Congratulations: Lao Zhao, Lao Wang, "Tujia Four Courses of Tea" is now famous. Today I asked the teahouse owner to give us a "Tujia Four Courses of Tea". Do you like it?

Wang, Zhao:?

I wish: Don’t be nervous, I’ll pay for it.

Wang: Lao Zhu, do you know which four-course tea it is?

I wish you could not fail me in this test. There are white crane tea, bubble catechu, oil tea soup, and egg tea.

Wang: I just had supper, and I have another bowl of catechu, a bowl of oil tea soup, a bowl of egg tea, a bowl of clear tea, and four bowls of tea. I will be in trouble tonight.

Zhu: Lao Zhao, you are the original author of Four Teas. Look, some people are singing the opposite tune.

Zhao: He is not being a rebel, but you have some misunderstandings about Tujia Four-Course Tea. It is not just you, it has been found in some newspapers and publications, and even in some TV newsreels and feature films. There are many misunderstandings. Just now you said that you asked the boss to have "Tujia four-course tea" which is not accurate enough.

Zhu: I know that when you have guests in daily life, it is usually enough to make one of the teas for you, either make a camellia soup or make a bowl of catechu.

Wang: It depends on when and on what occasion you go as a guest.

Zhao: Hey, you two are pretty clear about it.

Zhu: Thank you very much. We only know a little bit about tea.

Zhao: "Tujia Four Courses of Tea" is a combination of the tea customs and tea etiquette formed by the people in the Chashan Mountains during their long-term production and life, combined with folk tea songs, tea dances, tea poems, tea stories, tea A tea custom performance that reproduces life through art processing and finishing. The reason why it is called "Four Courses of Tea" is that only the four most representative tea varieties of the Tujia people are selected in this performance. The teas of the Tujia people are far more than these. There may be seven, eight or more than a dozen teas. For example, there are Ginger soup tea, honey tea, crispy rice tea, and a bowl of Ge Xian rice in the Zomaping area are also a bowl of tea, and a bowl of noodles in the Liufeng area is also a bowl of tea.

Wang: Lao Zhu, having tea in a teahouse is not watching a show. You have to follow the tea recipe and drink whatever tea you order.

Zhao: One more point to make clear is that the "Tao" of Tujia Four-Course Tea is a quantifier, not the "Tao" of the tea ceremony. The Four-Course Tea is not a tea ceremony performance. Someone published an article in the newspaper saying that the four teas were discovered by Rongmei Tusi and the palace tea ceremony in the palace was even more nonsense.

Wang: The tea ceremony is the form and content of expressing a philosophical concept through "tea".

Zhu: It is a religious and philosophical way of drinking tea that uses tea to enlighten and promote the Tao.

Zhao: Of course, Tujia tea customs also have their own way, but this way is not the other way. For example, when eating egg tea, you usually only add three to four eggs to the bowl. You know this? Why?

Zhu: I don’t know.

Zhao: There is a saying here: eating one means you are devouring it; eating two is a shame; eating five means selling grain; eating six means you are rewarded; eating seven, eight, Nine means seven deaths, eight deaths, and nine burials.

Wang: Do you have a lot of bullshit words collected?

Zhu: After working on it for a long time, Lao Zhao, what kind of tea do you want to have today?

Zhao: I think it’s better to brew catechu in a bowl. This stuff is more refreshing.

Wang: I agree.

Zhu: OK, boss, here are three bowls of tea. I remember that the "Tujia Four Courses of Tea" was first launched in late August 1992 when the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles held a pen conference in Hefeng. The performance was refreshing to all attendees and the on-site effect was very good. It can be said that it was an instant hit.

Wang: Without a familiarity and understanding of Tujia tea customs and national customs, and without systematic research on tea culture, it would be impossible to create such an artistic work all at once.

Zhao: Premier Zhou Enlai once said: “Long-term accumulation leads to accidental success.

"We should be grateful for that era. It can be said that we have visited every production brigade in Hefeng and recorded millions of words of folk music, stories, proverbs, dramas, folk arts, and dances, and accumulated rich folk cultural materials. But we must Launching an artistic work requires several factors, the most important of which is the attention and support of leaders. There are three things that still make me excited.

I wish you could tell me.

