Tea in 24 Solar Terms (Illustrated Edition)

This book traces through the times， introducing the natural changes and cultural customs in 24 solar terms and tea in every solar period， experiencing the cultural humanities to know oneself and gain balance and refreshment between body and soul.

Tea in 24 Solar Terms （Illustrated Edition）

Li Tao， Moni Zhao

Tourism Education Press

August 2022

45.00 （CNY）

Li Tao

Li Tao， the founder of the “Qingyi Tea School” （referred to as “Qingyi Liu”） and food writer.

Moni Zhao

Moni Zhao， a freelance illustrator amp; portraitist， graduated from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts.

The Beginning of Spring： Waiting for the Flowering

Seeing the solar term “Li Chun，” also called the Beginning of Spring in English， most people will focus on “spring” and instantly conjure up a scene where spring comes round to the earth again with green willows sprouting and flowers blooming. Actually， at the Beginning of Spring， it is still rather chilly in most parts of China， especially in the north. But within the grand operation of the universe， spring is brewing.

Our ancients were meticulous in their observation of nature. They sensitively noticed that Yang energy would gradually ascend by the first month of the year， the temperature would also rise， and there were regularly interconnected transitions in the cosmos. They adopted Trigram Figures， a figurative tool to deduce this complex correlation between time and space. The Beginning of Spring is described as the Pervading Hexagram （meaning peace）， with the following three lines all being Yang lines; thus， the saying “three Yang brings peace” means that there are three Yang already， and everything begins to sprout. The Beginning of Spring is Jie， a division or period， and the Rain Water， fifteen days later， is Qi， meaning a specific climate phenomenon.

There is a book about plant cultivation in the Ming Dynasty called A Collection of All Flowers， and the name alone suggests a sense of spring. The Collection has a very good explanation of Li Chun： “Li， the beginning of construction. This is the beginning of spring and the establishment of spring energy.” Although the physical image is not what people think of as spring， Li Chun sets the pattern for the establishment of spring.

The three pentads of the Beginning of Spring are as follows： “First pentad， the east wind blows away the cold; the second pentad， dormant insects begin to wake; the third pentad， rivers thaw and fish swim carrying ice.” This means that the east wind will bring warmth in the first five days after the Beginning of Spring， and the earth will begin to thaw. After the second five days， the dormant insects slowly wake up in their caves， but they do not start to move above the ground as they do at the time of Jing Zhe （the Waking of Insects）. In another five days， the ice in the rivers starts to melt. The fish then go swimming to the surface， and those thin pieces of broken ice floating on the water look as if they are being carried on the backs of the fish.

After the Beginning of Spring， the Yang energy in the human body naturally responds to the Yang energy between Heaven and Earth and hopes sprout. Although the temperature is not high， people always have the urge to stretch their limbs and are reluctant to wear many clothes. However， the elderly know better than that， so they often teach young people to “put on more clothes in spring and less in autumn.” On the spiritual level， people’s hopes also rise naturally， so prayers and wishes are hardly suppressed. From then on， spring excursions among the folk are held， and adults and children are eager to get close to nature. Eating spring pancakes and spring rolls is a custom at the Beginning of Spring， especially spring pancakes， which are rich in ingredients and colorful， not only meeting the needs of the human body， but also conveying people’s hopes and wishes for the future.

For this Li Chun， I have chosen two teas as the tea of the moment for the season. Interestingly， both of them are from Fujian. One is jasmine tea， and the other is Old White Tea from Fujian. I drink white tea， whether it is Needle Pekoe （Yin Zhen） or White Peony （Bai Mudan）， but I drink Long Brow Tea （Shou Mei） most frequently. Jasmine tea is aromatic， and the Jasmine buds are good for promoting Yang energy. The Long Brow Tea has a gentle and elegant flavor， which is a good match with the moderate feeling of spring.

Jasmine Tea： A Taste of the Here and Now

The whole of northern China was once a world of jasmine tea. I am from Shanxi; when I was studying， I had a close classmate whose family always had a carton of “Tianshan Silver Pekoe.” Each time it was brewed， it gave out an incredible fragrance without irritating the nose， and it was very comfortable to both drink and smell. It was only afterward that I learned that this tea has nothing to do with Xinjiang and is a kind of jasmine tea produced in Ningde， Fujian.

Jasmine tea is mostly produced in Fujian， Zhejiang， Jiangsu， Guangxi and Sichuan. Jasmine tea has had a glorious history， although today， it seems to have become the byword for “not understanding tea” and “l(fā)ow-end tea.” In the most glorious era of ancient Chinese culture， under the gentle blue sky after the rains of the Song Dynasty， Borneol Tea had already made its way into the tribute tea category， and a major category of tea called “Scented Tea” also emerged. However， it was only in the Ming Dynasty that flowers were formally used as additives to make a scented tea. The Ming Dynasty tended to make rough and bulky wares， but when it came to tea， it had its own finesse： people would use various flowers such as mignonette， jasmine， rose， gardenia， mullein， plum， and so on to make scented tea.

