What kind of tea is kungfu tea?
Fu tea, which originated in Fujian, is prevalent in southern Fujian, Chaoshan, Guangdong, Taiwan Province and even Southeast Asia, and thus forms three "schools" of Fujian, Chaozhou and Taiwan. Its brewing and drinking are not only limited to the satisfaction of physiological needs such as quenching thirst and refreshing, but also the emotional exchange and interaction between people, and it contains the way of being human, simple and profound. "Kung Fu" is more outside tea.
What is time? There are generally four solutions: engineering and labor, literacy, attainments, and free time. I have to mention the difference between "Kung Fu" and "Kung Fu". In Chaozhou dialect, the pronunciation is different. One pronounced "gong Fu" and the other pronounced "Gong Fu", which is totally different.
The earliest written record of "Kung Fu Tea" specifically referring to drinking is found in Yu Jiao's Dream Factory Miscellaneous Tide and Beautiful Moon in Qing Dynasty: "Kung Fu Tea, the method of cooking, is based on Lu Yu's Tea Classic, and the utensils are more exquisite." The conclusion is: from the textual research of word meaning and written records, Chaoshan area should write "congou". In Fujian, when it comes to brewing techniques and tea drinking customs, writing "Kung Fu Tea". From the origin point of view, it is the same strain, first in Wuyi, and then in southern Fujian and Chaozhou.
1. Wuyi congou tea
Tracing back to the source, "congou tea" originally refers to Wuyi tea, which was named after its exquisite workmanship. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the monk explained the cloud in the Wuyi Tea Song: "Like Mesfu Lansing, it is almost fragrant when baking. The fire in the tripod is warm, and the heart is idle, the hands are sensitive and the work is fine. " The excellent quality of Wuyi tea is due to its fine production time. In the writings of the later Qing dynasty, "congou" refers to Wuyi rock tea very specifically.
"Gongfu tea is the most prosperous in Fujian."
The so-called congou tea is mainly characterized by a small pot and a small cup, which is almost filled with tea leaves and slowly tastes tea fragrance. People in southern Fujian call drinking tea "sipping tea". Whether you are entertaining guests or talking about business, you will be invited to sit down and "sip" a cup of tea first. The literal meaning of "sip" is "sip, sip", and the meaning in Minnan language is "eat".
Fujian kungfu tea, taking 18 tea techniques as an example: burning incense and calming the air, boiling the sweet spring alive → proud as a peacock, Ye Jia rewarding guests → Mengchen showering, Oolong entering the palace → Mountain flowing water, spring breeze blowing → Oolong entering the sea, re-washing the fairy face → Jade liquid returning to the pot, and then injecting nectar → auspicious dragon and rain, the phoenix nodding → a perfect match, the carp turning over → holding a cup of tea, and all hands passing it on.
Take Tieguanyin as an example, there are eight steps to make tea: one is to bathe the crane, and the other is to wash the cup; Second, Oolong entered the palace, talking about falling tea; Third, the hanging pot is high, which is about making tea; Fourth, the spring breeze blows your face, which is about scraping foam with a cup cover; On the fifth day, Guan Gong toured the city, talking about pouring tea; Sixth, Han Xin ordered soldiers and talked about tea; The seventh day is to enjoy the color and smell the fragrance, which is about watching the tea soup and smelling the tea fragrance; Eight days sipping nectar is about drinking tea.
2. Chaoshan congou
Chaoshan congou, a tea-making skill of Chaoshan people, is called "China Tea Ceremony" and is also a national intangible cultural heritage. Gongfu tea originated in Song Dynasty, and it is the most popular in Chaoshan area of Guangdong and Zhangzhou and Quanzhou area of Fujian. It is the inheritance and in-depth development of tea tasting art since Tang and Song Dynasties. Su Zhe has a poem saying, "Tea in Fujian is of the highest quality in the world, so I don't know how to devote myself to tea."
