Reported by Xinhua News Agency | Huang Jianhong, inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of tea making skills: Tasting the beauty of traditional Chinese culture in the misty aroma of tea
2024-12-09
For a long time, tea has been an important medium for China to engage in economic, trade, and cultural exchanges with countries around the world. The tea making technique flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and was the mainstream form of tea drinking in both dynasties. It is also one of the representatives of ancient Chinese tea art. Afterwards, although tea making was once lost in time, with the revival of ancient Chinese tea art, tea making techniques have received increasing attention and importance. In recent years, with the efforts of a group of tea making artists represented by Huang Jianhong, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage "Guangzhou Tea Art (Tea Making Techniques)" project in Liwan District, Guangzhou, tea making has further integrated into modern life, and Chinese tea culture has bloomed with unique beauty in the new era. Huang Jianhong, the representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage "Guangzhou Tea Art (Tea Ordering Techniques)" project in Liwan District, Guangzhou, has been associated with tea and explores its history. Since childhood, Huang Jianhong's life trajectory has been accompanied by the fragrance of tea. "I think I am lucky because I was born in Jianyang, Fujian Province, which is known as the" Hometown of Little White Tea in China ". According to reports, Jianyang District, Nanping City, Fujian Province is located in the upper reaches of Jianxi and the southern foot of Mount Wuyi. It is one of the five oldest counties in Fujian Province, with a long history of tea production and a variety of tea types. During the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong wrote a poem for Jianyang tea, saying, "Jia Ming Chun Sheng Sheng Jian Yang, Wu Yi Xi Gu Yi Xiang Xiang Xiang. There is a large tea garden on the back mountain of my hometown. I have watched my parents pick, make, and drink tea since I was young Huang Jianhong recalled, "Although drinking tea is a part of our lives, people didn't pay much attention to it at that time, only treating it as a thirst quenching drink." She never thought that since then, a seed called "tea" would fall in her heart. Tea Garden (data picture) In junior high school, Huang Jianhong often went to Mount Wuyi to climb high and look far. She found that the people there were more deeply influenced by tea culture, almost every household knew how to taste tea, and many tea loving tourists came to visit. Under her influence, she gained a deeper understanding of tea and tea culture. The locals are very particular about drinking tea and have higher requirements for tea taste. From then on, I realized that a small 'Eastern leaf' contained so much knowledge, and thus developed a strong interest in it. After graduating from high school, Huang Jianhong accidentally met many industry veterans and gradually learned tea evaluation under their guidance, further deepening his understanding and comprehension of tea. Tea evaluation refers to the quality control and professional tasting of tea leaves. Although I did not study related majors in school, I effectively learned the process of tea evaluation through the guidance of predecessors and exchanges with experts. My tea tasting ability has also been greatly improved, which has laid a solid foundation for my future development. "From then on, Huang Jianhong bravely moved forward on the road of accompanying tea, determined to make it his lifelong career. In 2003, inspired by her predecessors, she came to Guangzhou to start a business and brought Fujian tea to Guangdong. Afterwards, Huang Jianhong continuously absorbed professional knowledge, improved skills, and broadened his horizons, thus growing rapidly. Through communication with a group of professionals, they gave me a lot of professional guidance, which benefited me a lot. But what she didn't expect was that a "difficult problem" by chance led her into a brand new field. Once, a foreign friend who was very fond of Chinese ceramics found Huang Jianhong. "He said that many foreign museums had exhibited black pottery tea bowls produced in Jianyao of the Song Dynasty, but he rarely explained their specific uses, so he came to China to learn about the origin of these tea bowls." She recalled, "I knew that there were porcelain kilns in Jianyang, but I didn't know anything about these tea bowls, so I decided to explore in depth." Because the Internet was not developed at that time, Huang Jianhong went back and forth to Guangzhou and Jianyang many times to learn about the situation from the elderly in his hometown. After unsuccessful inquiries, she explored a wider range of channels and went to museums and libraries to search for information, seeking advice from experts and scholars studying ancient ceramics, ancient poetry, and Song Dynasty history. It took her more than a year to unravel the mystery in her heart bit by bit. At that time, I was like a sponge, absorbing a vast amount of knowledge and constantly connecting them to sort out the historical context. It turned out that besides producing tea, Jianyang was also the location of one of the eight famous kilns in the Song Dynasty - Jianyang Kiln (abbreviated as "Jianyao"). The construction of kilns began in the Tang Dynasty and was extremely prosperous during the Song Dynasty, especially the Southern Song Dynasty. It lasted until the Qing Dynasty and is known for its unique style of firing black glazed porcelain. Due to the prevalence of tea fighting in the Song Dynasty, black glazed tea cups produced in kilns and used for tea making were also known as "Jianzhan" and were highly favored by Song literati. Huang Jianhong introduced that generally speaking, the body of Jianzhan is thick and firm, with a purple black color; The glaze color is black and moist, the bottom of the cup is exposed, and the glaze is flowing and thick; The glaze surface is mostly brown yellow, silver gray, and brown blue; After firing, the glaze surface shows obvious sagging and kiln deformation phenomena. The firing of Jianzhan depends on the 'will of heaven' and 'fate'. After being fired at a high temperature of 1300 degrees, the state of the glaze surface will only be known after the kiln is opened. If its patterns can present uniform rabbit hair, oil droplets, partridge spots and other forms, it is a rare and excellent product. In Yang Wanli's poem 'Boiling Shuangjing Tea with Liuyi Spring', 'Eagle Claw New Tea Crab Eye Soup, Pine Wind Singing Snow Rabbit Hair Frost' is a description of the rabbit hair zhan. 