Jasmine has been widely grown in Fujian since the Song Dynasty， and now it is the city flower of Fuzhou. From the middle of the 19th century to the 1930s， the production of jasmine tea in Fuzhou developed to its prime. During the period， tea merchants from Beijing and Tianjin gathered in Fuzhou， and a large amount of jasmine tea was exported to and sold in major cities in northeast and northern China， making Fuzhou the center of jasmine tea production in the country. The West particularly loved this kind of flowery tea， and a great amount of scented tea from Fuzhou was exported to Europe， the United States， and Southeast Asia. Sichuan introduced jasmine seedlings from Fuzhou in 1884. In 1938， Fuzhou’s art of flower scenting was introduced to Suzhou， so these regions all developed into important jasmine tea-producing areas in China.

Sichuan itself is a major tea-producing province， and its capital， Chengdu， is a city of leisure and has a tradition of drinking jasmine tea. The most famous product of Chengdu Tea Factory is “Three Flower Tea” — a tea that is made not of three kinds of flowers， but of jasmine of the third grade. Sophisticated residents of Chengdu regard the teahouse as their living room. After sleeping in until the sun is up high， they would shuffle to the streets， blurry-eyed， first having a bowl of noodles in a noodle restaurant， and then walking wandering into a teahouse， yelling， “Yao Shi， a bowl of Three Flower！” The teahouse waiters are respectfully called “Tea Doctors，” and the slang term is “Yao Shi.”

Normally， Chengdu people like to drink jasmine tea of the third grade， which has a strong flavor， can be brewed several times， and is cheap.So the traditional Chengdu locals will “have a bowl of Three Flower” every day. The tea bowls are lidded. Traditional Chengdu people drink tea in a lidded bowl， generally a three-piece set of blue and white porcelain comprising of a saucer， bowl and lid. During their tea time， they squint， bask in the sun， and do not speak， with the tea lid turned up and inserted between the bowl and the saucer. The waiters would come with a copper pot to refill their water. If there is nothing else to do， they can spend a whole day in this leisurely manner. There are only a few times when they have work to do. About drinking tea in Chengdu， I am most impressed by the jasmine tea in Chengdu Qingyang Palace. After collecting the money， the Taoist nun gives you several lidded tea bowls containing tea leaves， one for each person. You find your table and chairs， sit down， and someone fills the water.

Later， I went to Los Angeles in the United States， where the seasons are not distinct and always warm. One of my days off， out of nowhere， jasmine tea came into my mind. So I invited a friend to go to Hsi Lai Temple to brew tea together. The tea was the jasmine craft tea from Japan’s LUPICIA， which looked like a big ball of Jasmine Silver Pekoe， and when it was brewed， small globe amaranth buds were floating up.

Now I have developed a habit of buying jasmine tea every spring， most of which comes from Fujian， but Bi Tan Piao Xue is also from Sichuan. Traditionally， the fewer dried flowers in a tea， the better， and the more times it is scented， the more expensive it becomes. In the past， the process of seven scentings and seven pickings was generally applied. The tea leaves can absorb the aroma， and the flowers can emit the fragrance， so tea makers put the semi-blossomed jasmine in the tea leaves， and after the tea leaves have absorbed the fragrance， they pick out the dried flowers and repeat the process seven times. Later， to reduce costs， some manufacturers would use magnolia for the first scenting and then the jasmine buds; the process of scenting and picking would be repeated only three times. This will lead to a significant decrease in the quality of jasmine tea because the fragrance of the magnolia flower， though strong， is a bit “dull” and not as elegant and spiritual as the jasmine aura.

What’s more， some manufacturers are well aware that the standard moisture content of jasmine tea is 8% to 9%. It is not allowed to exceed 9%， but to make up for the small number of flowers used and the lack of aroma of jasmine tea， they have purposely increased the moisture content of the tea leaves to more than 9%. In doing so， they can make the unbrewed tea smell fresh and fragrant and increase the tea’s weight. However， such tea， though smelling good， does not taste good， which sows the seeds for the perception of “jasmine tea is low-end tea of poor quality.”

What I love about jasmine tea is that it is aromatic and refreshing and also carries the aroma of tea. I have chosen different grades of jasmine tea for several consecutive Li Chun tea parties. Every time someone sees me drinking jasmine tea， they are surprised， and I know they must be thinking， how can this tea lover drink such a low-end tea as jasmine tea？ Isn’t that for people who do not know about tea？ The first couple of times， I would argue a bit， then I just stopped caring — as long as you feel good about yourself， sometimes it’s better not to be so sensitive. The past is in the past， and the future is still in the future. What is important is that we pour the tea here and now into the cup here and now. When savoring this bowl of jasmine tea， we are tasting here and now， right？