Chinese tea became popular in England in the 18th century

"Traditional Chinese Tea-making Skills and Related Customs" successfully applied for World Heritage Site to convey Chinese culture to the world Chinese tea was popular in England in the 18th century

　　On the evening of November 29th, Beijing time, the "Traditional Chinese Tea-making Techniques and Related Customs" declared by China passed the review and were included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Since ancient times, the Chinese have been planting, picking, making and drinking tea, and have developed six 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, and more than 2,000 kinds of tea products. For drinking and sharing.

Through the Silk Road, the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, and the Wanli Tea Ceremony, tea has traveled through history and crossed borders, and has been loved by people all over the world. It has become an important medium for mutual understanding and mutual learning between Chinese and other civilizations, and has become a Common wealth of human civilization.

　　"Tea Taste of England: Tea Drinking Culture and Social Life in Visual Art" describes the "Chinese craze" triggered in the UK after Chinese tea was introduced to the UK.

　　The price of one liter of Wuyi tea is equal to 54 breakfasts

　　Since the early 17th century, Westerners have always had a strong interest in the decorative arts and customs of the East.

However, none of these last as long as drinking tea.

Its influence on Britain is particularly profound, not only involving economy and history, but also shaping all aspects of society and culture.

　　In 1664, the East India Company brought tea for the first time from trading points in the Far East as a gift to Charles II.

In 1669, tea was shipped back to England as a cargo for the first time, and it was warmly welcomed by the British aristocracy as a medicine and refreshment drink.

A London cafe advertisement from 1705 marked the price: "The best Wuyi tea here sells for only 18 shillings a liter." However, at about the same time, a meal containing sugar, bread, butter, milk Breakfast" was only 4p.

One shilling is equal to 12 pence, and one liter of Wuyi tea is actually two catties of tea. The price is equivalent to 54 breakfasts, which shows that tea is very expensive.

　　Since then, with the development of transoceanic trade, tea production areas have expanded, production has increased, tea prices have gradually decreased, and tea has become the national beverage of the British, and it remains so until today.

Of course, the British have also developed their own way of drinking tea, including adding sugar and milk, serving with snacks, afternoon tea, and so on.

　　The translator of the book "The Taste of Tea in England" recalled that when he first arrived in the UK, he took an English class for international students. The teacher asked a question: Do you pour the tea first or the milk first?

This is not a simple problem, and there are deep reasons behind it.

When tea was first introduced to England, teacups in China were scarce and only the upper class could afford them.

People who are not very rich want to drink tea, so they can only use teacups made in the UK.

At that time, the British porcelain making technology was not good. In order to prevent the temperature of the tea soup from being too high, the teacup would burst suddenly after being poured in, so it was necessary to add some milk to cool down before pouring the hot tea.

It can be seen that even the small details of drinking tea have economic and technological backgrounds.

　　Expensive tea requires a locked tea chest

　　The price of tea is so high, so it is natural to take care of it carefully.

You have to send a trusted servant to buy tea, and you have to put it in the cupboard when you buy it. The tea box and tea box must be locked, and the key is in the hands of the hostess.

When it is time to make tea, the hostess is also in charge.

　　"A good horse with a good saddle", precious and exotic tea and its enjoyment process, derived from tea pots, tea boxes, tea tables, tea tables, tea towels to kettles, tea urns, teapots, tea bowls, teacups, teaspoons, Teaspoon boxes, saucers, tea trays, waste water bowls, sugar pots, milk pots, sugar cube clips, milk spoons and a series of tea sets, covering porcelain, pottery, wood, silver, leather, glass, cloth and other materials.

　　Yixing purple clay teapots, blue and white porcelain, and pastel porcelain were all popular in the UK for a while, and they were called "white gold".

There are also two "businesses" surrounding porcelain. One is to import Chinese white porcelain and have it glazed and painted by local craftsmen after it is shipped to Europe.

　　This also stimulated the local British porcelain industry, which developed many innovations in terms of shape, function and material.

　　Among these tea sets, the teaspoon is the most distinctive.

A teaspoon is a weighing tool for tea. It was written in a British encyclopedia of domestic economics in the 19th century that the proper amount of tea is one teaspoon per person.

