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The origin and prevalence of tea

From the ancient times of Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, to today, modern people demand tea more and more widely, and "respecting guests with tea" has also become the most common hospitality etiquette in life. The custom of drinking tea has been passed down by all ethnic groups in China for a long time.


respecting guests with tea
respecting guests with duobei tea

Shennong tasted the herbs
Shennong tasted the herbs

Taking tea as a drink, the ancient legend began in the Yellow Emperor era."Shennong Materia Medica Classic" said: " Shennong tasted a hundred herbs, daily encounter 72 poisons, tea (tea) and solution.”


 Shen Nong is the Yan Emperor, one of Chinese ancestors. One day, he tasted a kind of highly poisonous grass when he was boiling water, and he fainted before it was boiled. I do not know how long later, Shennong woke up in a refreshing fragrance, he struggled to scoop water in the pot to drink, but found that the boiling water has turned yellow-green, with a few green leaves, the fragrance from the pot. A few hours later, his poisonous poison was actually solved! After careful searching, Shennong found a plant directly above the pot. After studying it, he found more functions. Finally, he named it "tea". It is not clear how credible this legend of tea is. But one thing is clear, that tea was originally a medicinal plant, and its medicinal function is detoxification.


 

From the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms Period, tea had been spread from Bashu to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.


In the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, tea had been widely planted, and it gradually took a prominent position in People's Daily life. In some places, the cultural custom of offering tea even appeared. Tea has entered the upper class society from ordinary people. Not only monks and Taoists used this to practice and keep healthy, but tea also became their "new favorite" among the cultures at that time.


"Tea flourished in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty."In the Tang Dynasty, there was a tea saint named Lu Yu. He summed up the experience of making and drinking tea in the past dynasties and wrote the Book of Tea. In the book, Lu Yu made a comprehensive discussion on the origin, types, characteristics, preparation, cooking, tea set, water taste and the customs of drinking tea. At that time, he was also called to the palace and was appreciated by the emperor. At that time, the Tang Dynasty paid attention to foreign exchanges and opened up the economy, so it played a role in promoting the prosperity of tea culture from various levels. Therefore, the tea ceremony of the Tang Dynasty was flourishing, which also opened up an epoch-making significance in the development history of tea culture in China.

Drying tea leaves
Drying tea leaves

In the Song Dynasty, the custom of drinking tea in China reached a higher level, and tea has become one of the daily drinks that "home can not be left without a day". From the emperor to the scholar-officials, there were monographs on tea drinking. At this time, there are also folk tea households, tea market, tea shops and other trading, production places. Among its customs, the most distinctive one is tea fighting. Tea fighting is not only a way of drinking tea, but also a kind of spiritual and cultural enjoyment, elevating the aesthetic value of tea drinking to a new height. Similarly, when, tea products are no longer just a single form of group tea, cake tea, has appeared loose tea, last tea.


At this time, tea culture has presented a prosperous scene, and spread to countries around the world.


Oolong tea
Oolong tea

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the customs of processing and drinking tea were greatly improved. Especially after entering the Qing Dynasty, tea export has become a formal way of trade, and the number of sales among countries also began to increase. At this time, the method of frying tea was widely promoted, so the "drinking method" replaced the previous "decoction method", which is the tea drinking method we use today.


In the Ming Dynasty, a large number of poems, paintings, literary and artistic works and monographs on tea emerged. Tea was integrated with folk cultural activities such as drama, folk art and lantern riddles, and tea culture also developed at a deeper level.


 

Fine tea sets, tea life aesthetics
Fine tea sets, tea life aesthetics

In modern times, with the more and more rich varieties and diversified drinking methods, tea has become one of the popular health drinks in the world. Various cultural exchange activities with tea as the theme have been widely carried out in the world, and the importance of tea and tea culture is becoming more and more significant.


Tea tasting has become one of the beautiful ways of leisure, adding more poetic meaning to people's life, and is deeply loved by people from all walks of life.


 

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