateau. Cake tea was produced “in the same way as Mengding cake tea,”[69]like processing methods of Hongya, Changhe and Danling. “Flake Tea” of Qujiang had “eighty pieces”[70]per jin. In the Three Gorges area of Kuizhou, the unit of “Chuan” was applied for tea weight. One hundred and twenty jin was“upper chuan,” eighty jin was “mid chuan,” and fifty jin was “l(fā)ower chuan.” There were seven procedures in the production of cake tea, including picking, steaming (to remove the smell of grass), mashing, patting, drying, perforation, and packing.[71]Piece tea of Bashu was mainly from Shuzhou. “Que She (sparrow tongue tea) of Hengyuan, Niao Zui (bird beak tea), and Mai Ke (wheat grain tea) of Hengyuan was made of buds, and they were named in shape. Pian Jia (tablet tea) was tender tea picked in early spring, and the enveloped tea buds and tea leaves looked like tablets. Cicada–wing Tea had tender and thin leavesas the wings of a cicada. These were of top quality.”[72]Cake tea and piece tea were produced in other regions like Hongya, Changhe, and Danling of Meizhou. “The tea was produced in the same way as Mengding cake tea, and the piece tea was of large and yellow leaves, tasting bitter, inferior to Pian Jia and Cicada–wing.”[73]“Mengding Shihua of Yazhou were made into small bricks or piece buds, known as No. 1 quality.”[74]The production method of piece tea was similar to the procedure of picking and steaming of cake tea, but piece tea was not mashed or patted, but fried, dried and baked, for the purpose of moisture removal and keeping the natural aroma.

During the Song Dynasty, the tea produced in the Bashu area was mostly for the tea–horse trade, and sold to border areas, and therefore, it was named“border area tea.” Rough and old tea leaves were processed into this brick tea and cake tea and had a particularly deep flavor. People of Tibetan and Qiang Multi–National Areas took meat as their staple food and milk as their drink. It helped digestion of high fat and high protein food to drink strong tea. People cooked tea porridge with tea and mare’s milk, which was the favorite drink and was much in demand in those areas. These people were the major consumers of Shu tea of the Song Dynasty.

Rough and old tea leaves were processed into this brick tea and cake tea and had a particularly deep flavor.

4．A Restricted View of the Bashu Tea Culture

It was believed by Lu Yu inShennong Food Classics, “People get energy if they have the habit of drinking tea.” Tea customs should be traced back to the era of Shen Nong as, “It was from the era of Shen Nong when tea became one of the drinks of people.”[75]This is just a groundless legend. The historical basis is that the habit of tea drinking originates from the Qin and Han dynasties, and gradually spread to the broad Central Plains area through development in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, the Western Jin and Eastern Jin dynasties and the Northern and Southern dynasties. Tasting tea was developed from the upper class to civil society, and promoted from Taoism and Buddhism to secular society. More and more people in an increasing number of areas started to drink tea, with a growing number of production regions and varieties of tea. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Gu Yanwu, believed inRi Zhi Lu?Tea, “The elegant habit of tasting tea appeared after the Qin army drove into the Shu area.”Tong Yue, written by Wang Bao, a master of Fu, is the earliest record of drinking tea in Bashu. It is recorded inTong Yue, “Cooked tea for guests with exquisite tea (cha) set, and purchased tea (cha) leaves in Wuyang.”The character “cha” in this description is believed to be tea.Tong Yuewas written in the third year of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty (59 B.C.), so tea customs of the Shu people developed not later than the middle of the first century B.C. Wang Bao was a native of Zizhong of Qianwei, and “Wuyang”, the place people purchased tea leaves was Pengshan of Sichuan today. Many Shu people had the earliest records about tea like Wang Bao, Sima Xiangru, andYang Xiong. It is evident that drinking tea was an invention of the Shu people. Zhang Zai, a poet of the Western Jin Dynasty, wrote a poem,Ascended Baitu Tower of Chengdu, in admiration of the tea–drinking customs in Chengdu, “Tea of Chengdu topped six drinks, spread quickly in the whole country and won the favor of all the people, due to its delicate fragrance.” That is to say, Chengdu tea’s fragrance spread all around and gained a world–wide reputation, the unique charm of the tea’s fragrance is remarkable.

Du Yu of the Western Jin Dynasty had a vivid description about the tea ceremony inChuan Fuand the existing record is as follows:

There were many exotic specialties in the magnificent Lingshan Mountain. There was luxuriant growth of Chuan (tea picked late) all over the mountain. It was nourished by fertile soil and moistened by timely rain. People were busy with growing tea trees and picking tea leaves all the year round and seldom had a rest time. Tea was brewed with clear water of the Minjiang River in porcelain tea pots from Dongyu. The freshly brewed tea was as bright as snow and as splendid as flowers in spring.