Zhao: First, the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles was going to hold a pen conference in Hefeng. In addition to cultural celebrities from the province and state, the guests were also writers and editors from several publications in Beijing. The standards in our county were relatively high for good reception. At that time, Liu Zaohua, member of the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee and consultant, and Dong Daoxue, the newly appointed Minister of Propaganda, personally came to my home and handed over the task. They asked me to create a program that not only reflected Hefeng's products but also had national characteristics. My humble home as a small cultural director ushered in a new era. Two county leaders, I can’t help but feel excited.

Wang: You didn’t faint at that time.

Zhao: You can still hold on. Part 2, "Tujia Four Courses of Tea." "The success of "People's Daily? Overseas Edition" and other newspapers and periodicals have successively reported that "Four Courses of Tea" was an important reception item at a large-scale economic and trade conference held in our county, and was personally hosted by the then County Party Secretary Zhang Zezhou On the day of the rehearsal, I just went to work early in the morning and someone knocked on the door. I said: Come in, who do you think came in?

Wang and Zhu: I don’t know?

Zhao: The person who came in was Secretary Zhang of the county party committee. He told me: I will be hosting the four-course tea tonight. I am now participating in the rehearsal. You are the director and I am listening to your command. I almost fainted this time.

Wish you: Haha, Lao Zhao, you have a heavy responsibility on your shoulders, you have to hold on.

Zhao: Third, at the end of the year, the leaders of the county’s second-level units and above met in the auditorium of the county court, and the county magistrate He Yabin made a report. , he said in the report: “On behalf of the county party committee and the county government, I announced a decision that Tujia Four Course Tea will be an important part of our county’s reception work from now on. "I have attended many meetings and read many work reports. Most of the cultural undertakings need to be strengthened and further developed. It is very rare for a performance program to be decided by the county party committee and government.

Wang: This is just a verbal decision, you don’t need to be too excited.

Zhao: The only reason why County Magistrate He said this was because it was Christmas when he was hosting the French cave expedition group. In order to let foreigners celebrate Christmas in Hefeng, and to make them happy, he asked me to prepare a "Christmas four-course tea dance". After accepting the task, I found an English teacher from No. 1 Middle School and added some fun. A lesbian in our library who knew English explained the "Four Courses of Tea" in English, built a tall Christmas tree in the middle of the ballroom, played Santa Claus himself, and invited children from primary schools and kindergartens to play with them. They played games together. The French cave expedition team was very excited about this party. They said they did not expect to have such a happy festival in such a remote county in China. They also liked the Tujia four-course tea and took many photos with them. Photo, of course He Yabin is very satisfied that such a diplomatic matter has been so successful.

Wang: Lao Zhao, the first tea in the "Four Teas" is called "White Crane Tea", but so far. So far, there is no such brand among Hefeng Tea brands. Don’t you feel sorry?

Zhao: Tea has a great relationship with water. Good tea must have good water. Chinese tea tradition They are very particular about water. The name of White Crane Tea comes from the White Crane Well next to the county government.

Wang: Let me tell you about the original version of the White Crane Well. Everything has to do with love, such as the Baihe girl, the Tujia boy, and life and death love. In fact, the story of Baihejing is very simple. It is said that during the Tusi period, the Tusi king had to pay tribute to the emperor every year and carry a jar of tea. Only the water from Baihejing can be used to brew Liujiasi's tea. The tea will be particularly fragrant, and there will be a pair of white cranes dancing with the heat rising in the cup. At that time, there was no traffic, and the tea was delivered. You have to walk to the capital carrying water and tea.

Once, a Tujia man who delivered tea fell ill after delivering tea out of the mountains. He had to pay a Han man to deliver the water and tea to the capital on his behalf. The Han man accepted the money and went on the road. He felt that the people in the mountains were so stupid. There is a lot of water in the capital, and carrying water from the mountains to the capital is asking for trouble. So he poured out the water in the jar and went on his way easily. After arriving in the capital, he casually filled a jar of water from the pond and brought it to the palace. The emperor used the jar of water to make tea. As a result, there was no fragrance and no white cranes dancing. Long Yan was furious. So we must destroy the earth king.

Zhao: Foreign countries also pay attention to water. In 1607, Dutch merchants transported a batch of tea from Macau to Jakarta. In 1635, the Dutch court accepted tea drinking. In 1701, a comedy "Ladies Addicted to Tea" was staged in Amsterdam, which became an interesting event in the history of tea drinking. . At that time, there were many vendors selling spring water on the streets of Amsterdam to provide water for making tea. They were as particular about water when making tea as in China.

I wish you: Don’t be too busy talking nonsense, here comes the catechu.

Wang: (Take a sip) Hum, not bad, not bad, this bubble is authentic.

