Tea Drinking Became an Art Form and a Drink Enjoyed by All Social Classes
Chinese Tea Culture
Brewed tea with bound water -Tea as a drinkable was first consumed in China and has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a staple beverage, a curative, and a status symbol; that'southward the reason why theories of its origin are often religious or royal in nature.
To drink some tea in former China could be considered as a self consideration or an art. Information technology is too a way to better appreciate life.
Chinese Tea is categorized into different types based on the way the leaves are prepared and processed. Whilst the final drink may be very different, information technology is interesting to notation that all of the chief varieties of tea actually come from the aforementioned species of constitute - Camellia Sinensis.
Tea Categories
There are 4 main categories; they are white, light-green, oolong, and black, along with several other less common just distinctively different types including yellow and pu-erh.
Other mutual types of Chinese tea include jasmine and chrysanthemum bloom teas; although co-ordinate to the strict definition they are actually not tea. Nevertheless, they still brand a refreshing and very pleasant drinkable!
The varieties of tea also vary according to the season in which they are harvested.
One says there are seven things about which the Chinese people worry most in their everyday culinary life: the woods to warm, the rice, the oil, the salt, the soy sauce, the vinegar, and the tea. Although the tea is lastly placed in the list, it represents even so a cultural heritage mattering in the Chinese tradition.
China is at the origin of the tea and its culture. The tea is "a pillar" in life and it accompanies the Chinese people for more than than 5 thousand years. To offering to the guests a cup of tea is a pleasant tradition and the Chinese for a long time appreciate drinking some tea during or later on a repast.
How the Tea Was Discovered
According to one of the Chinese legends, the tea was discovered some 5,000 years ago past Shennong Shi, whose proper name literally means "Divine Farmer" and who is considered to take been one of the 3 Sovereigns (also known every bit "Iii Emperors").
Shen Nong Shi was the first Chinese herbal physician and is venerated as the Male parent of Chinese medicine. Ane of his contributions was tasting herbs so people could take medicine; he discovered the tea while he traveled many high mountains and collected various plants.
Myths tell that Shennong had a transparent body and thus could encounter the issue of different plants and herbs on him. Thus, he could see which organ was affected and so select an antitoxin immediately. He found tea named "Cha" to work as an antidote.
One day, Shennong Shi found a kind of plant with green leaves and white flowers. He tested the leaves and noticed a foreign matter: they circulated in his stomach and cleaned the food that he consumed before and also perfumed his jiff and left a sensation of freshness in his oral cavity. From so on, Shennong Shi used those leaves to neutralize the toxins of the healing plants he experienced.
He idea that this discovery -dated 2737 B.C-, had been addressed to him by the celestial gods equally to show him their gratitude for its act of kindness in its search for healing plants to cure the diseases of the elderly.
History of Tea Drinking in Ancient China
In ancient times, tea was used equally medicine. People cut the branches of the wild tea plants, took the leaves at the finish of branches, and prepared them in humid water.
The earliest credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century Advertising in a medical text by Hua T'o who stated that drinking bitter t'u constantly makes one think amend.
Nether the Qin and Han Dynasties, people developed new methods: they cooked the tea leaves to make "small pancakes " and and then compressed them to powdered form. Afterward, they added mixed ginger, spring onion, and oranges.
The tea-drinking became very popular during the Tang Dynasty. Gradually, drinking tea became a pleasant enjoyment. The tea banquets turned out to be very appreciated in the Royal Palace, in temples, and among the intellectuals.
Chinese Tea Ceremony
A tea banquet is at the same time a solemn and elegant effect, following the strict rules of the tradition. The tea has to exist of very high quality, and the h2o has to result from much-acknowledged sources. The tea utensils must be precious and of outstanding quality.
According to the ritual, during a tea banquet, the person in accuse of the ceremony has personally to mix the tea or oversee the alloy in the sign of respect to the guests. After this, the mixture ought to exist seen by everyone and will exist smelt for appreciation of its color before tasting.
Afterwards three turns, the dinner guests will judge the quality of the tea, volition praise the loftier virtues of the host, take advantage of the landscape and the conversation or write poems.
Under the Ming Dynasty, the usual procedure grows to be simpler and thought in a more applied view.