Rock tea produced in Wuyishan, northern Fujian, and its preparation method and soaking method were first spread in southern Fujian, and then spread all the way south to Chaoshan area bordering Zhangzhou. As a way of soaking and drinking, "congou" also appeared more and more frequently in the writings of the Qing Dynasty, and the classics were Yu Jiao's A Tale of the Tide and the Wind, Ji Quan's A History of Butterfly Steps, and Xu Ke's Qing Li's Notes and Diet.
Chaoshan area has also produced tea since ancient times, such as Phoenix Dan Cong (oolong tea), which is favored by tea lovers nowadays.
According to Chenxiang Bai, a famous tea culture scholar in Chaozhou, the authentic tea set in kung fu tea consists of teapot (Mengchen jar), lid, teacup (if deep cup), tea washing, tea tray, tea cushion, water bottle, water bowl, dragon jar, red mud stove, sand shovel, feather fan, copper chopsticks, tin jar, tea towel, bamboo chopsticks, coffee table and tea towel.
"Kung Fu Tea" is very particular about tea sets, tea leaves, water quality, tea making, tea pouring and drinking.
Kung fu teapot is very small, only the size of a fist, thin-walled porcelain, translucent, and you can vaguely see the tea in the pot. The cup is only half the size of a ping-pong ball.
Oolong tea with good color, flavor and taste is selected for tea, and semi-fermented tea is the best. Generally, tea leaves are placed in a half pot. After being washed, the tea leaves will spread out, just showing a pot full.
It is best to precipitate the water. When making tea, pour boiling hot water into the pot, immediately flush it out, and pour out the first tea. This is mainly for hygiene reasons.
When pouring tea, three cups are put together. You can't fill this cup and then pour that cup, but you should pour it back and forth in turn to avoid the situation that the former is strong and then weak. When drinking, take a sip first, taste it slowly, and talk about everything while drinking tea. This is called Kung Fu.
Kung fu tea uses oolong tea, such as Tieguanyin, Narcissus and Phoenix tea. Oolong tea is between red tea and green tea, and it is semi-fermented. Only this kind of tea can produce the color and fragrance required by Kung Fu tea. Phoenix tea is produced in Fenghuangshan District of Chaozhou. The tea soup is slightly brown in color, with tight strips and thick leaves. It is very resistant to brewing and can be brewed for about 20 times.
Four treasures of congou tea
The combined tea set for drinking congou, also known as the "Four Treasures of brew tea", consists of four parts: a pot, a pot, a cup and a stove. Texture or pottery, or porcelain, simple and elegant, its shape is different. In the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Mei's "Suiyuan Food List" commented: "The cup is as small as a walnut and the pot is as small as a citron."
In the process of drinking tea, the Kung Fu tea set has been simplified from more than ten pieces to four practical pieces, namely, Mengchen pot, Ruochen cup, Yushu tea cup and Shantou air furnace. Because tea sets are exquisite and expensive, they are called "four treasures".
1. Meng Chen pot
Also known as "Meng Gong pot" and "Meng Chen pot". Purple sand drinking utensil is used for brewing oolong tea. It is made by Hui Mengchen in Yixing, mostly in ochre color. The pot is as small as citron and contains 50 ml of water. The bottom of the device is engraved with the inscription "Meng Chen".
Shi Mingbao's Miscellaneous Notes on Fujian in the Qing Dynasty: "Zhangquan belongs to various genera, and the custom is still congou. The tea set is exquisite, and the pot is as small as a walnut, which is called Menggong pot." Its standard is "small, shallow, neat and old".
"Small" means small capacity; "Shallow" means that a pot with small water can brew flavor, turn fragrance, turn foam without storing water; It refers to the spout, the mouth and the three points are leveled into a line, and the production is fine; "Old" means that the ancient artifacts are precious, and the longer they are used, the better. When the "rust" is thick, the fragrance is heavy.
