Ⅰ.Late Qing Dynasty (1840-1912)
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Ancient Tea-horse Road continued to develop.Yunnan tea was introduced and sold to Xizang via Adunzi (today’s Deqin)from Lijiang and to Hsikang via Yongning and Muli.However, the sales volume under the system of selling tea at designated places was small.After the Du Wenxiu Rebellion (1856), the sales volume was less than 10 tons, which was far from the annual demand of 6,500-7,500 tons in Xizang.In the 1870s, the sales volume dropped to the bottom.In the late Qing Dynasty, Yunnan tea was sold to Sichuan and overseas, except in other regions of Yunnan.In the 15th year of Guangxu (1889),Mengzi Pass was set up and Yunnan tea was sold overseas along the Honghe River.Due to smuggling, its peak sales volume was 150 tons, which accounted for a small proportion of the sales volume of all Chinese tea in the same period.
In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the annual output of Pu’er tea in Xishuangbanna reached 80,000 dan (unit of weight in ancient China)(4 million kg).During this historical period, Pu’er tea produced in six ancient tea mountains outside the Lancang River was mainly transported to various areas after distributed in Pu’er through the Lancang River in Nuozha,Simao via Linjiang County (Menghaimeng to Bulang Township).At that time, Pu’er was a border city of the Military and Civilian Administrative Department in Cheli (a local state for transporting tributes only), and the way into Cheli was from Jingdong via Zhenyuan to Pu’er.Pu’er is not only an autonomous prefecture center, which manages Xishuangbanna, but also an important trade center and market for trading Pu’er tea, which forms the Pu’er tea named after the distribution center and is generally accepted by later generations.As a result of the development of Pu’er tea trade, the tea growing in six ancient tea mountains centered on Yibang, Mansha (now Yi Wu), Manzhuan, Youle (now Jinuo), Mangzhi and Gedeng is exported to domestic and foreign markets.There are also Nannuo, Mengsong, Hekai, Bulangshan and Bada tea mountains in Xishuangbanna, and Jingmai, Jingdong, Jinggu and Zhenyuan tea mountains in Pu’er tea.These tea mountains at the west bank of the lower reaches of Lancang River along the middle and lower reaches of Lancang River have become the producing area of Pu’er tea in history and the important distribution centers for trading Pu’er tea in modern times.
表1-1 近代具有代表性的普洱茶
Tab.1-1 Modern representative Pu’er tea
续表1-1
1736年，云南同庆号创立。清朝后期，茶叶管控放松，私人茶庄纷纷涌现。1908年，在勐海恒春茶庄的带领下，生产和销售茶叶的茶庄如雨后春笋般在西双版纳涌现，同时又出现了十余家茶行和茶行分号，其中又以名气较大的洪盛祥、恒盛公、同庆号、乾利贞、可以兴、云生祥、雷永丰等产量较大。同时，下关、顺宁（今凤庆）的洪兴祥、永昌祥、复协和、茂恒、复春和等也加入其中。其中永昌祥在下关开设了第一家以茶叶精加工为主的茶叶精制厂。1916年，下关永昌祥创制出碗臼状沱茶，闯入传统茶叶大省四川，并很快站住了脚，占领了不小的市场。由于原料来源、制作时间不一致，茶叶品质也会有所差异，各家茶号都用自己的外包装纸、内票和内飞以示区别。同时，这些茶行在维持传统的藏销紧茶、川销沱茶的同时，积极外销，通过蒙自海关取道越南、水运到上海等地进入香港和南洋，培养了一大批普洱茶消费者。
表1-2 部分茶庄及其创办时间
Tab.1-1 （continued）
In 1736, Tongqing, the first tea shop of Yunnan, was founded.In the late Qing Dynasty, tea control was lifted, and private tea factories emerged one after another.In 1908, under the leadership of Hengchun Tea Factory in Menghai, tea factories producing and selling tea mushroomed in Xishuangbanna.At the same time, there were more than ten tea chambers and branches, among which Hongshengxiang, Hengshenggong, Tongqing, Ganlizhen, Keyixing, Yunshengxiang and Leiyongfeng were well-known and had larger output.At the same time, Hongxingxiang, Yongchangxiang, Fuxiehe,Maoheng and Fuchunhe in Xiaguan and Shunning (now Fengqing)also joined in.Yongchangxiang opened the first tea refining factory in Xiaguan, focusing on tea finishing.In 1916, Yongchangxiang in Xiaguan produced the bowl-shaped compressed tea, which was introduced to Sichuan, a traditional tea province, and quickly gained a foothold, occupying a large market.As the source of raw materials and production time were different, the quality of tea was also uneven.Each tea shop adopted its own outer wrapping paper, tea specification sheet and factory tag to show the difference.At the same time,these tea chambers, while maintaining the traditional selling of compressed tea in Xizang and Tuo tea in Sichuan, actively promoted external sales.They transported tea to Hong Kong and Southeast Asia from Vietnam via Mengzi Pass and from Shanghai via water route, and had a large number of Pu’er tea consumers.
Tab.1-2 Some tea factories and their founding time
续表1-2