Nether the Tang dynasty, Lu Yu (733–804) was valued as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his awe-inspiring book The Archetype of Tea (Chinese: 茶经) Cha Jing, the first definitive work on cultivating, making, and drinking tea.
Lu Yu's Tea Classic was the primeval treatise on tea in the globe. For Lu Yu, tea symbolized the harmony and mysterious unity of the Universe. Lu Yu's statue in Xi'an
The tea culture reflects the oriental traditional culture, combining the tea with Tao wisdom, pronounced in Chinese every bit Dao, which is an integral office of the Chinese civilisation.
The Dao of tea stresses the fact of existence harmonious, repose, optimistic, and accurate. Peace of mind is the commencement step to get to quiet as a spiritual purpose in order to combine harmony and serenity. The idea is that every bit long as a person keeps quiet inside, she can always accept advantage of the enjoyment of the conversation, of laughter, of the music, and the opera.
One would say that the tea culture is a kind of intermediate culture that allows passing on the spirit of the Chinese traditional culture to futurity generations.
A famous tea drinker in China's Tang Dynasty told tea had x virtues: melting away depression, dissolving lethargy, encouraging liveliness, breaking up disease, bringing virtue and courtesy, expressing respect, making a distinction between different tastes, nurturing the body, practicing Dao, and improving 1's aspirations. "Tea brings Dao and elegance," he was often heard saying.
Traditional Chinese Tea Etiquette - Serving Tea: A Sign of Respect
Tea is a healthy potable. It has enjoyed a history of thousands of years in China, correct back to the ancient Shennong period (some 5,000 years ago), and has played a pregnant role in Chinese art and society since ancient times.
In the modern era, Chinese tea civilization has become a symbol of etiquette in all aspects of people's lives. Here we hash out several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed.
Tea drinking is a sign of respect in Chinese social life, whether in ancient or modernistic times. But the connotations are different.
In the by, Chinese people observed strict rules and rituals in serving tea. For example, people of the lower social grade had to evidence their respect to the upper classes past serving them a loving cup of tea at Bound Festival or at other festival times.
Today, with the increasing liberalization of Chinese society, this rule has been suppressed by the prevailing custom to offer tea when someone comes for a visit, irrespective of grade, showing the host's warm welcome and hospitality to the guest.
Expressing Gratitude to Parents
It has been customary from aboriginal times for bride and groom to kneel earlier their parents and serve them tea, during the traditional Chinese wedding ceremony ceremony. This is a devout way of showing gratitude for the love and care received from parents ever since childhood.
Sometimes the bride serves the groom's family unit, and the groom serves the bride's family unit. This process symbolizes the joining together of the two families.
When Offer Sacrifices to Ancestors and Gods
In Red china's colorful folk customs, there is a close relationship between "tea" and funeral sacrifices. The idea that "No tea means no mourning" is deeply rooted in Chinese rituals.
Using tea every bit a cede, Chinese people worship heaven, earth, god, Buddha and ghosts, and doing and then is closely related to funeral customs. Tea is not the exclusive right of nobles, nor was it ever a royal patent; information technology is a common souvenir for the whole nation.
The ancient custom of offer tea as a sacrifice to ancestors and gods is well preserved even to this day, whether among the majority Han nationality or the indigenous minorities.
Etiquette of Tea-Drinking
i. The surround for drinking tea should be quiet, make clean, and comfortable, giving people the sense of being at ease.
2. The selected tea may vary according to individual. For instance, northerners generally like scented tea, only people from regions south of the Yangtze River love dark-green tea, while Cantonese people prefer oolong tea.
3. Tea sets can either be beautifully crafted or unproblematic and unadorned.
4. Don't cascade the loving cup also total; 80% full would be fine.
- Would you like to know more than near the customs and etiquette surrounding tea drinking? How about tailor-making a private tea tour with Prc Travel?
More about Chinese Tea
- Chinese Tea History
- Chinese Tea Facts
- Chinese Tea Types
- Summit Tea Houses
- Superlative Chinese Tea
franciscoknowarand.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.chinatravel.com/culture/chinese-tea/culture
0 Response to "Tea Drinking Became an Art Form and a Drink Enjoyed by All Social Classes"
Post a Comment