'As Huang Jianhong's understanding of Jianzhan and Jianzhan deepened, this further stimulated her curiosity about tea making techniques. On the one hand, tea cups and serving tea complement each other, so I want to learn the specific usage of tea cups and the complete process of serving tea. On the other hand, poets such as Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian, and Yang Wanli have written poems related to serving tea, which indicates that serving tea is an important way of life in the Song Dynasty, and I believe it is worth exploring. On the other hand, studying techniques, removing turnips and preserving essence tea is an ancient and unique beverage. Since ancient times, people have explored two ways of "eating tea" and "drinking tea", and serving tea is one of the representatives of "eating tea". After reading many books about ordering tea in the Song Dynasty, Huang Jianhong went to Mount Wuyi in 2013 to visit Zhang Zhifeng, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of tea operas. The rich Borneo (i.e. foam), and finally the Borneo and tea soup are eaten together, which is the origin of "eating tea". The tool used for grinding tea powder is to stimulate the nutrients such as tea saponin, protein, and amino acids in the tea leaves by tapping and brushing during tea making. During the process of 'eating tea', people can better absorb the nutrients in the tea leaves. She further said that a good cup of tea should have a pure white foam color, long-lasting foam, a smooth and mellow taste, a sweet aftertaste with a lingering aroma, and can also feel the fragrance of orchids and frankincense. By consulting a large number of ancient books and historical materials, such as Cai Xiang's "Tea Theory" and Song Huizong's "Daguan Tea Theory", Huang Jianhong gradually mastered the traditional technique of tea making. She said that traditional tea ordering often uses the "three soup method" and "seven soup method", and due to the recommendation of Emperor Huizong of Song, the seven soup method was more popular in the Song Dynasty. During the Northern Song Dynasty, almost everyone, from civil and military officials to ordinary people, loved tea. Therefore, tea ordering had a profound development soil and dissemination foundation, containing rich cultural value and aesthetic taste. For example, the Seven Soup Method not only explained the steps and methods of tea ordering, but also included the author's expression of the artistic conception and aesthetics of tea ordering, which also reflected the aesthetic and appreciation ability of the Song people. Later, after years of practice, she found that the traditional tea ordering method was not conducive to teaching and dissemination. "Intangible cultural heritage skills need to adapt to the development of the times and the needs of teaching. I believe that tea ordering needs a standardized process and system, so that beginners can quickly master the methods and tricks of tea ordering. Only by ordering tea can we better inherit it." Therefore, Huang Jianhong summarized the experience and insights of ordering tea over the past decade, Removing the dross and preserving the essence, we have created the "Twelve Styles of Tea Ordering" and integrated it into today's teaching. Huang Jianhong is ordering tea. According to the introduction, the twelve steps of ordering tea include bowing, placing a whisk, using a warmer to take powder, pouring soup and adjusting paste, pouring soup and tapping, pouring soup and frothing, pouring soup and milk, dividing tea, inviting tea, and eating tea. The Twelve Rules for Ordering Tea have specific regulations on the placement of tea utensils, the area, angle, and amount of water to be poured, as well as the temperature of the water. For example, nowadays we often use white or green tea to order tea. "Huang Jianhong explained that she once tried to use tea leaves from the six major types of tea for ordering, but the foam from oolong tea, black tea, and black tea is brown, while the foam from white tea and green tea is like clouds and snow, which is more in line with the description of" snow foam milk flowers floating in the afternoon cup "in Su Dongpo's poetry. She added that for those with profound knowledge and who want to further study tea making, they can continue to explore the beauty of tea making through literature, ancient books, poetry, ancient paintings, and even Song Dynasty ceramics. 3、 Inheriting intangible cultural heritage skills and telling the story of Chinese tea culture well, from the ancient Silk Road, Tea Horse Road, Tea Boat Road, to today's Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, tea has crossed history and borders, becoming a link between countries. As of now, 44 projects in China have been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List, ranking first in the world in terms of quantity, including "Chinese traditional tea making techniques and related customs". General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on the protection of intangible cultural heritage, stating that "we must solidly carry out systematic protection of intangible cultural heritage, better meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people, and promote cultural confidence and self-improvement. Huang Jianhong stated, "Tea is one of the representatives of Chinese culture, and it deserves to be understood by more people. I hope that more and more people can enter the world of 'tea', experience the charm of tea firsthand, and love it." With strong support and promotion from various sources, "Guangzhou Tea Art (Tea Ordering Techniques)" was selected as the fifth batch of representative intangible cultural heritage projects in Liwan District in 2020, and Huang Jianhong became the representative inheritor of this project. In recent years, she has adhered to the principle of "inheriting tea making skills and promoting Chinese tea culture". On the one hand, she has continuously explored and improved her own skills, and compiled her tea making experience into a textbook of over 200000 words, allowing more people to understand the connotation of tea making; On the other hand, actively participating in or organizing various types of cultural dissemination activities, offering various tea ordering courses, expanding its dissemination channels, and helping tea ordering skills move towards a broader stage. In terms of inheriting the art of Dian Cha, which embodies the aesthetic of ancient Chinese life, Huang Jianhong has opened eight sessions of Dian Cha intangible cultural heritage inheritance classes in the past year, recruiting students from all walks of life to select and cultivate "new intangible cultural heritage talents"; She collaborates with universities to promote the revitalization and utilization of intangible cultural heritage through the "master on campus" approach, and further explores ways to cultivate intangible cultural heritage talents and vocational skills training. In addition,