Zhao: Eating paoer brings back my nostalgia. This paoer is nothing more than that when it comes to eating it. On the contrary, it is the process of making the paoer and the anticipation that add a lot of fun to childhood. As the saying goes, adults look forward to farming, while children look forward to celebrating the New Year. The Chinese New Year begins with making paoer. During the New Year celebrations in the Zouma area, the first thing is to make bubbles, and then to beat cakes, kill New Year pigs, and make sweet wine...

Wang: As soon as the twelfth lunar month comes, every house will lower the door leaf when it is sunny. , put it on two high benches, and began to dry the rice on it.

Zhu: I have seen this before, especially in rural markets. House after house is drying rice. It is a unique scenery. This is how the atmosphere of the New Year is created.

Zhao: The yin rice is steamed glutinous rice. It needs to be cooked but not evaporated, and each piece must not stick to each other. After rubbing with clear oil, the yin rice is crystal clear and translucent in the sun. I My mother-in-law brought some red and blue dye, dipped it in with a pair of chopsticks, and sprinkled a little on the rice. Oops, I felt that the beauty and joy of the New Year were dyed with my mother-in-law's hands.

Zhu: What is even more unique is that there is a child or an elderly person sitting on each terrace, holding something made of bamboo tubes.

Wang: It’s called Xiangga. It is a bamboo tube about 1 meter long and about the thickness of a small teacup. One end is split into several strips, and a complete bamboo section is left on the other end. Hold the unsplit end of the bamboo section. Knock it on the ground and make a squeaking sound.

Zhao: When I was a child, I often played the role of holding a ring and guarding the balcony. Knock a few times from time to time to drive away the chickens that steal food and the sparrows that fly down at any time. Think about it, on a street, there are clattering sounds here and there, and the rattling sounds one after another echo along the narrow streets. It is completely the prelude music of the New Year.

Zhu: Lao Zhao, you see, this egg tea is a wedding tea for Tujia women to get married and have children. Its origin is very clear. Baihe tea is a courtesy for ordinary guests to sift tea. Its origin is from Baihejing. Legend has it that brewing catechu is a snack used to welcome relatives and friends who come to pay New Year greetings during the Spring Festival. Only the origin of "oil tea soup" lacks allusions. Don't just talk about tea soup.

Zhao: There are different opinions about the origin of "oil tea soup". There is no documentary record and it cannot be verified. There is an oral legend, so please listen to it. Some people say that the inventors of Camellia oleifera soup were a few cowherd boys.

Wang: Think carefully, don’t make it up now. At least it should be reasonable and avoid loopholes.

Zhao: It is said that in late autumn one year, several cowherd boys went up to the mountains to herd cattle. While tending cattle and running a "household", I picked a large handful of Camellia oleifera seeds from the Camellia oleifera tree, boiled them in an earthen pot with mountain spring, and then boiled the camellia oil. Then I picked a handful of autumn tea and poured it into the oil. Once fried, add water to boil, and then throw the walnuts, chestnuts, and popcorn in each pocket into the boiling water. It tastes fragrant and delicious, refreshing, thirst-quenching, and hunger-satisfying. Over time, camellia soup has become a unique living habit of the Tujia people.

Congratulations: It is best to use camellia oil for camellia oil soup, and now there are many new ingredients in the mix.

Usually there are tender corn, peanuts, diced tofu, diced lean meat, etc. Like in Laifeng area, eating oil tea soup is as addictive as smoking. It seems that the cowherd boy is still somewhat smart.

Zhao: What you need to drink tea is a good state of mind, not the origin of the tea. A cup of good tea is the product of the right time, location, and people. Tea is ordinary, as ordinary as a cowherd boy. .

Wang: Tea is also simple. There is a saying: "Tea can bring frugality, and frugality can bring peace to the country."

Congratulations: You are now online. I say that no matter what kind of tea you taste, you must relax your mood and relax your heart above the world of mortals. Play with the present and seek maximum richness and fulfillment within a short limit. To put it bluntly, you have to have the mentality of a cowherd boy. They run "Every Family" in a fairy tale world without any disputes about gains and losses of fame and fortune.

Zhao: Just like we are in the Cuiquan Tea House now, looking out the window at the lush and tall Bafeng Mountain, and at a closer look at the ripples of the water, sipping the fragrant tea with a long aftertaste, and chatting about the inside and outside of the tea. legends and anecdotes. This state of contentment also needs to be carefully captured and cared for.