Minnan tea culture
China tea culture, which integrates philosophy, ethics, history, literature and art, is a wonderful flower in the treasure house of oriental art. The essence of Minnan tea culture is tea art, which pays attention to the beauty of tea, tea, tea set, temperature and environment.
Drinking tea is a great enjoyment in the life of Minnan people. There used to be a saying in southern Fujian: "Smoking, listening to Nanyin and making Kung Fu tea are fun."
So how to make a pot of tea and enjoy a cup of tea? This requires skill and art, and this is tea art.
Minnan people call drinking tea as making tea, and making tea pays the most attention to tea, water and tea sets.
Tea is new and expensive, and it needs high quality tea. Minnan people like to drink oolong tea, because oolong tea is a kind of tea between unfermented tea (green tea) and completely fermented tea (black tea), and it is called "green vegetable" because of its blue-brown appearance. After oolong tea is brewed, the leaves are red and green, the soup is yellow and red, and the taste is mellow. The most famous oolong tea is Anxi Tieguanyin, which is like a green olive, slightly bitter at the entrance, and gradually returns to sweetness after entering the throat, with endless charm.
Tea is very strict with water, because water is soft and hard. Any water containing less than 8 mg of calcium and magnesium per liter is called soft water, and vice versa. Make tea with soft water and hard water. The taste of tea becomes astringent, the fragrance of tea becomes turbid and the tea soup becomes discolored.
Minnan people love to make tea with pottery tea sets, because it will "preserve fragrance" and "preserve taste". I like Hu and Ruoshen Cup best. "Meng Gong pot", also known as "Chen Meng pot", has a capacity of only 50- 100 ml, as small as an early-maturing orange and as big as a melon. The small teacup is called "Ruoshen Cup" or "Ruoshen Ou", which is only half the size of table tennis and can only hold 4 ml of tea. Usually 1 "Meng Gong pot" and 4 "Ruoshen cups" are put in a round tea tray, which is of great artistic appreciation value.
Minnan people have a soft spot for drinking tea. In southern Fujian, there is a saying: "A cup of tea in the morning is a day's prestige; Drinking a cup of tea in the afternoon makes work easier; Drinking a cup of tea at night will refresh the whole body; Three cups a day, the thunder can't move. " In Anxi County, Fujian Province, there is also a saying that "drinking a bowl of Tieguanyin in the morning does not require a doctor to prescribe a prescription; Drink a bowl of Tieguanyin at night, and it will go up in smoke after a hard day; Even after drinking Tieguanyin for three days, chickens, ducks and fish are not fragrant. " People can't talk about the hospitality of Minnan people without the word "tea" because "Minnan people are really hospitable and make tea when they get started."
Making tea requires skill. Not long ago, I had the honor to visit Mr. Hong Qingyuan, an old man in tea fairy, and witnessed how to make a good pot of tea and enjoy the art of a cup of tea.
Mr. Hong Lao grew up in Xiamen's "tea table boy" (tea stall), and he is over 70 years old, and his tea-making technology is also perfect. I saw that he took out a small and exquisite teapot and tea set, and said that the procedure of making tea is very particular, which takes more time than drinking tea. Otherwise, how can it be called "Kung Fu Tea"?
"The first is the tea set. Generally, the red Yixing pottery pot is only the size of a palm, which is called' little palm'. The matching teacups are naturally smaller. The tea brewed with such a tea set is called' little brown tea'. "
I think there are not only teapots and teacups on the coffee table, but also a tea tray with teacups and a bowl-shaped tea washer with teapots. . Mr. Hong pointed to washing tea and said that before drinking tea and making tea, you should put the cup in the washing tea and scald it with boiling water, which is one of the functions of washing tea.
Mr. Hong picked up the boiling water and said to me, "The first process is to iron the pot and the cup. Then, pour out the water in the tea washing, put the teapot in the tea washing and put the tea leaves in. Fill the pot with tea so that the washed tea tastes good. "
I saw him fill the teapot with tea and then pour boiling water into the teapot. At this time, some bubbles floated up. The old man gently poked the lid of the teapot to pull out the bubbles, then covered the lid and poured boiling water from the lid to wash away the bubbles outside the teapot. This way, the temperature difference between the inside and outside of the teapot will not be too big. The heat won't run away. He picked up the teapot and poured all the first batch of tea into the teapot. The second time, the water rushed in immediately until a little tea overflowed after rushing to the lid of the pot. Cover the lid and pour some boiling water.
Mr. Hong Lao said that making tea is the most taboo. Theophylline is produced as soon as it is soaked, and tea is bitter. He picked up the teapot to pour tea and said, "It's hard to pour tea. You must hold down the lid of the teapot with one finger, turn the teapot over 90 degrees, and the spout will go straight down and quickly pour water around the cups that have been arranged in a circle. At first, it was called "Guan Gong Tours the City", and every cup had to be patrolled. Finally, it is called' Han Xin Dianbing', and the drops behind it are the best, and every cup must arrive. "
Mr. Hong Lao said that the tea poured out in this way has the same color and similar taste. When you make tea, you usually make it five or six times. Pay attention. After brewing for three or four times, you must pour out the tea residue and re-iron the pot and cup.
I took the tea handed over by Mr. Hong, and it was really delicious. According to the old man's suggestion, I took a deep breath and felt a faint fragrance seeping into my abdomen, nourishing my body and mind. Then I take a shallow sip, stay in my mouth for a while, then swallow it slowly and taste it slowly. It's really an honor!
Listener friends, after listening to my introduction above, you will feel that drinking tea is indeed an art, yes, this is a kind of tea art, and this is the essence of tea culture. Tea ceremony is another realm of tea culture, and the essence of Minnan tea ceremony is embodied in the word "harmony". For example, if the local villagers have any disputes or estrangements, as long as the elders come forward to hold a "tea party" to mediate, they can easily "settle things." The "harmony" in this tea culture means the harmony of the weather, the harmony of the mountains and rivers and the harmony between people.
If it rises to the height of cha de, the connotation of "harmony" will be more abundant, and it will have social functions, so that tea drinkers can pursue a spiritual realm of restraining extravagance, washing their hearts and removing troubles, invigorating their spirits, self-integration, harmony and happiness. Minnan people have lived in harmony in this land for a long time, and the tea culture rooted and spread in it is undoubtedly a wonderful flower in China's splendid tea culture.