The different backgrounds and processes of Chinese and English tea culture lead to great differences in their connotations. China tea culture is rooted in traditional farming civilization, advocating spiritual understanding and pursuing the unity of man and nature; British tea culture, on the other hand, originated from industrial civilization, and on the basis of the nobility and elegance of the court nobles, it injected pragmatism and purpose that industrial society pays attention to.
China's philosophy originated from farming civilization. Farming is not closely related to nature, so people in China regard nature as their mother, have a natural reverence and dependence on nature, and admire the idea of "harmony between man and nature" advocated by Confucian Zhu Zhongshu in the Han Dynasty. Tea is born in mountains and rivers. On the basis of discovery and utilization, China people naturally combine their own aesthetic tastes and endow them with the ideological connotation of the unity of man and nature. China tea culture inevitably has a strong mountain forest flavor. Among many kinds of tea, green tea is the most popular. The reason is that once the unfermented green tea is brewed, its shape, color and smell give people a natural breath, which makes people feel relaxed, just like being in the lush nature. Purple sand tea set is also the most popular among a wide variety of tea sets, because purple sand, a kind of earth spirit, gives people a simple earthy fragrance and infinite aura of heaven and earth. Most literati and officials in China prefer drinking tea. When their spirits come, they often invite three or five friends to have tea in the bamboo forest in Song Feng. Thousands of years of cultural influence have endowed tea with charm such as "indifference", "tranquility" and "returning to nature". On one side of the room, a bean green lamp and a cup of fragrant tea can often make people calm down and forget about things and me, thus feeling the ideal realm of "heaven and earth coexist with me, and everything is one with me"
Different from China's thought of "harmony between man and nature", western civilization advocates "separation between man and nature", regards itself as an explorer and researcher, and tries to dominate nature by mastering the mysteries of nature. Specifically, British people like fermented black tea, and they often add other seasonings to make milk tea before drinking it. In the choice of tea sets, the British don't always use porcelain, but creatively add animal ashes to porcelain clay for firing, and make bone China for drinking tea. British tea culture also embodies the core values of western society-individualism. For example, when inviting someone to have afternoon tea, the hostess will inevitably take out the best tea in the house, make great efforts to make delicious tea, put on the most suitable clothes, show the guests the perfect side of herself and her family, and get spiritual satisfaction. In addition, British tea culture pursues practicality. Compared with the tradition that China tea culture can drink tea anytime and anywhere, the British people closely combine tea with three meals a day, and only drink tea leisurely at a fixed tea-drinking time, such as traditional tea, afternoon tea and dinner tea, which reflects its rigorous and elegant cultural characteristics. According to their own eating habits, the British have also made many refreshments that can satisfy their appetite and fill their stomachs.
China tea culture absorbs the essence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, but its leading ideology is the doctrine of the mean and benevolence and propriety advocated by Confucianism, which advocates introspection, exchange ideas and enhance friendship by drinking tea in a harmonious atmosphere. At the same time, China tea culture emphasizes nature, pursues simplicity as virtue, is calm as water, returns to nature, and realizes the harmony and unity between man and nature. Compared with the modesty of China tea culture, English tea culture is much more domineering. Britain once had a strong national strength and dominated the sea, which was known as "not falling into the empire", so the British generally had a proud and exclusive island mentality. In addition, there is a strong upward value orientation in British culture. Therefore, no matter when and on what occasions, the British always try their best to show their best, and dare not neglect and perfunctory. Drinking afternoon tea is no exception-the environment must be elegant and comfortable, the clothes must be elegant and decent, the refreshments must be high-grade and exquisite, and the guests must be considerate. A real afternoon tea seems to have become a fashionable social feast. The host dare not be careless, and the guests are cautious. They must wear the most popular clothes at present, or the slightest mistake will lead to ridicule.
With the development of industrial civilization, the fast pace of modern life is impacting people's leisurely traditional way of drinking tea. People seldom have time to savor the connotation of tea or prepare clothes carefully for afternoon tea. Under this background, the tea culture in China and Britain is undergoing profound changes. China's tea culture no longer pursues too much quietness, while British tea culture also simplifies the fancy forms and complicated manners in the past. The intersection of Chinese and English tea culture has gradually emerged, which has become a driving force for promoting different cultural exchanges. However, it can not be ignored that Chinese traditional tea culture is now in a downturn, while British tea culture, as a rising star, is sweeping the world. How to protect and inherit China's traditional culture is worth pondering by everyone in China.
Differences between Chinese and English tea culture
Coffee entered British society before tea, and this new beverage developed very rapidly in Britain. Cafe quickly developed to its peak, with a fixed customer base, including businessmen, doctors, lawyers, politicians and literati. The reason is that it not only provides all kinds of drinks, but also is the latest occasion for chatting and trade exchange, which creates the convention that quite important social, economic and political people gather here. Judging from the development of coffee, the development of tea in Britain is not shameful. Because tea is shipped to Britain in the Far East, the cost of transportation, tax and output is not much. In the early days, people rushed to buy tea because of its medicinal value. Later, the price of tea rose, which gradually made tea aristocratic in Britain. It has become a noble and wealthy item and gift for entertainment.
Due to meteorological reasons, China produced its own tea, and tea drinking culture spread in Bashu area. At present, it is planted everywhere, and there is no aristocratic price of tea because of its low yield. On the contrary, tea has become a kind of cloth drink in China.
