Tasting Chinese Culture in Tea-making Skills——Why "Traditional Chinese Tea-making Skills and Related Customs" Can Be Successfully Inscribed

　　As the saying goes: "Seven things to open the door, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea." Tea is one of the most common and common drinks in Chinese daily life.

　　Drinking tea is life and culture.

On the evening of November 29th, Beijing time, the "Traditional Chinese Tea-making Techniques and Related Customs" declared by China passed the review at the 17th regular session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Rabat, Morocco. UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

So far, my country has a total of 43 items included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List and List, ranking first in the world.

my country is the first country in the world to plant tea trees and make tea

　　"my country is the first country in the world to plant tea trees and make tea, and tea culture is deeply integrated into the lives of Chinese people," said Wang Chenyang, director of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Thousands of years ago, the Chinese began to pick, make and drink tea.

In the late 8th century AD, Lu Yu wrote "The Classic of Tea", which is the earliest monograph in China to systematically explain the knowledge and practice of tea.

　　"Tea makers are also the Jiamu in the south." In my country, hundreds of tea trees are distributed in the four major tea regions of Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Southwest and South China, south of the Huaihe River in the Qinling Mountains and east of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

After long-term practice, relevant communities, groups and individuals have used different techniques according to local conditions to develop six major types of tea, including green tea, yellow tea, black tea, white tea, oolong tea and black tea, as well as scented tea and other reprocessed teas, reaching more than 2,000 types.

　　"For civilian use, tea is equal to rice salt, and it cannot be without for a day." For people all over China, tea is a necessity, and they have different needs for tea products.

For example, green tea is preferred in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, and oolong tea is preferred in Fujian and Taiwan regions. In Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and other places, people are used to making butter tea and milk tea with black tea.

　　"When the rain is clear and the heat is turned back to the heat, the light thunder has just passed and sprouts." Every March and April, when the spring returns to the earth, the tea trees germinate new buds, and this is also the busiest time for tea makers.

They use handcrafted techniques handed down from generation to generation to make tea products of various flavors for drinking and sharing, thus forming different tea-making techniques and related customs.

For example, if guests come to visit, they will serve tea; the newlyweds will serve tea to their parents at the wedding;

A relatively complete inheritance system has been formed

　　China's tea culture has been passed down from generation to generation, forming a systematic and complete knowledge system, extensive and in-depth social practice, mature and developed traditional skills, and a rich variety of handmade products.

Not only that, "Chinese tea" has also formed a relatively complete inheritance system, which is an important prerequisite for inclusion in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

　　It is understood that the relevant knowledge and skills of "Chinese tea" are mainly passed down through traditional methods such as family, master-apprentice and community, and have been integrated with formal education.

　　For example, in terms of family inheritance, the craftsmanship of Anxi Tieguanyin has been passed down to the 13th generation in the Wang family in Anxi County, Fujian Province.

In terms of master-student inheritance, the Jingshan Tea Banquet has been passed down from the first year of Tianbao in the Tang Dynasty (742 A.D.) in Jingshan Wanshou Temple in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It has been passed down to the 121st generation by the abbot to his successors; Wang Chang, the representative inheritor of Anhui Qimen black tea production skills, has accepted 17 apprentices in the past five years.

　　It is worth mentioning that the inheritance of "Chinese tea" has entered the campus.

"We often invite some inheritors to the campus and teach our students hand in hand, which is equivalent to cultivating potential inheritors." Wang Yuefei, director of the Tea Research Institute of Zhejiang University, said that at present, there are more than 40 secondary vocational schools in China And more than 80 colleges and universities set up tea science and tea culture majors, and train more than 3,000 professionals in tea making and tea art every year.

Witness to human creativity and cultural diversity

　　Chinese people love tea. During the ceremonial moments of making tea, tasting tea, and discussing tea, they can experience nature and life, increase the interest of life, cultivate a peaceful and inclusive attitude, form a reserved and introverted character, and elevate the spirit. Realm and moral cultivation.

　　In China, drinking and sharing tea is still an important way for people to communicate and communicate.

Tea-related etiquette and customs, such as treating guests with tea and giving priority to the elderly, demonstrate the humanistic spirit of modesty, harmony, courtesy, and respect, enhance family harmony, interpersonal harmony, and enhance cultural identity and social cohesion.

　　In addition, Chinese tea culture has formed a variety of practices with regional, group and national characteristics during the inheritance from generation to generation. A cultural space that vividly witnesses human creativity and cultural diversity.

　　Through economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people exchanges, Chinese tea culture is also widely spread around the world.

In ancient times, Chinese tea was spread to Europe along the Silk Road, and then gradually became popular all over the world. Together with silk and porcelain, it was considered a bond of peace, friendship and cooperation.

　　Industry experts pointed out that including "traditional Chinese tea-making techniques and related customs" in the List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage will help to highlight different communities' cognition of nature and the universe, and promote respect for the creativity of such heritage practitioners; It helps to expand channels of dialogue between different tea-making techniques and tea-drinking traditions, and enriches human health practices and cultural diversity.

How to carry forward the cultural heritage of "Chinese tea"

　　How to carry forward the cultural heritage of "Chinese tea"?

Bao Jing, director of the China Tea Museum, believes that more young people should be able to love tea, learn about tea, understand tea, and know about tea.

Li Xingchang, a representative inheritor of tribute tea making skills, believes that as an inheritor, he must not only inherit the skills, but also protect the ancient tea trees.

　　"The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and relevant local governments will actively support relevant communities, groups and individual organizations to implement a series of protection measures, and do a good job in the inheritance and practice of this heritage project." Wang Chenyang introduced that in order to enhance the vitality of inheritance, relevant communities, groups and individuals established Established a protection working group, and jointly formulated the "Five-Year Protection Plan for Traditional Chinese Tea-making Skills and Related Customs (2021-2025)", encouraging inheritors to teach apprentices and pass on skills in the traditional way, relying on secondary vocational colleges and colleges to train Specialized talents to consolidate intergenerational inheritance; organize protection and inheritance training courses to strengthen capacity building; establish research bases, compile popular textbooks, carry out relevant tour activities, and raise awareness of protection among young people.

(Our reporter Han Yeting)

　　(Source: Guangming Daily, December 1, 2022, Edition 09)