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| Yixing Zisha teapots,Sanitaryware (sanitary ware,wash basin,sink lavatory,wash bowl,pedestal basin,bathroom,toilet,bidet,shower) |
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Chinese Tea
Chinese people are believed to have enjoyed tea drinking for more than 4,000 years. Legend has it that Yan Di, one of three
rulers in ancient times, tasted all kinds of herbs to find medical cures. One day,as he was being poisoned by some herb he
had ingested; a drop of water from a tea tree dripped into his mouth and he was saved. For a long time, tea was used as an
herbal medicine. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, tea was a religious offering. During the Spring and Autumn Period, people
ate fresh tea leaves as vegetables. With the popularization of Buddhism from the Three Kingdoms to the Northern and Southern
Dynasties, tea's refreshing effect made it a favorite among monks in Za-Zen meditation.
Tea as a drink prospered during the Tang Dynasty, and tea shops became popular. A major event of this time was the completion of Tea Classics, the cornerstone of Chinese tea culture, by Lu Yu, Tea Sage of China,. This little book details rules concerning various aspects of tea, such as growth areas for tea trees, wares and skills for processing tea, tea tasting, the history of Chinese tea and quotations from other records, comments on tea from various places, and notes on what occasions tea wares should be complete and when some wares could be omitted.
Tinted by the cultural style of the Song Dynasty, tea culture at this time was delicate and sumptuous. New skills created many different ways to enjoy tea. The Ming Dynasty laid the foundation for tea processing, tea types and drinking styles that we have inherited.
During the Qing Dynasty folk art entered tea shops, making them popular entertainment centers. This habit is still practiced in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.
During the Tang Dynasty, a Japanese monk brought tea seeds from Zhejiang Province to Japan. Later in the Southern Song
Dynasty, Zen masters brought tea procedures and tea wares from China to Japan, promoting the initiation of the Japanese tea ceremony. In the Song Dynasty, Arabic merchants exported tea from Quanzhou, Fujian Province. In the Ming Dynasty, tea was sold to Southeast Asian and South African countries. In 1610 tea went to Europe via Macau in a Dutch merchant ship. Thus tea became an international drink.
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| Chinese tea consists of tea leaves which have been processed using methods inherited from China. According to popular legend,
tea was discovered by Chinese Emperor Shennong (Shen Nung, Shen Nong, The Yan Emperor, The Emperor of the five grains) in
2737 BC when a leaf from a Camilla sinensis tree fell into water the emperor was boiling. Not everyone agrees on the origin,
but no one disputes that tea is deeply woven into the history and culture of China. The beverage is considered one of the
seven necessities of Chinese life, along with firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar.Some writers classify tea into four categories, green, white, black and oolong. Others add categories for red, scented and
compressed teas. All of these come from varieties of the Camilla sinensis plant. Chinese flower tea , while popular, is
not a true tea. Most Chinese tea is consumed in China and is not exported. Green tea is the most popular type of tea used in
China.
Within these main categories of tea are vast varieties of individual beverages. Some researchers have counted more than 700. Others put the number at more than 1,000. Some of the variations are due to different strains of the Camilla plant. The popular Tie Guan Yin, for example, is traced back to a single plant discovered in Anxi in the Fujian province. Other teas draw some of their characteristics from local growing conditions. The largest factor in the wide variations comes from differences in processing after the tea is harvested. White and green teas are cooked soon after picking to prevent oxidization, often called fermentation, caused by natural enzymes in the leaves. Oolong teas are partially oxidized. Black and red teas are fully oxidized. Other differences come from variations in the processing steps.
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