The development and evolution of tea ceremony customs can be roughly divided into several stages:
Pre-Qin and Han dynasties
Simple processing of tea has begun to appear. Tamp fresh leaves into cake-shaped tea balls with wooden sticks, and then dry them or preserve them in the sun. When drinking, mash the tea balls into a pot, pour boiling water, and add onion, ginger and orange to taste. At this time, tea is not only a detoxification drug in daily life, but also a food for guests. In addition, Qin unified Bashu (the area where tea drinking spread earlier in China), which promoted the knowledge and customs of tea drinking to extend eastward. In the Western Han Dynasty, tea was an elegant pastime of the imperial court and official families. Wang Bao's Children's Covenant recorded that "five sheep bought tea". During the Three Kingdoms period, the trend of worshipping tea further developed, and people began to pay attention to the cooking methods of tea. At this time, the custom of "taking tea as wine" appeared (see "The History of the Three Kingdoms"), indicating that tea drinking was more common in the Central Plains at that time. In the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, tea gradually became a common drink from the initial precious luxury.
Sui and Tang Dynasties
Tea leaves are mostly processed into cake tea. Add seasoning to cook soup when drinking. With the prosperity of tea affairs, the appearance of tribute tea has accelerated the development of tea technology, and many famous teas have emerged, and the drinking methods have also been greatly improved. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, drinking tea became a common practice and the way of drinking tea made great progress. At this time, in order to improve the bitter taste of tea, mint, salt and red dates are added to taste. In addition, special tea-making equipment was used, and tea monographs appeared. There are three articles about tea in Lu Yu's Tea Classic, and the cooking of tea is also discussed in detail. At this time, more and more attention was paid to the choice of tea and water, cooking methods, tea drinking environment and tea quality, and the tea ceremony was gradually formed. From "eating tea porridge" before the Tang Dynasty to "being superior" in the Tang Dynasty, it was a great leap in China tea culture.
"Tea flourished in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty". In the Song Dynasty, the method of making tea changed, which had a far-reaching impact on the way of drinking tea. In the early Song Dynasty, tea leaves were mostly made into group tea and cake tea, which were crushed when drinking and cooked with seasoning, and some were not added. With the increasing richness and refinement of tea products, the original flavor and fragrance of tea are gradually valued, and the condiments are gradually reduced. At the same time, steamed loose tea also appeared, and more and more. Tea production is often dominated by loose tea, rather than cake tea. At this time, the procedure of cooking and drinking was gradually simplified, and the traditional cooking and drinking habits changed greatly from Song Dynasty to Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After the Ming dynasty
Due to the innovation of tea-making technology, group tea and cake tea have been changed into loose tea, and the method of making tea has gradually developed from decocting to brewing. Tea is brewed with boiling water, and then slowly sipped. The tea fragrance is clear and attractive, the tea taste is sweet and mellow, and the tea soup is clear and transparent, which can better appreciate the natural color, fragrance and quality of tea.
After Ming and Qing dynasties
With the increasing of tea, the way of drinking tea has two characteristics: First, the method of tasting tea is becoming more and more perfect and exquisite. The teapot and teacup should be washed with boiling water first, dried with a dry cloth, and the tea residue should be dumped first, and then dumped. The utensils are also made of purple sand, which will not take away the fragrance and smell of the cooked soup. Second, there are six kinds of tea, and the drinking methods of different kinds of tea have also changed greatly. At the same time, due to different customs, different regions began to choose different teas. For example, Guangdong and Guangxi like black tea, Fujian drinks oolong tea, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are good at green tea, northerners like scented tea or green tea, and border ethnic minorities use black tea and tea bricks.