May I ask the historical evolution of tribute tea?

Gongcha has a long history in China, and it didn't die out until the end of feudal system in Qing Dynasty. For thousands of years, tribute tea has had a great influence on the whole tea production and tea culture. The origin of tribute tea is closely related to the establishment of feudal system. Tribute tea, like other tributes, is essentially a symbol of the effective rule of the monarch in feudal society and the need of feudal etiquette system. Tribute tea system is a symbol of feudal ethics in China and a product of underdeveloped commodity economy in feudal society. Tribute tea was used exclusively by the ancient imperial court for the palace. According to the data collection of tea production in China Tea General History and National Local Records, ancient Ningbo was rich in tribute tea, mainly in Cixi County, which was almost unmatched by other provincial and municipal governments.

Tribute tea is a kind of tea and tribute tea system in ancient China, which was exclusively for the royal family and enjoyed by emperors and princes.

Tribute tea is a heavy yoke imposed on tea farmers by successive dynasties. At the beginning of tea tribute, only local officials in various tea-producing areas collected all kinds of famous and special teas as local products to pay tribute to the dynasty, which had the nature of local tribute. Since the Tang Dynasty, tribute tea has been further developed. In addition to tribute, tribute tea houses have been set up in important famous tea producing areas, which are directly managed, refined and supervised by the government. However, whether it is local tribute or official tribute baking, it is undoubtedly cruel exploitation and oppression of tea farmers. The essence of tribute tea system is a disguised "tax system", which is harmful to tea industry and unfavorable to tea production and development. This is the negative effect of tribute tea system.

On the other hand, due to the demanding quality of tribute tea and the desire for novelty, tribute tea in previous dynasties was forced to innovate and develop continuously, thus promoting the improvement and improvement of tea-making technology. With the development of history, there are more and more kinds of tribute tea. Therefore, in a sense, the development of tribute tea laid the foundation for the emergence and development of famous tea in China. That's exactly what happened. Many tribute tea items in history still retain their names and traditional quality styles, which is also the contribution of tea people in past dynasties to China tea industry.

Tribute tea produced in ancient times, like two things, increased the burden on tea farmers, and at the same time promoted tea production, improved tea quality, screened and expanded the producing areas of Ningbo famous tea. "four bright and eight hundred miles, looking for the southeast." From ancient tribute tea to the inheritance and promotion of tea culture, there are many famous teas in Ningbo today. Famous brands include Waterfall Xianming, Wanghai Tea, Donghai Longshe and Fenghua Qu Hao. In the origin of tribute tea, there are stables and Mingxi Xinxiu ancient ruins. At the end of last century, a leader of Zhejiang provincial government visited there and found that it was a rare natural pure land with beautiful scenery and no pollution. At that time, China Academy of Agricultural Sciences developed a set of organic tea planting technology, but it was difficult to find a suitable organic tea planting base. Through the matchmaking of provincial leaders, scientific research units and local villagers hit it off. After several years' efforts, a huge sign stands on the road of tea garden: "Hemudu Organic Tea Demonstration Base in Yuyao City", and it is marked "1999 passes through China.

origin

Before the Qin Dynasty destroyed Shu, Shu people in Cuba used wild tea trees. 2300 years ago, Shu people in Cuba were still in primitive and simple farming life, and their production was backward. They mainly grow rice, wheat, corn and other crops and domestic poultry and livestock, which are highly dependent on wild animals and plants in nature. Therefore, the utilization of tea may have been more than 3000 years, and the utilization method should be relatively primitive. Eat fresh leaves first, then pick leaves, dry them, collect them, and cook soup to drink.

Before the Qin dynasty destroyed Shu, the utilization of tea was limited to Bashu area. Although it is impossible to verify when tea planting began, it can be proved that Sichuan is the origin of tea planting and tea manufacturing from the earliest recorded legend of Wang Bao, Tong Yue and Wu Lizhen planting tea in Mengshan. So far, it can be proved that the earliest place to plant artificial tea trees is Mengding Mountain in Yazhou, Sichuan.

Gongcha originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty and has a history of more than 3,000 years. Ba Zhi, the National Records of Huayang, contains: "Zhou Wuwang is the teacher of Bashu". Bashu was awarded the title of vassal for his meritorious service in fighting. As a vassal state, there was a tribute to the Zhou Dynasty, which was "self-produced grain" ... tea ... ",but this was only the bud of tribute tea, which did not form a system and did not follow the past dynasties.

