DOWN TO ATEA
In a world where food fads and trends swiftly come and go, tea has been seeing a slow but quiet resurgence as it finds its way into the buzzy halls of restaurants as well as the hands of those who seek a moment of solace and tranquillity. Kenny Leong repo
In a world where food fads and trends swiftly come and go, tea has been seeing a slow but quiet resurgence
AFROM RAGS TO RICHES
pithy Chinese adage asserts that there are seven basic items for daily sustenance: firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauces, vinegar and tea. Of these, tea exclusively has captivated the imagination of countless writers, poets, painters, and even nobles and emperors, serving as a source of inspiration behind innumerable works and forms of art in Asia and beyond.
So intrinsic is tea to the Chinese way of life, that the development of classical Chinese culture, commerce and trade without this humble drink would be nigh unthinkable. But truth is often stranger than fiction, and a quick peek into Chinese history reveals the curious insight that tea drinking was once regarded as a lowly, laughable custom. Extant documents and archaeological evidence suggest that as early as the Han dynasty (202BC-220AD), some form of domestic tea trade and consumption existed on a considerable scale in China. As early as the Northern Wei, around 547AD, there is an account in Yang Xuanzhi’s A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in Luoyang recounting official Wang Su’s fondness for drinking tea, which was then regarded scornfully as the beverage of the less civilised south.
But all this drastically changed when China entered the Tang dynasty (618-907AD), when tea grew in popularity among Buddhist monks, court officials and members of the literati. The most influential and revered among them is none other than Lu Yu, the author of Cha Jing (Classic of Tea). It was the world’s first monograph on tea agriculture, processing, preparation and appreciation. Imbued with Lu Yu’s knowledge of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, the essay represents a watershed moment in the history and development of tea as it went from an “everyday drink” to one of an academic, artistic and leisurely pursuit.
Following his passing in 804AD, Lu Yu was quickly venerated as the Sage of Tea, inspiring later generations of tea masters both in China and Japan. However, he was not the first and certainly not the only person whose practice of tea was imbued with philosophical values. In one of the 2 8 t ea p oems w ritten b y B uddhist monk J iao R an, h e contemplated: “Who could realise and comprehend the wholeness and certainty of the way of tea?” Herein lies the first known use of the word chadao – t he “way o f t ea”, w hich w as d eemed a p ath t o t he attainment of wisdom and enlightenment.
Under the Song dynasty (960-1279AD), China entered a phase of great aesthetic refinement and achievement. Tea became a pastime for the affluent class and the nobles, and the emphasis shifted to more meticulous and fanciful methods of tea preparation. The most notable literary work on tea affairs of this period is Emperor Huizong’s Da Guan Cha Lun (Great Tea Treatise), in which he documented in painstaking detail the intricacies of tea processing and preparation.
Visiting Japanese Zen Buddhist monks brought the Song custom of drinking whisked powdered tea back to their homeland where it is preserved to this day, although the method of preparation has evolved
considerably since. And because it was introduced by way of monastic practices, tea affairs in Japan also took on fundamental religious sentiments, which contributed to the austere ritualistic formality of the Japanese whisked tea ceremony.
By the time of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644AD), loose-leaf tea had come to replace the whisked tea of the Song as the mainstream method of tea preparation and consumption. This custom was inherited and further practised during the Qing dynasty (1644-1912AD), when tea was widely enjoyed. Wuyishan in Fujian, which had become a hive of activity having earned itself a reputation for producing the world’s finest and most prohibitively priced tea, received countless visitors, many of whom were converted to drinking Wuyi oolong teas that are still loved today.
THE ROOT OF THE MATTER
In the most precise sense of the word, only a beverage made from the leaf of the camellia sinensis plant may be called a true tea. Infusions of flowers, herbs or other plants, such as mint, rooibos, chrysanthemum or jasmine, are known as tisanes to distinguish them from actual tea.
By definition, any tea produced in Taiwan or China are categorically and colloquially known as Chinese tea. Depending on processing styles and techniques, they are then generally classified into six main types: white, green, qing (oolong), yellow, red, and black or post-fermented. (Qing is usually translated as celadon in English, but in this specific context there is no accurate English equivalent, and it is better simply to call it oolong.) And while all of them are produced using the camellia sinensis species, distinct varieties and cultivars combined with complex processing techniques yield different tea types.
For much of the 20th century, tea in China and Taiwan suffered a general decline due to periods of civil and political unrest, but the emergence of stronger economic markets and affluence in the 1970s and 1980s heralded the renaissance of tea culture and practice. Tea and teaware, by virtue of its cultural age and association, was an understated
Under the Song dynasty, China entered a phase of great aesthetic refinement and achievement. Tea became a pastime for the affluent class and the nobles, and the emphasis shifted to more meticulous and fanciful methods of tea preparation.