Zhongying tea set
When tea arrived in England, porcelain teapots, teacups, teapots and other tea drinking utensils also came to England with the tea boat. These beautiful and strange vessels quickly attracted the attention of the nobles. They bought them home from tea merchants and porcelain merchants, but they used them as decorations. Later, ceramic teapots and teacups made by ourselves appeared in Britain. Some are painted with gold thread, and the teapot cups are painted with patterns with British characteristics, which look strange, noble and gorgeous. It looks elegant to make tea with this special teapot.
At the same time, tea sets in China mostly use teapots made of purple sand. Purple sand is a kind of pottery made of red mud and purple mud, and there is also a kind of glazed pottery, which is brown or dark brown, with different states and unusual design. At the same time, the nobles in China court also have some colorful ceramic teapots with exquisite images of flowers, birds, animals and people. Now these teapots can still be seen in major museums, especially in some ceramics museum. Everything is extremely subtle.
In modern China and Britain, tea sets have not changed much. Most English tea sets are mainly made of ceramics, and they still look very beautiful. In China, there are not only ceramic tea sets, but also tea sets such as glass and purple sand.
The brewing and taste of tea
There are many kinds of teas in China. Green tea, black tea, white tea, black tea, scented tea, etc., if you want to classify, there are various flavors of tea such as Maojian tea, Tieguanyin tea and Pu 'er tea. From the ancient method of making tea, the original leaves were boiled to make tea, and various seasonings were added to the tea until the original dry tea was brewed with boiling water. China people's ultimate preference is to taste the original flavor of tea, that is, not to add milk, sugar, cinnamon and other spices to tea soup. British black tea is the most famous tea in Britain, but Britain loves to add honey, cinnamon, pepper, whiskey, butter, eggs and everything they want to participate in, and invented many flavors at will. Gray earl grey, Assam black tea, etc. Made from bergamot oil, it has become a classic and peculiar national tea product and enjoys a world reputation. In addition, the British also reformed the tea itself. Bagged tea powder replaces tea fragments and is called instant tea. Put the bags together in a hot water cup and make a cup of tea with only one small bag. Household teapots and filter cups are washed down with boiling water and filtered out. This is a far cry from China people who put the whole tea leaf into boiling water and watch the blooming camellias in the dense heat.
Making tea in Britain is nothing more than a way, brewing with boiling water. In China, there is a kind of tea called Kung Fu tea. It is equal to using complicated steps, specific tea sets, boiling water temperature and tea-making skills to taste the best tea soup. China people not only need good tea, but also need good time to make tea, which is completely different from the simple way of drinking tea in Britain, but also because of this, the tea culture between China and Britain is so different and has its own merits.
English afternoon tea, Guangdong morning tea
After years of development, there is English afternoon tea in Britain. China has a vast territory and a large population, and there are scenes represented by various tea drinking cultures. Therefore, represented by Guangdong morning tea culture, tea has brought similarities and differences to the tea culture of the two countries.
The origin of Guangdong morning tea can be traced back to the reign of Xianfeng Tongzhi. At that time, there was a restaurant named "Yili Pavilion" in Guangzhou. There is a wooden sign that says "tea party" hanging at the door, serving tea and cakes. The facilities are simple, with only a few wooden tables and benches for welcoming guests and chatting for passers-by. Later, the teahouse appeared, and the scope became larger and larger, and it became a teahouse. Later, it became common for Cantonese to drink morning tea in teahouses. Until today, the tea in Guangdong morning tea has become a supporting role, but the refreshments are more and more fine and diverse. With the rapid development of Guangdong's economy, this traditional culture has not disappeared, but has increasingly become a beautiful landscape in Guangdong's leisure life. Tea, known as "morning tea", is naturally an indispensable area in Guangdong morning tea. Black tea is the main tea of morning tea, which can warm the stomach and get rid of boredom, which is beneficial to digestion. There are common oolong tea, Tieguanyin tea and Pu 'er tea, and some people like to drink chrysanthemum tea, that is, adding chrysanthemum to Pu 'er tea to reduce fire. Black tea is dark red in color and the soup is thick and bitter. Although it is not as good as green tea in vision and taste, it is a perfect match with the fragrant tea in Guangdong morning tea. The prosperity of Guangdong morning tea is inseparable from Guangdong's prosperous trade and rapid economic development since ancient times. In Guangdong, you can talk about business and exchange information in the morning tea, or get together with friends and talk about things. Businessmen regard teahouses as important discussion places, where ordinary people express their pressure in exchange for half a day's leisure.
Chaze, England In Victorian England, there was a countess who was bored every afternoon. She thought there was still time to dress up and attend complicated dinners at this time. If she feels hungry, she will ask the maid to prepare some toast, cream and tea. Later, the lady invited many close friends to drink tea and eat exquisite snacks, while relaxing and enjoying a pleasant afternoon. Unexpectedly, it became popular in the aristocratic social circle at that time. Becoming a flock of countless celebrities, this is the origin of the so-called "Victorian afternoon tea". Today, it has become an elegant and free afternoon tea civilization and an orthodox "English black tea culture".
The source is different, the way of drinking tea is different, and the snacks are different, but they all show some similarities. Morning tea culture and afternoon tea culture are not only a way for Chinese and British people to have fun, but also a way for people to socialize, which have been integrated into people's real life. Tea culture is essentially the history of tea development. Along with the development of tea, we can see the past of tea and the future development of tea culture.