2. Ruochen Cup
Also known as "Ruochen Ou". White porcelain drinking utensils are used to hold congou tea soup. According to legend, it was made by Ruochen, a famous porcelain-burning master in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province in the Qing Dynasty. It is a small white upturned cup, with patterns on the rim, landscape calligraphy and painting on the cup body, and the book at the bottom of the cup is "if it is treasured". In the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Xintai's "A Brief Introduction to Guangdong Tour": "If the teacup made by Chen is more than an inch high, it is about three or four utensils, so pour it evenly." In the annals of Xiamen in 1832, it was recorded: "It is common to sip tea, and the utensils are small. The pot must be a Meng Chen pot, and the cup must be a cup." As the tea proverb goes, "three drinks, four drinks and two plays." It is advisable to drink with three people, and three cups are like the word "product".
Because Jingdezhen in Qing Dynasty still made imitation ding kiln, Ruochen Cup is called "pure white ding ou". At present, white porcelain cups produced in Jingdezhen and Fengxi, Guangdong are mostly used.
3. Yushu Teahouse
Also known as "Yushuxian". Boiling apparatus, red, flat, thin porcelain, holding 200 ml of water. People in southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong and Taiwan Province Province call porcelain kettles "Qi", and those produced in Chaoan, Guangdong Province are the most famous. They can withstand sudden changes in cold and heat, keep warm, and facilitate the observation of the changing process of boiled water.
There are two explanations for "jade book": one is the name of the designer and manufacturer of the kettle; Second, when the kettle comes out of water, it is like the output of jade liquid, so it is called "jade loss". Because the word "loss" is unlucky, its homonym is "jade book". When in use, it is placed on the Chaoshan wind furnace and burned quickly. When the water boils, the lid is opened and closed, and the tea can be brewed at this time.
4. Shantou Air Furnace
Also known as "Chaoshan oven". Tea cooking appliance, there's a stir of red in the quiet stove made of clay, won't crack when it meets water at high temperature. The shape is like a tripod, red and simple, long, about 20 cm high. The furnace core with charcoal is deep and small, with a cover and a door, and good ventilation. Shantou air furnace is an accessory for Yushu tea ware. It is improved from the air furnace, and its mouth size is commensurate with the bottom of the kiln. The fuel is white charcoal, and the more elegant one is olive core charcoal, which is rich in fragrance and can form a quick fire.
Chaozhou kungfu tea is different from ordinary tea drinking, but tastes in small cups. The meaning of tea tasting is not so much to quench one's thirst as to taste the fragrance of tea and tell one's feelings with tea. Secondly, Chaozhou Kung Fu Tea pays special attention to the etiquette of eating tea. When the tea is finished, the host and guest are always humble, and then the elderly and distinguished guests are invited to taste it first, with the cup edge touching the lips, the tea face facing the nose, smelling the fragrance of the tea and sipping it off.
Kung Fu Tea is the traditional "tea ceremony" in China.
There is a very complicated procedure for the brewing method of Kung Fu tea. According to the process, it is to cure the vessel, take tea, wait for soup, make tea, scrape the foam, pour the can, iron the cup, wave the tea, etc. At least ten kinds of tea sets are needed!
3. Taiwan Province congou
Taiwan Province's tea industry and drinking habits came from early Fujian and Guangdong immigrants, while congou originated from Chaozhou and Shantou in eastern Guangdong, and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou in southern Fujian. In early Taiwan Province, oolong tea or packaged tea was the main tea industry, and "big pot bubble" was the most popular tea industry. A kind of pottery pot called "dragon pot" was used, and a porcelain cup or a pottery cup was used to drink tea, so it was rare to see small pots and small cups.
In the early 1970s, a "China Teahouse" appeared in an alley on Zhongshan North Road in Taipei. In the late 1970s, the earliest teahouse named "China Gongfu Teahouse" appeared in Linsen North Road in Taipei. As a result, the Chaoshan-style "small pot and small cup" tea tasting method in southern Fujian and eastern Guangdong gradually spread among the people, and the brewing method of tea tasting became a common term among the people.
This way of drinking tea, which comes from life and is higher than life, is called "tea art" Pay attention to tea sets, tea leaves and water, and have a unique way of brewing and drinking. It not only inherits the traditional way of making tea, but also incorporates innovative methods. For example, the creation of "Smelling Cup" and "Tasting Cup" is an innovative way to enjoy the aroma and taste separately.