"Tea Viewpoint" Dasu Mountain in Guangshan County: the ancient tea garden in Qing Dynasty next to the ancient temple

Spring and happiness are full of green. Dasu Mountain is a quiet temple with high mountains and deep forests, quiet scenery, birds singing in the mountains and flowing water. Walking beside the ancient temple, the fragrance of a century-old tea tree is refreshing. This is the "Tea Garden of Qing Dynasty" in Dasushan.

(photo by Xu Dachi)

Jingjue Temple in Dasushan is the birthplace of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism. In the fifth year of Tianbao in the Northern Qi Dynasty (AD 554), the monk Huisi came to say this. According to legend, Huisi plowed Dasu Mountain, split the mountain to grow tea, and borrowed tea to realize the Tao, benefiting the surrounding people.

Tea is fragrant because of the name of the temple, and tea is blindly Zen. As the main producing area of Huainan tea in history, Cha Sheng Luyu elaborated the quality of Jingju Temple tea in Tea Classic. The giant stone carving standing beside the tourist road of Jingju Temple in Dasu Mountain records Cha Sheng Lu Yu's praise of Guangshan Tea: "Huainan Tea was born in Gwangju, and it is as famous as Zhou Xia." The ancient Huangtou Port is today's Dasu Mountain area. Today, there are still more than 360 ancient tea trees in the "Tea Garden of Qing Dynasty" in front of the Temple of Quiet Residence in Dasushan.

Huo Wenzhen, a commentator, senior national tour guide and national gold medal guide of Dasushan National Forest Park, said: "We are now in the ancient tea garden of Qing Dynasty in Dasushan National Forest Park. Speaking of Xinyang, there are actually many ancient tea trees. For example, the oldest existing ancient tea tree in Xinyang area is the Tang and Song pearls preserved in Dachagou, Jigongshan, and the ancient tea garden in front of us is the oldest existing ancient tea garden in Qing Dynasty in Xinyang area.

The ancient tea garden in Qing Dynasty was planted by Zhu Ding, the temple owner at that time, in the light year of Qing Dynasty (AD 1828), and about 360 clusters have been preserved so far. Jingju Temple has a long history of growing tea, which can be traced back to the Tianbao period of the Northern Qi Dynasty in 554 AD. Huisi, the master of Tiantai, cultivated lotus flowers in this kind of tea. In the Tang Dynasty, Cha Sheng Lu Yu tasted tea in Jingju Temple and wrote the Book of Tea. In the eight endings of The Book of Tea, he especially talked about the tea here. Speaking of Huainan tea, Gwangju, who was born in the loess hills of Guangshan, is the same as Zhou Xia. In the third year of Song Yuanfeng (AD 1080), Su Shi was banished to Huangzhou because of Wutai Poetry Case, and lived in Dasushan, where he left an interesting story about Dongpo drinking Dongpo tea. "

In addition to a large area of tea plantation and Pinus massoniana forest, there are all green hills around the Jingju Temple in Dasushan. The white lotus pond in front of the temple is sparkling. On the north bank of the lower reaches of Bailianchi, there are tea gardens in the Qing Dynasty, clusters and ridges, which are continuous from afar. The roots of ancient tea trees are deep and leafy, criss-crossing, and the roots are about 30 cm thick. The new buds of ancient tea trees are green and dripping, and tea farmers are picking them at the right time.

(photo by Xu Dachi)

The tea trees planted here are not only deeply rooted and leafy, but also the picked tea leaves are of good quality. It is also an important tourist destination of Dasushan National Forest Park, and there is a saying that "you must go to the tea garden in Qing Dynasty when you come to Dasushan". In order to strengthen the management and protection of the ancient tea garden, a brick wall was built under the tea garden to prevent soil erosion, and a tourist trail leading to the temple was built.

Dong Yisheng, director of Dasu Camellia oleifera Industry Service Center, said: "As we continue to strengthen the protection and management of these century-old tea trees, they are now flourishing and produce high-quality dry tea. In 2020, they won the gold medal in the "China Cup" famous tea appraisal, becoming the only tea brand in Henan Province to win the "China Cup" gold medal. The trademark "Ziyun Sushanchun" was recognized as a famous trademark in Henan Province. At the same time, "Tea Garden in Qing Dynasty", as a tourist attraction of Dasushan National Forest Park, is deeply concerned by tourists and has become a punching place for many tourists among online celebrities. "

Producer/Pei Renhe Fang Planning/Jin Zuoyin Editor/Mei Jiangxie