The origin of tribute tea is closely related to the establishment of feudal system. Tribute tea, like other tributes, is essentially a symbol of the effective rule of the monarch in feudal society and the need of feudal etiquette system. According to historical records, the appearance of tribute tea can be traced back to the period of Zhou Wuwang more than 0/0,000 years before BC. Wu Wang cut Zhou, Bashu tribute tea and other things. This phenomenon has a very obvious political color, and tribute means the establishment of the relationship between monarch and minister. In the feudal society of China, tributes were mainly used to meet the material and cultural needs of the monarch and the upper class, which was called "serving the country".

With the increasing demand for tribute, the tribute system has gradually become stricter. From "digging with the mountains and paying tribute to the soil", it finally developed into the management of officials. There are so-called "nine fu" and "great tribute". Dagong is "tribute, tribute, tribute, currency, materials, goods, services and goods". Tea is a tribute.

During the Western Han Dynasty, tribute tea gradually became clear. For example, in Yue Yue by Wang Bao, there are sentences such as "Five Sheep Buy Tea" and "Boil all the tea", which indirectly reflect the tea drinking situation of the upper class; The barnyard grass unearthed from the tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Mawangdui, Changsha, reflects the status of tea in aristocratic life. Later, there were literary works reflecting the use of tea by the royal family in the Western Han Dynasty, such as "Biography of Flying Swallows", which said: "After the collapse of Xian Di, the second thing was to cry at night. When the waiter asked, Fang Jue said, I dreamed of the emperor, and the emperor gave me his seat and told me to have tea. Playing with the emperor's cloud and serving the emperor is not just about offering tea.

Don't drink this tea. "During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Hao, the emperor in the last years of Wu," every time you give a food feast, you can't sit at the table, and the rate is limited to seven liters. Although I don't know the entrance, he watered it all. Obsidian only drinks three liters. When the ceremony is different, it is often less, or send a pot of tea as wine. " (Chen Shou's Three Kingdoms Wu Zhi) These teas are undoubtedly tributes. Later, it was recorded that "Qiao Gong tea was printed and dried, with a name of 300 Jin" (Yan Yi of Materia Medica by Song Kouzong) and "Wenshan was born in the imperial court" (Wu by Qian Shan, Liu Song).

develop

The Tang Dynasty is an important historical period for the development of tea in China. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, when the society was stable and the people were rich, the separation of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism became their knowledge, which changed from external cultivation (referring to the requirements of code of conduct and regulations for self-cultivation) to internal cultivation (referring to the substantive pursuit of moral consciousness and ideological purpose). Tea is noble and elegant, and it is the most ideal drink for their inner cultivation. Therefore, all three religions love to praise tea, and "Tian Lu's question is still keen on hobbies."

The Anshi Rebellion against the Tang Dynasty was filled with smoke, hungry people were everywhere, people left their homes, the countryside was deserted, and production declined: people of insight shifted the national economic focus from the north to the south. After the Six Dynasties, we continued to develop the land in the south of the Yangtze River in breadth and depth. "Tea is planted in the mountains, and no soil is left in the heights.". With the rapid development of tea planting, family hand-made tea workshops have appeared one after another, and the commercialization of tea has become the only typical agricultural product, which has initially formed regionalization and specialization, laying a material foundation for the formation of tribute system. The theoretical basis of the tribute system is "under the world, is it the king's soil" and "the hair that eats the soil (referring to agricultural products), who is not a monarch and minister". At the same time, in ancient times, agriculture was the decisive production department of the country, but science and technology were underdeveloped and productivity was low, so we had to rely on more labor to engage in production, and the development of industry and commerce also required labor to compete with each other. In order to tilt the labor force towards agriculture, the feudal ruling class formulated a policy of emphasizing clothes and restraining business. Under the guidance of this idea, tribute tea and tea monopoly system were derived, which became an important pillar of the policy of restraining business. Tribute tea began to form a system from Li and Tang dynasties, which was passed down from generation to generation and lasted for hundreds of years. There were two forms of tribute tea system in Tang dynasty: the court chose the state with excellent tea quality to pay tribute. There are Changzhou Yangxian Tea and Huzhou Guzhu Zizun Tea; Zhou Mu Jiukeng Tea; Zhou Shu Tianzhu Tea; Xuanzhou Yashan tea; Raozhou Fuliang Tea; Xizhou Lingxi Tea; Zhou contains cream; Bijian tea in Zhou Xia; Jingzhou Tuanhuang Tea; Yazhou Mengding Tea; Fuzhou Fangshan Luya and other famous teas in more than 20 States. Yazhou Mengding tea is known as the first and is known as "fairy tea". Changzhou Yangxian Tea and Huzhou Zizun Tea ranked second. Jingzhou Tuanhuang Tea ranked third. Choose the key products with unique ecological environment, excellent natural quality and concentrated output: convenient transportation, and set up a tribute tea courtyard (that is, tribute baking system) directly by the court to make tribute tea.

