*Chaozhou Kungfu Tea Art

141.*Chaozhou Kungfu Tea Art

Nominating Unit: City of Chaozhou

The history of Chaozhou’s Kungfu Tea Art can be traced back to the Song Dynasty when one of the eight virtuous poets Zhang Kui wrote a poem, which described the scene of serving tea to add fun after the banquet. “Naonu” in this poem is the other name of tea. In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, drinking tea became the order of the day. Chaojiafengyueji•Kungfu Tea of Yujiao in the Qing Dynasty has the earliest record of Kungfu Tea when brewing up and making tea has formed its norms.

Nowadays, Chaozhou Kungfu Tea Art, centered in Chaozhou and radiated to the whole Chaozhou-Shantou District, has an important effect on south-east Asian countries.

A proper tea-leave of making Chaozhou Kungfu Tea Art is oolong with Chaozhou unique bush as the most favorable one. The best water for the tea is water from the mountain, the better from river, and the worst from the well. It is said that water on the top of the mountain is light and limpid; at the foot turbid and heavy; among the rocks clear and sweet; among the sand clear and cold; among the soil muddy and thick. Water is good if it streams; favorable if it is in the dark side. There is less water in the mountains without plants; much more with plants in it. And stream water is insipid. The fire for making tea should be a “live” one. The charcoal should better be jiaozhitan or be made from olive nut. The drinking of Chaozhou Kungfu Tea includes 21 items, like presenting the use of tea set, tea-maker washing hands, making fire, fetching water, boiling the water, warming the caddy with the boiled water, warming the cup, putting the tea-leaves on the paper, then into the pot, washing the leaves with sweet spring water, pouring the tea in a high place, blowing the tea with the pot lid, getting the warmth by pouring the lid, warming the cup, scrolling it, pouring the tea in a low place, pouring tea equally to and fro a line of cups, dropping the last trickles of tea into the cup, one drop one cup, asking the guests to savor the tea, smelling the fragrance of the tea, sipping, sniffing the bottom of the cup for three times, and feeling the luckiness around.(https://www.daowen.com)

The beauty of the norms of Chaozhou Kungfu Tea is embodied by its “seven principles and one core”, which is established so that the sado can be fully accomplished. That forms the unique tea art culture of Chaozhou Kungfu Tea, with the tea moral and tea sense as the guide of life, reflected by the spirit of “harmony” of the Chaozhou people. Chaozhou Kungfu Tea is the embodiment of China’s tea culture and local social culture combined, taking a great place in the Chaoshan culture.

As the society develops, people quicken its pace of living. The traditional Chaozhou Kungfu Tea has faded away in people’s life and has been replaced by the simple brewing procedure. Many young people know hardly anything of Chaozhou Kungfu Tea and its cultural connotation, so the development of the congou is facing with huge difficulty and needs salvation and protection.

Chaozhou Kungfu Tea Art has been selected into the list of the second bound of the statelevel intangible cultural heritage in 2008.