“Lingshan Mountain” mentioned here was Wushan Mountain, belonging to Chongqing today. The brewing water was from the Minjiang River, and tea pots were from Dongyu (Shangyu area of Zhejiang today). The freshly brewed tea was as bright as snow and as splendid as flowers in spring, and was distributed with gourd scoops to people. The tea ceremony formed a direct relationship with the Bashu customs. It was also mentioned in the Fu that tea had effect in refreshing, harmonizing stomach, and relieving fatigue. Drinking tea was good for fitness and refreshing.

During the Tang and Song dynasties, tea production and sales had reached a high level in the Bashu area, and Bashu tea enjoyed a high reputation in the country. In the Tang Dynasty, Mengshan Tea was listed as “tribute tea,” and a special space was dedicated to an “imperial tea garden.” Every spring, all the officials of Mingshan county performed ablution and carefully selected an auspicious day to ascended the mountain. They burned incense to worship, picked tender tea leaves and processed them in the finest way. The processed tea leaves were kept in silver pots and delivered to the capital city. The famous poet Bai Juyi praised Mengshan Tea, “Among all the qin (a musical instrument), green water is the best, while among all teas, Mengshan Tea is of the highest quality.” Zhenggu of the Tang Dynasty, wrote in his poem, “There were one thousand dew drops on the tea trees in Mengshan Mountain, and the splendid flowers and the trickling stream suggested the coming spring.”

Lv Tao, a notable subject of the Northern Song Dynasty, kept the poem with appreciation of Jiufengshan Tea Garden inCollection of Pure Virtue.“People of Jiufeng mostly grew tea trees…” was quoted to reflect the life of the mountain people. They made a living for generations by growing tea, and the tea leaves provided them with basic living conditions. Su Shi, inOde to Rinsing the Mouth with Tea, wrote, “People could not live without tea for relieving restlessness and removing greasy.”However, “tea damaged the spleen and stomach.” He groped for a way called “rinsing mouth with strong tea,” namely “to apply strong tea to rinse the mouth after meals, which helped to relieve restlessness and remove grease, and did not irritate the spleen and stomach. The meat plugged between the teeth were automatically removed after rinsing with tea.”[76]

Covered Tea

“Covered Tea” was invented by Chengdu people, and regarded as a unique way of drinking tea. It contains three parts, namely tea cover, tea cup and saucer for the tea cup. The cover is on the top of the tea cup, and a wood plate or painted plate was under the tea cup as support. The plate, also called a saucer, is like loading cargo. It is said that the saucer was invented by the daughter of Cui Ning, Western Sichuan Jie Du Shi (governor of one or more provinces in charge of both civil and military affairs during the Tang Dynasty) in the Jianzhong Period of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty. There was originally no plate for the tea cup, so people’s fingers were burned. Inspired by the tea culture, the daughter of Cui Ning invented a wood plate to support and load the tea cup. To prevent the tea cup from falling, she applied wax to cover the plate’s center, so that the tea cup was fixed in the wax circle. This was the earliest saucer. Later, people replaced the wax circle with a painted circle, which was more convenient. The circle of the saucer was made with more and more novelty, just like a circle–bottom cup. Therefore, a unique saucer culture, also named covered tea culture, was born in Chengdu. This peculiar way of drinking tea gradually traveled from Bashu to the surrounding areas, and then spread over the whole of South China.

Sichuan Teahouse

The elegant customs, calligraphies and paintings of celebrities posted in the teahouse, also started in Sichuan during the Song Dynasty, for people’s appreciation, diverting themselves from boredom. In the poems of Su Shi, tea was named “tea soup” and“tea food.” People usually tasted one cup of scented tea before having meals and drinking wine, which was known as “tea feast.” The “Tea Ceremony” of Japan is a further development of this habit. Thus, the Japanese tea ceremony has a close relationship with the procedures and ways of tea tasting in ancient Bashu.

Tea soup is fresh, fragrant and strong in gladdening the heart and refreshing the mind. When people sit together talking happily, a cup of gentle and scented tea brings pleasant atmosphere. So, tea was applied to describe fresh and beautiful girls by ancient people. Yuan Haowen of the Jin Dynasty wrote, “A baby is lovely babbling to learn a new poem, just like a little and appealing tea.” Therefore,“l(fā)ittle tea” and “tea” are the names for beautiful girls. “Camellia girl” is a good example. It fully demonstrates the important status and role of the tea culture in people’s aesthetic psychology. China is the birthplace of the tea culture, and Western Shu is an important branch of it. It is the lofty dedication of the Bashu tea culture to our national culture.

(Translator: Huang Yan; Editor: Yan Yuting)

This paper has been translated and reprinted with the permission ofJournal of Literature and History, No.4, 2016.

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