Chinese tea
Tiì ilè China ni ohun mímu tí wọ́n pèsè láti ara Ewé tì orúkọ rẹ ń jẹ́ ("Camellia sinensis") àti Omi gbígbóná. Wọ́n ma ń se Tíì yí ní ìlànà ìbílẹ̀ ní Ṣáínà. Tíì China ni a lè mu ní gbogbo ìgbà tàbí àsìkò tí ó bá wù wá lójúmọ́, kódà a lè ma mú dípò omi tí a ń mu ní gbogbo ìgbà.
Àṣà tíì mímu ní ilẹ̀ China ti wà lọ́jọ́ tó ti pẹ́, ibẹ̀ náà sì ni tíì mímu ti ṣẹ̀ wá. Bí ó tilẹ̀ jẹ́ wípé ilẹ́̀ China ni tíi mímu ti ṣẹ̀ wá ní àsìkò ìjọba ẹbí Tang Dynasty. Tíi ní ilẹ̀ China ni a lè sọ wípé ó kún fún àwọn ewé ọlọ́kan-ò-jọ̀kan tí wọ́n ti ṣe àkójọ wọ́n ní ìlànà ìbílẹ̀ China nígbà láé láé. Gẹ́gẹ́ bi ìtàn ṣe sọ, wọ́n ní Ọba Shen Nong ni ó ṣe àwárí tíì ní ǹkan bí ọdún 2737 BC sẹ́yìn nígbà tí ewé kan jábọ́ sí inú omi gbígbóná tí ó ń sè lọ́wọ́. Báyí ni wọ́n ṣe bẹ̀rẹ̀ sí ń mu tíì tí ó sì di àṣà àti ìṣe wọn títí di òní. Àwọn ǹkan ìbílẹ̀ méje kan wà tí wọ́n jẹ́ ohun tí wọ́n ma ń wà nínú tíì, lára wọn ni igi ìdáná, Ìrẹsì, Iyọ̀ sọ́yà, òróró àti vineger
A le pin tii ile China si ona mefa otooto pelu awo won, awon ni: Tii alawo funun, alawo ewe, alawo oorun, alawo dudu, oolong, ati post-fermented. Awon miiran tun ma n fi awon ohun adidun oloorun didun miran kun ewe tii tiwon lati le je ki o fani mora, pupo lara awon ohun adidun yi ni won n se latara igi "Camellia sinensis" . Pupo ninu awon tii yi ni won n se ti won si n mu ni ile China nikan. Amo, won ti n ta awon tii yi si ile okere jake-jado agbaye latari bi awon ènìyàn se n ra awon oja lati ile China lode oni.
Laarin awon orisi tii mefa yi naa ni opolopo awon eniyan ti se afayo tiwon lorisirisi. Awon oniwadi imo kan tile ti se awari irufe tii yi ti o to aadorin ni ile China, bi o tile je wipe awon miran ni egberun kan ni. Ohun ti o fa eyi ni bi igi "Camillia" se pe orisirisi. Ibi ti won ti n se ogbin Tii yi julo ni agbegbe "Yunan" ati agbegbe "Fuji". Amo lode oni, ko fere si agbegbe ti won ko ti n se ohun ogbin tii ni orile-ede China. Bi apeere, Tieguanyin, ni won se awari re ni Anxi ni agbegbe Fuji. Ohun tí ó jẹ́ kí tíì ó pọ̀ kí ó sì yàtọ̀ síra wọn ni bí ìdílé tàbí oníkálùkù ṣe ń pèsè tìrẹ̀ lẹ́yìn tí wọ́n bá ja ewé tíì náà tán.
Ní àsìkò ìṣèjọba ìdílé Ọba Song, iye ilẹ̀ ati oko tí wọ́n fi ń ṣe ọ̀gbìn tíì tó 242 níye, lára rẹ̀ ni a ti rí àwọn ẹ̀ṣà tíì tí wọ́n wá láti ìlú Zhenjiang ati Fuji tí wọ́n sì ń kò lọ́pọ̀ yanturu lọ sí àwọn orílẹ̀-èdè Lárúbáwá ati Southeast Asia.
In the Song dynasty, tea started to be pressed into tea cakes (usually black tea). Some were embossed with patterns of the Chinese dragon and the Phoenix, and were called exotic names including:
Large Dragon tea cake, Small Dragon tea cake, Surpassing Snow Dragon ball cake, Fine Silver Sprout, Cloud Leaf, Gold Money, Jade Flower, Inch of Gold, Longevity Sprout, Eternal Spring Jade Leaf, Dragon in the Clouds, Longevity Dragon Sprout, Dragon Phoenix and Flower, and Eternal Spring Silver Sprout.