The British attach great importance to etiquette. Teaspoons can also be used to convey information. Put the teaspoon horizontally or tap the teacup to indicate that you don’t want to drink any more. Later, the teaspoon also became a weighing tool in Western cooking, which has a far-reaching impact.

In terms of function, teaspoons can be subdivided into those for scooping tea leaves, those for scooping in sugar, and those for taking out tea pots, as well as various materials and shapes. They are a very popular category in British collections.

The translator of the book "Tea Taste England" said that reports of teaspoons being stolen are often seen in British newspapers.

　　The British put a lot of thought into the design of tea utensils and the process of making tea. The entire British ceramic industry was established based on the custom of drinking tea.

In novels such as Pride and Prejudice, and in various paintings, tea can be seen as an important theme of social customs and recreational activities.

In the 18th century, some rich people complained that "buying a tea table is more expensive than hiring a nurse and having two children". This is unimaginable today, but it was a solid fact at the time.

　　Chinese tea drives Chinese aesthetics to radiate Europe

　　Europeans' interest in Chinese culture began with Marco Polo.

Afterwards, with the tea industry as the carrier, the Chinese style spread to Europe little by little through imported Chinese goods.

　　In England no style of art arouses so much curiosity as mid-18th-century Chinoiserie.

They began to imitate Chinese customs, and their scope of influence spread to fine art and decorative art, and a wave of "China mania" (China-mania) was set off throughout the UK.

Porcelain, silk, furniture, wallpaper, enamel, lacquerware, artwork, etc. imported from China are the source of "China craze".

The British took inspiration from the hand-painted details of these objects, although they were sometimes not understood exactly.

Chinese aesthetics has been applied to various fields, not only from the Chinese custom of drinking tea, but also in house interior design, garden design, and decoration design.

As a result, Chinese aesthetics and art greatly influenced the British way of life.

　　All aspects of British upper-class life, including publications, art, and literature, reveal a strong desire to learn Chinese customs.

In 1755, a writer of the British "Connoisseur" magazine wrote dissatisfiedly: "Chinese aesthetics has invaded our gardens, buildings and furniture, and will invade our churches; if a monument is also Chinese style, decorated with dragons, Bells, pagodas, and Mandarin, how beautiful would it be?" "China Fever" has inspired the imagination of the British, and the combination of British design and Chinese themes exudes great charm.

The British innovated the Chinese style, developing the striking Chinese Rococo style.

　　In the 1740s, the previous symmetrical and unified English garden style had been replaced by the asymmetrical "Chinese-English mixed garden".

One of the best surviving examples of this style of garden is Kew Gardens.

　　In the field of silverware and furniture, British designers used Chinese elements extensively, and Chinese Chippendale style furniture appeared.

The tea table top is surrounded by a fretted decoration higher than the table to protect the expensive tea service from being broken.

　　Fans were fashionable decorations and status symbols.

The fans are painted with pictures about tea, so it is also a unique medium of tea culture.

Most fans in Europe were imported from China by the East India Company. In 1709, the East India Company’s merchant ship Fuyou bought 50,000 to 60,000 fans: "Fans of good quality...all are of the highest quality... All of exceptional quality... 19 patterns in total".

　　The British's interest in Chinese style also extends to the interior design of houses, especially bedrooms, living rooms, secret rooms and tea drinking rooms. Even hand-painted wallpapers imported from China are also very popular.

　　In the history of British interior design, there are several houses that are very eye-catching because they use Chinese style extremely exquisitely and strive to "completely" restore the appearance of native Chinese living rooms.

For example, the Chinese-style bedroom of the Bedemite Mansion decorated for the Duke of Beaufort IV in 1753, and the Chinese-style room of Clayton Manor designed around 1769. This room embodies the essence of Chinese Rococo style and is still well preserved. It is considered to be the most important representative of this style of design in the UK.

　　From today's perspective, Chinese tea three hundred years ago is like a super big IP with its own traffic, radiating Chinese products and Chinese aesthetics.

Its "inheritance application" was successful, of course.

(Changjiang Daily reporter Li Xu)

　　(Source: Changjiang Daily, Page 7, December 6, 2022)