The development of tea culture in Ming Dynasty is characterized by the historical changes in tea drinking methods. In history, it was Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, who officially abolished the group cake tea in the form of national decrees. In the 24th year of Hongwu (139 1), a letter was sent on September 16th:? No longer making dragon balls, but picking tea buds to enter. ? From then on, all the tributes to the royal family were steamed green tea in the shape of bud leaves. The royal family advocated drinking loose tea, which naturally became popular among the people, and changed the decocting method to the brewing method while brewing. This is an innovation in the way of drinking tea, which has changed the way of drinking tea that China has followed for generations. This brewing method has greatly promoted the progress of tea processing technology, such as improving steaming technology and making frying technology, as well as the rise and development of scented tea, oolong tea and black tea. Because it is easy to make tea and there are many kinds of tea, making some tea has become a great hobby of people, and the wind of drinking tea is more prosperous.
The second is to form the development peak of purple sand tea set. Zisha tea set began in the Song Dynasty, and in the Ming Dynasty, due to the influence of reverse flow across various cultural fields, the active participation and advocacy of cultural people, the improvement of purple sand manufacturing level and the popularization of instant tea, it gradually embarked on the road of prosperity. According to legend, the production of Yixing purple sand tea set began in Zhengde period of Ming Dynasty. There was a Jinsha Temple in the southeast of Yixing at that time. There was a monk in the temple, who was revered as a golden sand monk and loved tea all his life. He selected fine local purple sand, hand-kneaded it into a round blank, matched it with a lid, a handle and a mouth, and fired it in a kiln to make the earliest purple sand pot in China. Later, a servant named Gong Gongchun followed his master to Jinsha Temple to serve and sell. He skillfully imitated the old monk and learned the skills of making pots. The jar he made is called. Spring pot? , as a treasure, is there? A pot of spring water is better than white jade? Said. Gong Chun is also known as the real originator of teapot and the first master to make teapot. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, HanDong, Zhao Liang, Changyuan and Shi Peng appeared. Four? Shi Dabin, Li Zhongfang and Xu Youquan later appeared? The best of three pots? . At that time, many famous literati customized teapot in Yixing and wrote poems and paintings on it. Their excellent cultural taste and artistic appreciation also directly influenced pot makers, such as the famous painter Dong Qichang and the famous writer Zhao Huanguang, all of which were customized and engraved in Yixing.
In the Ming Dynasty, people's admiration for teapot was almost fanatical. Today, Wuzhong tea, Yixing porcelain must say. (Zhou Rong's "Yi Porcelain Pot"), if a pot weighs less than two, and every 12 or 20 taels of gold, can the earth compete with gold? (Zhou's "Yangxian Tea Pot System"), it can be seen that Ming people love teapot deeply.
Third, writing a book for tea has formed a new climax. China was the first country to write tea books, and it reached a prosperous period in the Ming Dynasty, and formed a distinctive feature. Zhu Quan, the son of 17 of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, wrote a book about 1440, which gave a detailed introduction to the people, environment, methods and manners of drinking tea. In Chaliao Ji, Lu Shusheng advocated setting up a teahouse in a small garden, with a tea stove to protect tea ware. The windows were bright and clean, far from being vulgar and elegant, and he emphasized the beauty of natural harmony. Bird said in the Book of Tea:? Do it carefully, hide it dry, and soak it clean. Ok, clean, the tea ceremony is over. ? This sentence concisely clarifies the true meaning of tea ceremony. Tea books in Ming Dynasty sorted out, expounded and developed all aspects of tea culture. Their creativity and outstanding contribution lies in comprehensively demonstrating the unprecedented development of tea industry and tea administration in Ming Dynasty and the brand-new situation of tea culture in China, and their achievements have influenced it to this day. The Ming dynasty also made great achievements in tea culture art. Except camellia Abel. There are many tea paintings, songs and operas, and several tea poems reflecting the sufferings of tea farmers and mocking the current politics have high historical value, such as Gao Qi's "Tea Picking Ci".
The development model of tea culture in Ming Dynasty: the art of drinking.
The renewal and development of tea tasting methods in the Ming and Qing dynasties are highlighted in the pursuit of tea drinking artistry. The method of making tea in Ming Dynasty is based on loose tea, which is easy to brew, convenient to drink, and the buds and leaves are intact, greatly enhancing the ornamental effect when drinking tea. People in Ming Dynasty have consciously pursued a kind of natural beauty and environmental beauty when drinking tea. The artistry of tea drinking in Ming Dynasty is also manifested in the pursuit of the beauty of tea drinking environment, which includes the number of tea drinkers and the natural environment. At that time, there was a saying about the number of people drinking tea: "One person gets the spirit, two people get the interest, three people get the taste, and seven or eight people are famous for giving tea." For the natural environment, it is best to live in a quiet mountain, frugal woodshed, Qingxi, Songtao, and no noise.
Beauty of utensils
The rise of loose tea in Ming dynasty caused the change of brewing method, and the original tea set in Tang and Song dynasties was no longer suitable. Teapots are more widely used in people's tea drinking life, and tea cups have changed from black glazed porcelain to white porcelain and blue and white porcelain, in order to better set off the color of tea. Besides white porcelain and celadon, Yixing teapot was the most prominent tea set in Ming Dynasty. Zisha tea set not only prospered because of the drinking method, but also catered to the spiritual needs of insipid, dignified, simple, natural, gentle and elegant pursued by the society at that time. There are many famous artists making teapot, such as Shi Dabin and Chen Yuanming. They have formed a certain genre and finally formed an independent art, so the rise of purple sand art is also a fruitful achievement of tea culture in Ming Dynasty.
Since the Qing Dynasty, congou tea has been popular in Guangdong, Fujian and other places in the south of China, and the prosperity of congou tea has also led to special tea drinking utensils. For example, it is a kettle for boiling water, which is mainly white mud in eastern Guangdong and has a small mouth; Tea stove, made of fine white mud, truncated, one foot two or three inches high; The teapot is made of purple sand pottery. They are round, with flat bellies, big lips and big cranks, and can receive half a catty of water. Tea cups and saucers are mostly blue and white porcelain. The teacup is as small as a walnut and as thin as an eggshell, which is very delicate.
Popularization of teahouses
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially in the Qing Dynasty, teahouses in China, as a kind of civilian-style tea drinking place, mushroomed and developed rapidly. The Qing Dynasty was the heyday of China Teahouses. According to records, there are more than 30 famous teahouses in Beijing, and more in Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty, reaching 66. Teahouses in towns and villages are as developed as those in big cities, such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Some towns have only a few thousand residents, and there can be more than 100 teahouses.
Teahouses are a very striking part of tea culture in China. The management and functional characteristics of teahouses in Qing dynasty are: tea drinking place, dim sum tea drinking place and book listening place. In addition to the above, teahouses are sometimes used as gambling places, especially in market towns in the south of the Yangtze River. In addition, the teahouse sometimes acts as a "place to try disputes". "Talking about tea", after all kinds of disputes in the neighboring countryside, the two sides often invite elders or middlemen who uphold justice to the teahouse to judge and solve them satisfactorily. If mediation fails, bowls and lamps will fly around and fight, and the teahouse will be unrecognizable.