The Ming dynasty scholar Wen Zhenheng's encyclopedic book "Zhǎng Wù Zhì" (; Treatise on Superfluous Things), volume 12, contains the following descriptions of several famous Ming Dynasty teas:
During this time, Huqiu tea (; lit. "Tiger Hill tea"), not to be confused with the black tea of the same name from the Nilgiris District in what is now Tamil Nadu, India) was purportedly developed as the finest tea in the world; however, the production quantity was rather small, and the production is regulated by the Chinese government. Some, however, consider its taste to be second to Tianchi tea (; lit. "Heaven Pool").
Jie tea from Changxing County in Zhejiang Province is regarded highly by connoisseurs, although it is rather expensive.
NB: "Jie" is the short name for "Luō Jiè" (). Luo Jie is the name of a mountain bordering Zhejiang and Jing Qi where, during the Ming dynasty, "jie" meant boundary. Chang Xin lay to the south of Luo Jie mountain while Jing Qi lay to the north of it. Chang Xin still retains its name today.
Luo Jie tea from Gu Chu Mountain in Changxing County in Zhejiang Province was also known as Gu Zhu Violet Shoot. Gu Zhu Violet Shoot had been an imperial tribute tea since the Tang dynasty for nearly nine hundred years until the middle of the Qin dynasty. Gu Zhu Violet Shoot was revived again in the 1970s as a top grade tea in China.
NB. Jin Qi is now called Yi Xin township. Jin Qi tea was also known as Yang Xian tea. Ruo leaves are leaves from Indocalamus tessellatus bamboo. The leaf is about 45 cm long.
Lu'an tea (), which is also called Lu'an Melon Seed tea, is used for Chinese medicine. It can only release its aroma when it’s baked right. The inherent quality of this tea is considered quite good. This type of tea is especially suitable for people who are suffering from gastric problems.
Lu'an tea is still produced in China, Anhui Province, China. The Lu'an tea from the Bat Cave of Jinzhai County is considered of superior quality, as thousand of bats in the cave can provide an ideal fertilizer for the tea plants.
Songluo tea is manufactured at Songluo Mountain located north of Xiuning County in Anhui Province, China. The tea plantations are scattered at an elevation of six to seven hundred meters on the mountain.
There is no real Songluo tea grown outside an area of a dozen "mu" (one "mu" = 667 square meters) and only few families possess the refined full to prepare Songluo tea. The tea hand-baked recently by mountain monks is even better.
Genuine Songluo tea is produced at the foot of the Dongshan (Cave Hill) and on top of the Tiānchí (; lit. "Heaven Pool"), highly treasured by people in Xin'an County. It is also a favorite for the people of Nandu and Quzong counties, due to its ease in brewing and intense aroma.
Longjing tea and Tianmu tea may match Heaven Pool tea due to the weather in their growing regions. Because the cold season comes earlier to the mountains, there is abundant snow in the winter, hence the tea plants germinate later. [Wen Zhenheng]
Longjing tea is manufactured in the West Lake district of Hangzhou, China. The Longjing, literally "Dragon Well", is located at Fenghuang Mountain. Tianmu Mountain is located at Lin'an County in the north west of Zhejiang Province. There are two 1500-meter peaks, each with a pond on top filled with crystal clear water looking like an eye, hence the name "Tiānmù" (, lit. "heaven eye").
During Ming, tea was a form of currency also used to pay imperials tribute. Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang (also known as the Hongwu emperor) was born to a poor family and understood the difficulties of the lives of farmers. He abolished the compressed tea brick style and replaced it with the whole, loose-leaf tea style, and also declared people instead pay tribute with tea buds. This amendment especially helped relieve tea farmers of some of the pressures of the laborious and complicated tea production processes. These complex processes for farmers included: steaming tea leaves, breaking them down into fine remnants, mixing the powder with plum juice, then baking them with molds to shape into tea bricks.
Literature during this time also largely focused on tea pickers, with writings and artwork regarding aspects such as tea picking and processing.
Tea-picking Poem - Gao Qi
It is getting warm after the spring rain and thunder,
New tea leaves start sprouting among branches.
Girls with silver hairpins sing folk songs to each other,
Competing to pick the most tea leaves in the shortest time.
They get home with the fresh scent of tea leaves on their hands,
The highest qualities will be sent to the Prefecture first.
The newly baked tea leaves are not tasted yet,
They are packed into baskets and will be sold to Hunan merchants.
Satirical poems and songs were also created and reflected struggles of tea farmers and ridiculed greedy officials. After Mid Ming, the amount of tribute tea soared due to an increased pressure upon citizens by higher bureaucrats. Officials demanded higher taxation and escalation of the requirement of tribute tea. Some citizens began to grow angry with these demands, including poets Gao Qi and Han Bangqi. Although their main occupations were government officials, they were also generally acknowledged writers who voiced their complaints through poems that became widespread folk ballads. Through their writings they requested the reduction of taxation and tributes. However, Gao was accused by the government of "involvement in a rebellion conspiracy” and was executed, while Han was imprisoned by officials wanting to hide their written works.