The West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province is surrounded by mountains on three sides and is as green as jade. To the southwest of West Lake, there is Longjing Village. The village is surrounded by beautiful peaks and mist-shrouded mountains. It is a famous Longjing tea-producing area.
The extraordinary quality of Longjing tea has always been praised by tea drinkers. Gao Lian of the Ming Dynasty said: "The springs of West Lake are the best, Hupao; the tea of ??the two mountains, Longjing is the best." Longjing tea and Hupao Spring are two famous wonders in Hangzhou. "Good tea has always been like a beautiful woman", Su Dongpo, a tea master in the Song Dynasty, also left a famous saying for Longjing tea. Legend has it that one year Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty went to the south of the Yangtze River and rested at the Hu Gong Temple under the Lion Peak near Longjing Village. The monks in the temple offer famous local tea. Qianlong was an expert in tea ceremony. When he saw the tea, he couldn't help but be amazed. In the porcelain bowl as white as jade, pieces of tender tea were like tongues, dark green in color, and bursts of fragrance came out of the blue liquid. He took a sip and felt that his cheeks were fragrant and had indescribable benefits. So Qianlong summoned the monk and asked: "What is the name of this tea? Where is it produced?" The monk replied: "For your Majesty, this is the Longjing tea produced in the small temple." Qianlong got excited and walked out of the temple gate. In front of Hu Gong Temple, there are 18 tea trees with green buds in their early buds, and the surrounding mountains are undulating like lions. At this time, Qianlong was very happy: the tea was named Longjing and the mountain was named Shifeng, both of which seemed to indicate his lasting achievements. Moreover, eighteen was a number of good fortune, and the tea was really pleasing to the eye, sweet and refreshing, so Qianlong was on the spot. The eighteen tea trees in front of Hugong Temple were named "Imperial Tea".
Since then, Longjing tea has become famous. Longjing is the name of the spring, which was called Longhong in ancient times. It is located on the left side of the old Longjing Temple more than 1,700 years ago. According to legend, when a well was dug during the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, a large stone was dug out from the bottom of the well, shaped like a swimming dragon, hence the name Longjing.
For thousands of years, there have been many legends and stories about Longjing tea, which makes Longjing tea even more mysterious.
Once upon a time, Longjing was a desolate small village. In the mountain col, there are about a dozen families scattered sparsely. There is a leaky hut near the village, and an old woman lives in it. The old aunt has no children and is all alone. She is too old to go up the mountain or to the ground. She can only take care of the eighteen old tea trees behind the house.
The old aunt is a good person. Although she lives a very hard life, she always leaves some tea leaves every year. She cooks a pot of tea every day and puts two benches under the pergola at the door to give passers-by a rest while going up the mountains and down the ridge. Quench your thirst.
One New Year's Eve, it snowed heavily, and the neighbors all bought some New Year's goods in preparation for the New Year. The old aunt's family is really poor, and the rice vat is almost empty. Except for a few handfuls of old tea leaves left in the vat, there is nothing else. But she still followed the old rules. She got up early in the morning, put some tea leaves in the pot, turned up the heat, and sat in front of the stove to make tea. Suddenly, there was a "squeak" sound, and the door of the hut was pushed open, and an old man came in, his body covered with snowflakes. The old aunt quickly stood up and greeted: "Old uncle, it's very windy and snowy on the mountain. Come and sit in the house."
The old man dusted off the snowflakes on his body, walked into the house, and walked towards the stove hole. Warming up the fire, he talked to the old aunt: "Old aunt, what are you burning in the pot?"
"You are boiling tea in the pot!"
"Today is New Year's Eve, tomorrow it will be It’s the New Year, and everyone is busy making three animal blessings. How can your family make tea?”
The old lady sighed and said, “Oh, I am a poor old woman and cannot afford three animal blessings to offer to the gods.” , I had to cook a pot of tea every day for the convenience of passers-by. "The old man laughed and said: "It's not poor, it's not poor, you still have a treasure at your door."
The old lady was very surprised. I stretched my head and looked outside. Except for two old benches under the balcony, a broken stone mortar in the corner, and a pile of old garbage in the broken stone mortar, everything was still the same. Where did the treasure come from?
"Hey, how can I take your treasure for nothing? If you are willing to part with it, just sell it to me. I will ask someone to carry it." After the old man finished speaking, he left in the heavy snow. The old aunt looked at the broken stone mortar and thought, how can anyone move the stone mortar if it is so dirty? Then he put the old garbage inside into a dustpan and buried it under the roots of the eighteen camellia trees behind the house. Then he went to Longjing to bring a bucket of clean water, cleaned the broken stone mortar, and poured the washed sewage on the roots of the old tea trees. She had just cleaned the stone mortar when the old man came with his people. When he came to the door and took a look, he shouted loudly: "Oh, where is the baby? Oh, where is the baby?"
The old lady became more and more confused, pointed to the broken stone mortar and said: "This-isn't this a good show?" Are you there?"
"Hey, where did you get the stuff inside?"
"I dumped it at the root of the tea tree behind the house."< /p>
The old man went around to the back of the house and saw that it was indeed the case. He couldn't help but stamp his feet and said: "What a pity, what a pity. The treasure of this broken stone mortar is on that pile of old garbage. Since you buried it under The roots of the tea tree are gone, so let's make these eighteen old tea trees whole." After he finished speaking, he led the people away.
After New Year’s Eve and New Year, spring will soon arrive. This year, the eighteen old tea trees behind the old aunt's house were densely sprouting green buds, and the tea leaves picked were thin, tender and fragrant.
When the neighbors saw that the old lady’s tea trees were growing so well, they cut down the bamboo trees, harvested the grains, and used the seeds of the eighteen tea trees to plant tea trees on the hills far and near. Year after year, there are more and more, and they are more and more prosperous. Later, tea trees were planted all over the mountains and plains in Longjing area.
Because the tea produced in this area is thin, tender and fragrant, and tastes particularly delicious when brewed, "Longjing Tea" has become famous all over the world.
To this day, tea farmers say that the eighteen tea trees behind the old lady’s house are the ancestors of “Longjing Tea”.