Folding napkins in tea ceremony is a traditional action, which is done in China to prevent bad breath, because tea is considered as one of the seven daily necessities, and the others are firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar (firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea). The tea culture in China is different from that in Europe, Britain or Japan, such as production methods, tasting methods and drinking occasions. Even now, people often drink tea on informal and formal occasions in China. Besides being a drink, China tea is also used in Chinese medicine and China cooking.
Plants (tea tree, pinyin: chá shù). Before the 8th century BC, tea and many other bitter plants were collectively called $ TERM "tea". The great similarity between the two characters is noteworthy, except for an extra horizontal stroke in tea. This Chinese character is composed of the radical "fu" of "damn" (pinyin: c m 4 o) and "Yu" which provides voice prompts. This plant was later defined as "Bitter Tea" (pi nyin:Ji tú, literally meaning "Bitter Plant of Evergreen Shrub"), or simplified as "Bitter Tea" (Pinyin: kǔtú) or "Bitter" (Pinyin: Chu N).
The word "Ming" (pinyin: mí ng) may have come from a Burmese word and was later used to refer to tea, which became popular there and became more common in ancient China. This word is still used to refer to tea in modern tea communities in Taiwan Province and China. By the end of the 8th century BC, the Chinese character "tea" was finally simplified to "tea". Tang (Tang Lu Yu/Tang Lu Yu) discussed the origin of the word "tea" and its numerals in his masterpiece "Tea Classic". In the first chapter of Origin, he wrote:
"Its word: either from grass, or from wood, or vegetation."
”“qízì:Huòcóng cüo，Huòcóng mü，Huòcüo müng。 " "
Meaning: "Its nature: it may come from herbs/grass (tea Chá from words and sound wé nzzy and nyé ad 736ad), or from trees/trees (Tú from matria by b ncoj Ο ng, ancient medical texts), or a combination of the two (tea tú from the erya? A study of dictionaries in Han dynasty)
"Its name is: tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea and tea."
"I know: you know, you know, you know, wǔ know."
This means: "Its name: firstly, it is called tea, and then it is called the third tea, the fourth tea, and the fifth Chu tea." míng them:
Ji Ji: According to Yang Xiong in Han Dynasty, $ TERM is the bitter tea used by the Duke of Zhou.
She: nowadays, the natural Su Chu ā n is used to represent the $ TERM of tea (tú)
Tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea, tea.
There are several special situations when making tea and drinking tea.
As a sign of respect: In China society, the younger generation always shows their respect for the older generation by offering tea. Inviting their elders to a restaurant for tea and paying for them is a traditional festival activity. In the past, people with lower status offered tea to people with higher status. Today, as China society becomes more free, sometimes parents may pour a cup of tea for their children at home, or bosses may even pour tea for their subordinates in restaurants. However, on formal occasions, people with lower status should not expect people with higher status to pour him or her tea.
For family gatherings: When children leave home to work and get married, they may seldom visit their parents. Therefore, parents may seldom see their grandchildren. Therefore, going to a restaurant for tea has become an important activity for family gatherings. Every Sunday, restaurants in China are crowded, especially when people celebrate festivals. This phenomenon reflects China's family values.
Apologize: In China culture, people will make a solemn apology by pouring tea for others. That's a sign of regret and submission.
Thank the elders on the wedding day: in traditional Chinese weddings, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents and offer them tea. This is a way to express their gratitude. In front of parents, the couple usually say, "Thank you for bringing us up. Now we're getting married. I owe it all to you. " Parents usually drink a small amount of tea and then give them a red envelope, which symbolizes good luck.
Connecting extended families on the wedding day: Tea ceremony during the wedding is also a way for both parties to meet each other's family members. As China's family may be quite large, it is entirely possible not to be introduced to someone during courtship. This is especially true in the older generation, where the patriarch may have more than one wife, and not all family members have a good relationship. Therefore, at the tea ceremony, the couple will offer tea to all family members and address them by their official titles. Drinking tea symbolizes family acceptance. Refusing to drink symbolizes opposition to the wedding, which is unheard of, because it will lead to the loss of "face" The old relatives introduced in this way will give red envelopes to the newlyweds, and the couple will give red envelopes to the young unmarried relatives.
Inheritance: Kung Fu tea is drunk by Chaoshan people because it is a part of Chaoshan culture. They have a term that cannot be translated into another Chinese. In Chaoshan dialect, it is Ain7goin 1 Bhung7Huê3 leisure culture. It is friends and family gathered in a room to drink kungfu tea and chat. On this occasion, traditions and culture will be passed on to the younger generation.
