China’s Tea Culture 中国茶文化

China’s Tea Culture 中国茶文化
Chinese people have a saying: ‘柴 米 油 盐 酱 醋 茶 Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day.’ Though tea is last on the list, we still can see the importance of tea in daily life.

A simple meal in Chinese is 粗 茶 淡 饭 Cu Cha Dan Fan, namely coarse tea and tasteless dinner. Even a simple meal is finished off with tea so its importance is obvious.

For the Chinese, tea drinking and tea tasting are not the same. Tea drinking is for refreshment and tonic effect.

Tea tasting has cultural meaning. Tea and tea wares should match surrounding elements such as breeze, bright moon, pines, bamboo, plums and snow. All these show the ultimate goal of Chinese culture: the harmonious unity of human beings with nature. People throughout China drink tea daily. Because of the geographic location and climate, different places grow various kinds of tea. In general, there are five kinds of tea classified according to different technique involved in the making of tea: Green tea - Longjin, Wulong, Scented tea - Jasmine tea, Black tea and Compressed tea. In the past dynasties, people not only formed a special way of tea-drinking, but also developed an art form called tea-drinking. This art form comprises of many aspects. The most noticeable ones are the making of tea, the way of brewing, the drinking utensils such as tea pot. The art of making tea is called “Cha dao” or “Cha yi”, which was soon accepted as one of the most important cultures that Japan learned from China. You can have chances to watch performances of tea art (”Cha yi”) at teahouse very often as we show you here at ChineseHour.

China, the Homeland of Tea

China is the homeland of tea. Of the three major beverages of the world– tea, coffee and cocoa– tea is consumed by the largest number of people in the world. China has tea-shrubs as early as five to six thousand years ago, and human cultivation of tea plants dates back two thousand years. Tea from China, along with her silk and porcelain, began to be known the world over more than a thousand years ago and has since always been an important Chinese export. At present more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries producing 90% of the world’s total output. All tea trees in other countries have their origin directly or indirectly in China. The word for tea leaves or tea as a drink in many countries are derivatives from the Chinese character “cha.” The Russians call it “cha’i”, which sounds like “chaye” (tea leaves) as it is pronounced in northern China, and the English word “tea” sounds similar to the pronunciation of its counterpart in Xiamen (Amoy). The Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as it is in Chinese, though pronounced with a slight difference.The habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century, but it was not introduced to Europe and America till the 17th and 18th centuries. Now the number of tea drinkers in the world is legion and is still on the increase.

Advantages of Tea-Drinking

Chinese tea may be classified into five types of teas according to the different methods by which it is processed. They are: Green tea, Black tea, Wulong tea, Compressed tea and Scented tea. Tea has been one of the daily necessities in China since time immemorial. Countless numbers of people like to have their after meal tea.

In summer or warm climate, tea seems to dispel the heat and bring on instant cool together with a feeling of relaxation. For this reason, tea-houses abound in towns and market villages in South China and provide elderly retirees with the locales to meet and chat over a cup of tea.

Medically, the tea leaf contains a number of chemicals, of which 20-30% is tannic acid, known for its anti-inflammatory and germicidal properties. It also contains an alkaloid (5%, mainly caffeine), a stimulant for the nerve centre and the process of metabolism. Tea with the aromatics in it may help resolve meat and fat and thus promote digestion. It is, therefore, of special importance to people who live mainly on meat, like many of the ethnic minorities in China. A popular proverb among them says, “Rather go without salt for three days than without tea for a single day.”

Tea is also rich in various vitamins and, for smokers, it helps to discharge nicotine out of the system. After wining, strong tea may prove to be a sobering pick-me-up. The above, however, does not go to say that the stronger the tea, the more advantages it will yield. Too much tannic acid will affect the secretion of the gastric juice, irritate the membrane of the stomach and cause indigestion or constipation. Strong tea taken just before bedtime will give rise to occasional insomnia. Constant drinking of over-strong tea may induce heart and blood-pressure disorders in some people, reduce the milk of a breast-feeding mother, and put a brown color on the teeth of young people. But it is not difficult to ward off these undesirable effects: just don’t make your tea too strong.

Savoring Tea in Beijing

Chinese tea culture is among the best of Chinese culture. The tea ceremony is a very profound and complex thing, and it seems that only with a pure heart and few worldly desires can a man get its quintessence.However, for the common people, at least those in Beijing, such a state free from vulgarity can never be attained. Therefore, the teahouses in Beijing, different from those in other places, have never been places of peace and quiet. Instead, they are always hustling and bustling. Perhaps this has something with the Beijingers’ disposition: fearful of quiet, and fond of communication, especially that of group chatting. Hence, the teahouses provide perfect venues for them to gather together and talk of everything under the sun with great gusto.

Tea Serving at Home

Chinese have started to drink tea around 5000 years ago, and have preserved the habit to serve tea to guests who come to pay a visit. There is no need to ask if the guests want tea or not. Remember: When the host/hostess serves tea to you, it is polite to receive it with BOTH HANDS. Let guests sit in the living room without serving tea is a big humiliation to the guests, and it also hints the guests are not welcomed. If the host does not want guests to stay any longer, he can give a signal by asking servants or family members to “serving tea”. This means the host wants the guests to leave immediately.

Have you got the word “cha (tea)” and “he cha (drink tea)” today? One more sentence here:

Would you like tea or coffee?

Ni xihuan he cha haishi he kafei?