Chinese tea culture

Chinese people are believed to have enjoyed tea drinking for more than 4,000 years. Legend has it that Yan Di,
one of three rulers in ancient times, tasted all kinds of herbs to find medical cures. One day,as he was being
poisoned by some herb he had ingested; a drop of water from a tea tree dripped into his mouth and he was saved.
For a long time, tea was used as an herbal medicine. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, tea was a religious
offering. During the Spring and Autumn Period, people ate fresh tea leaves as vegetables. With the
popularization of Buddhism from the Three Kingdoms to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, tea's refreshing
effect made it a favorite among monks in Za-Zen meditation.
 
Tea as a drink prospered during the Tang Dynasty, and tea shops became popular. A major event of this time
was the completion of Tea Classics, the cornerstone of Chinese tea culture, by Lu Yu, Tea Sage of China. This
little book details rules concerning various aspects of tea, such as growth areas for tea trees, wares and skills for
processing tea, tea tasting, the history of Chinese tea and quotations from other records, comments on tea from
various places, and notes on what occasions tea wares should be complete and when some wares could be
omitted.

Tinted by the cultural style of the Song Dynasty, tea culture at this time was delicate and sumptuous. New skills
created many different ways to enjoy tea. The Ming Dynasty laid the foundation for tea processing, tea types and
drinking styles that we have inherited.

During the Qing Dynasty folk art entered tea shops, making them popular entertainment centers. This habit is
still practiced in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

During the Tang Dynasty, a Japanese monk brought tea seeds from Zhejiang Province to Japan. Later in the
Southern Song Dynasty, Zen masters brought tea procedures and tea wares from China to Japan, promoting the
initiation of the Japanese tea ceremony. In the Song Dynasty, Arabic merchants exported tea from Quanzhou,
Fujian Province. In the Ming Dynasty, tea was sold to Southeast Asian and South African countries. In 1610 tea
went to Europe via Macau in a Dutch merchant ship. Thus tea became an international drink.

Chinese tea culture refers to the methods of preparation of tea, the equipment used to make tea and the occasions
in which tea is consumed in China.

Tea culture in China differs from that of Europe, Britain or Japan in such things as preparation methods, tasting
methods and the occasions for which it is consumed. Even now, in both casual and formal Chinese occasions, tea
is consumed regularly. In addition to being a drink, Chinese tea is used in traditional Chinese medicine and in
Chinese cuisine.

Tea Ceremony-

    The art of drinking and serving tea plays a major cultural role in China. It inspires poetry and songs. Mutual
love of tea cements lifelong friendships. For centuries, the ritual of preparing and serving tea has held a special
place in the hearts and minds of Chinese aristocracy, court officials, intellectuals and poets.
The Chinese ceremony emphasizes the tea, rather than the ceremony -- what the tea tastes like, smells like, and
how one tea tastes compared to the previous tea, or in successive rounds of drinking. Ceremony doesn't mean
that each server will perform the ritual the same way; it is not related to religion. Each step is meant to be a
sensory exploration and appreciation.

This style of tea-drinking uses small cups to match the small, unglazed clay teapots; each cup is just large
enough to hold about two small swallows of tea. These tiny cups are particularly popular in Fujian and Chiujao,
in southern coastal China above Canton. In Shanghai and Beijing they use large cups.
Tea drinking customs

There are several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed.

 As a sign of respect

In Chinese society, the younger generation always shows its respect to the older generation by offering
a cup of tea. Inviting and paying for their elders to go to restaurants for tea is a traditional activity on
holidays. In the past, people of lower rank served tea to higher ranking people. Today, as Chinese
society becomes more liberal, sometimes at home parents may pour a cup of tea for their children, or a
boss may even pour tea for subordinates at restaurants. The lower ranking person should not expect the
higher rank person to serve him or her tea in formal occasions, however.

 For a family gathering

When sons and daughters leave home to work and get married, they may seldom visit their parents. As
a result, parents may seldom meet their grandchildren. Going to restaurants and drinking tea, therefore,
becomes an important activity for family gatherings. Every Sunday, Chinese restaurants are crowded,
especially when people celebrate festivals. This phenomenon reflects Chinese family values.

 To apologize

In Chinese culture, people make serious apologies to others by pouring tea for them. For example,
children serving tea to their parents is a sign of regret and submission.

 To express thanks to your elders on one's wedding day

In the traditional Chinese marriage ceremony, both the bride and groom kneel in front of their parents
and serve them tea. That is a way to express their gratitude. In front of their parents, it is a practice for
the married couple to say, "Thanks for bringing us up. Now we are getting married. We owe it all to
you." The parents will usually drink a small portion of the tea and then give them a red envelope, which
symbolizes good luck. Another variance is for the to-be daughter-in-law to serve tea to her to-be
parents-in-law, symbolizing that she is to become a part of the latter's family.

 To connect large families on wedding days

The tea ceremony during weddings also serves as a means for both parties in the wedding to meet with
members of the other family. As Chinese families can be rather extended, one or two hundred people, it
is entirely possible during a courtship to not have been introduced to someone. This was particularly
true in older generations where the patriarch may have had more than one wife and not all family
members were always on good terms. As such, during the tea ceremony, the couple would serve tea to
all family members and call them by their official title. Drinking the tea symbolized acceptance into the
family. Refusal to drink would symbolize opposition to the wedding and is quite unheard of since it
would result in a loss of "face". Older relations so introduced would give a red envelope to the
matrimonial couple while the couple would be expected to give a red envelope to younger, unmarried
relations.

 To pass on the tradition

Kungfu cha is drunk in Chaoshan because it is part of Chaoshan culture. They have a term for it and
cannot be translated to another Chinese language. In Chaoshan hua [using Guangdong PinYin for
Chaoshan hua], it is Ain7goin1 Bhung7Huê3 閒間文化[閒间文化]. It is when friends and family get
together in a room to drink Kungfu cha and chat. During such occasions, tradition and culture are
passed on to the younger generation.
  Folding the napkin in tea ceremonies is a traditional action and is done to keep away bad Qi energy in
China as tea (茶) was regarded as one of the seven daily necessities, the others being firewood, rice, oil,
salt, soy sauce, and vinegar（柴,米,油,鹽,醬,醋）.

Expressing gratitude for tea

After a person's cup is filled, that person may knock their bent index and middle fingers (or some similar variety
of finger tapping) on the table to express gratitude to the person who served the tea. Although this custom is
common in southern Chinese culture such as the Cantonese, in other parts of China it is only acceptable if for
some reason you cannot actually say thank you at that moment, for example if you are in the middle of talking
with someone else at the table.

This custom is said to have originated in the Qing Dynasty when Emperor Qian Long would travel in disguise
through the empire. Servants were told not to reveal their master's identity. One day in a restaurant, the emperor,
after pouring himself a cup of tea, filled a servant's cup as well. To that servant it was a huge honour to have the
emperor pour him a cup of tea. Out of reflex he wanted to kneel and express his thanks. He could not kneel and
kowtow to the emperor since that would reveal the emperor's identity so he bent his fingers on the table to
express his gratitude and respect to the emperor.