When a person's cup is full, he may tap the table with his bent forefinger and middle finger (or other similar finger tapping) to express his gratitude to the person who serves tea. Although this custom is common in southern cultures of China, such as Cantonese culture, it is generally not recognized or practiced in other parts of China.
This custom is said to have originated in the Qing Dynasty, when Emperor Qianlong would cross the empire in disguise. The servant was told not to reveal the identity of his master. One day, in a restaurant, the emperor poured himself a cup of tea and then another for a servant. It was a great honor for the servant that the emperor poured him tea. Instinctively, he wanted to kneel down to express his thanks. He couldn't kneel and kowtow to the emperor, because it would expose his identity, so he put his finger on the table to show his gratitude and respect to the emperor.
As one of the seven things to open the door (rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea), drinking tea was very common in ancient China. The tea culture in China is quite different from that in Europe, the United States or Japan. China tea culture has a long history and is profound, including not only the material culture level, but also the profound spiritual civilization level. Cha Sheng Tea Classic written by Lu Yu in Tang Dynasty sounded the clarion call in the history of tea culture in China. Since then, the spirit of tea has penetrated into the court and society, and into China's poetry, painting, calligraphy, religion and medicine. For thousands of years, China has not only accumulated a lot of material culture about tea cultivation and production, but also accumulated rich spiritual culture about tea, which is a unique tea culture in China and belongs to the category of culturology.
The content of tea culture in China is mainly the embodiment of tea in China's spiritual culture, which is much broader than the categories of "tea custom" and "tea ceremony", and it is also the reason why the tea culture in China is quite different from that in Europe, America or Japan.
The contents of China tea culture include:
China's tea book
Tea Custom in Various Regions of China (including Ethnic Minorities)
The embodiment of tea in China literature and art.
Tea set art
Famous tea allusions
Does not include tea planting, science and technology, etc.
In recent years, China scholars have made many achievements in the study of China tea culture. China Tea Culture Series, 1-8 volumes with more than 2,000 pages, is a gratifying achievement in recent years.
Since ancient times, growing tea, making tea, making tea and tasting tea are all considered to require high skills. At present, the related art is called tea art, starting from the Chinese. At the same time, a large number of art works related to tea have emerged throughout the ages.
Tea is a kind of thing, produced in lofty mountains, absorbing the aura of heaven and earth, inevitably accompanied by clean flowing spring water. The so-called benevolent loves mountains, and the wise man love the water; A cup of tea of the ancients contains the heaven, earth, mountains, water, benevolence and wisdom deeply loved by China literati and philosophers.
There are countless literary works about tea in China, including only one ancient poem, totaling more than 2,000.
The earliest literary work about tea that can be seen now is Du Yu's Fu.
Of the 2,800 poems written by Bai Juyi, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty, 60 were related to tea. And he himself is a master of tea tasting, and he never leaves his mouth all day long.
Lu Tong, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote "writing a pen to thank Meng for persuading to send new tea", which is well-known and enduring.
"A bowl of throat kiss embellish, two bowls of broken lonely stuffy. Three bowls of heartbroken, only five thousand volumes of words. Four bowls of sweat, life is not smooth, scattered to the pores. Five bowls of bones and muscles are clear, and six bowls are immortal. I can't eat seven bowls, but I feel the wind blowing under my arm. "
The Song of Fighting Tea by Fan Zhongyan in the Northern Song Dynasty depicts the prevalence of tea culture at that time.
Su Shi's "Tea on the River" in the Northern Song Dynasty describes the scene that the poet personally draws tea from the living river with a big ladle on a moonlit night.
"Living water must be cooked with living water, and the fish and stone are deep and clear; The big ladle keeps the moon and the spring urn, and the small ladle divides the river and the night bottle.
Snow milk has been stir-fried, and the wind suddenly pours; Three prohibitions are not easy, but lying in the mountain city for longer. "
When a person's teacup is full, he can bend his fingers and tap on the table to express his gratitude to the tea pourer.
This custom originated in the Qing Dynasty, about three or four hundred years ago. At that time, Emperor Qianlong often traveled around the country incognito, asking his followers not to reveal the identity of his emperor.
One day, in a hotel, the emperor poured himself a cup of tea, and then another for his entourage. This is a great favor to Sui Zong. Out of conditioned reflex, the entourage immediately wanted to kowtow and give thanks. However, this would expose the identity of the emperor, so he bent his finger to show his gratitude and respect to the emperor.
Today, this way of knocking at the door still exists in China and areas influenced by China culture.