The ancient Zhushan Mountain in Changxing, Huzhou is bordered by Tanggong Mountain in Yixing, Changshan, with Taihu Lake in the east and mountains and waters in the northwest. The mountains are green, the peaks are green, the soil layer is deep, the soil is fertile, the ecological environment of tea trees is superior, and the land and water transportation is convenient. The products produced by ancient bamboo have different nostrils, teeth and cheeks, which will not be forgotten for a long time. Guangde period and Changzhou Yangxian tea were the same tribute. In the fifth year of Dali (770), a large-scale, well-organized, well-managed and well-made tribute tea factory was built here. This is the first state-owned tea processing factory in China history. Gongchayuan is a part of the central government industry. In addition to the official management of the central government, local governors also have the responsibility to supervise the construction. This official industrial system is extremely beneficial to consolidating the feudal economic structure and maintaining the feudal system. Making tea requires a certain skill. The labor source of Gongcha Institute is neither official slaves nor numerous farmers, but a part of tea professional households controlled by the government, who make tea temporarily by "hiring craftsmen". "Hire three feet a day" and pay by the daily salary. There is also a regulation prohibiting officials from deducting wages, which reflects some changes in production relations in the Tang Dynasty and has a positive side. However, they depend on the government, even have no personal freedom, have low social status and are oppressed and exploited. The Tang Dynasty did not hesitate to squander the people's blood and sweat. Gongcha Academy has "more than 30 houses and 30,000 laborers" and "more than 1,000 craftsmen". Every year, in the beautiful spring, lanterns are decorated in colorful and very lively. The secretariat of Changzhou and Huzhou led hundreds of officials to worship Jinsha Spring (it still exists today, has been repaired, and then the mountain was opened to make tea). The court stipulated that the first batch of tribute tea should catch up with Tomb-Sweeping Day's ancestor worship ceremony, so the workers were tired and tired, while the officials were "drinking and having fun" and indulging in joy. Both Gao Yuan and Du Mu have served as the secretariat of Huzhou, personally supervising the tribute tea, and they have a deep pain in picking tea. They dared to dedicate the poem Chashan to Dezong, which not only exposed the evil behavior of feudal rulers, but also reduced the amount of tribute tea. Du Mu's poem "Yixing Tea Mountain" says: "The mountains in the southeast are beautiful, with plenty of tea and grass ... the stream has completely stopped, and the flag is covered with moss ... I smell jokes and watch the balcony." The beautiful scenery and prosperity of Yixing Gongcha District at that time were described very accurately, leaving us with a history of writing poems. Zhang Wengui's Peony Flowers Laughing at Xing Wu Purple Bamboo Shoots highlights the prominent position of tribute tea in the imperial court.

In the Tang Dynasty, the tribute baking system turned private tea gardens into government-run tea gardens. Tea farmers can't make a living by growing tea, but they have brought many disasters. The fixed tribute system is like exorbitant taxes, which increases the burden of tea and clothing and makes their lives increasingly poor. Both of them are predatory, and they are heavy shackles on the shoulders of tea farmers, which is very harmful. The purpose of tribute tea system is not only to meet the needs of the imperial court, but also to bypass the commodity circulation channels, narrow the business scope, hinder the development of commodity economy, stifle the growth of capitalist factors and maintain the foundation of feudal system. The tribute tea is exclusively for the palace to drink, and it costs a lot of money, and the production is changing with each passing day, which objectively promotes the progress of tea technology. At the same time, the production and transportation of tribute tea can also promote post road traffic construction, regional friendship and national unity.

From Song Dynasty to Song Dynasty, tribute tea followed the Tang system, but the ancient bamboo tribute tea courtyard gradually declined. Fujian Jian 'an (now Jian 'ou) Phoenix Mountain "Beiyuan Bellong" was replaced by Daxing, which was also spectacular in scale and famous. "Since the Southern Tang Dynasty, the people of the six counties have collected it and made it, and the people have suffered greatly." Six out of 330 are baked by officials and private people. This piece of tea is pressed by silver mold, decorated with the pattern of hidden phoenix, which is elegant as life and exquisite. "A small group of 20 cakes weighs a kilo, which is worth two taels of gold". Finished tea is divided into ten grades according to quality, and court officials enjoy it according to their positions. Song Huizong's "Daguan Tea Theory" said: "The prosperity of this dynasty, Liugong was built at the age of 20, and the dragon group phoenix cake is famous all over the world ... So from the age of nearly 20, the essence of picking, the work of making, the victory of products and the wonderful cooking points have all been achieved to the extreme." Raise China's tea-making technology and tea-drinking skills to a new level. The drinking value of tea is perfectly combined with the appreciation value of science and technology, and material enjoyment is sublimated into spiritual enjoyment.

Tea monographs in Song Dynasty, such as Daguan Tea Theory, Xuanhe Beiyuan Tribute Tea Record, Beiyuan Bielu, Tea Record, etc. Most of them focus on Jian 'an tribute tea, which is of positive significance to promote the popularization and improvement of tea scientific knowledge and carry forward the splendid tea culture of the motherland.

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the system of tribute baking was weakened. Only a small royal tea garden was set up in Wuyishan, Fujian, and the fixed tribute system was still implemented. Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, was born in poverty and was slightly outstanding. He is good at summing up the experience and lessons of the rise and fall of dynasties and is well versed in the strategy of governing the country, that is, "prepare for danger in times of peace and deal with chaos." He often said: "People are rich and close, people are poor and divided, people are rich and poor, and the country is resting." Moreover, because he personally participated in the peasant uprising at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, fought in the vast tea areas in the south of the Yangtze River, and was exposed to tea affairs, he knew the sufferings of tea farmers and expressed sympathy. After Nanjing proclaimed himself emperor, he was surprised to find that the tribute was actually finely crafted dragon and phoenix cakes and tea! But he thought it was both labor and national strength, so he ordered the construction to stop, "only picking buds to advance." This move, in essence, is to reform the baking method of cake tea in the Tang Dynasty into the method of directly brewing loose tea, thus opening the Millennium tea-drinking school in China and objectively pushing the tea-making method and tea-drinking method in China to a new historical period, which has important historical and practical significance.

In the feudal society of China, the self-sufficient natural economy dominated, but this did not mean that there was no commodity production and commodity exchange at all. Especially in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the commodity economy developed greatly and further expanded in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it did not play a decisive role in the whole economic structure.

The development of commodity economy is the premise of capitalism. In the feudal society of China, the development of commodity economy gave birth to the seeds of capitalism. From the mid-Ming Dynasty, the seeds of capitalist factors appeared sparsely, and further developed in the mid-Qing Dynasty.

The tea industry in Qing Dynasty entered its heyday, forming a regional and regionalized market famous for producing tea, and commercial capital was gradually transformed into industrial capital. For example, there are no fewer than 1000 tea factories in Jian 'ou, Fujian, with dozens of small ones and more than 100 large ones, with tea as the daily audience of the industry. Another example is Jiangxi's "Lead Mountain County Records": "There were 20,000 to 30,000 tea workers and 48 tea shops in the Qianlong period of Hekou Town."

Tea is the main export agricultural product. In the early Qing Dynasty, although the tea-producing states in the past dynasties implemented the quota tribute system, in the middle period, due to the development of social commodity economy and the further growth of capitalist factors in the economic structure, the tea tribute system gradually died out.

trait

Chronicles with a long history record that Ningbo tribute tea began in the early Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and lasted for more than 300 years, until the 23rd year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1595). A large number. "The amount of tea buds is 260 kg per year." According to the Miscellaneous Forest in Qing Dynasty, Jiujiang tribute tea in Jiangxi Province, which produces famous tea, is only 1.20 Jin, while Cixi County in Ningbo is more than twice as old as Jiujiang. According to the county theory, the tea in Tonglu and Jiande of Zhejiang Province is only 5 kg of tribute tea in each county, while that in Fenshui County is only 1 kg.

The local magistrate is responsible for supervising the production of tribute tea by the Tea Bureau. Every year, the day before Tomb-Sweeping Day, the magistrate of a county came to Chestables' depression from the county seat and only returned to the yamen in Grain Rain. Tea buds are all picked, and most of them are cardamom virgins.

Fine quality

The origin of tribute tea is in the stable and its vicinity. The stable is where Gou Jian, the King of Yue, stopped to mow the grass. Located at the northern foot of Siming Mountain and the south wing of Hemudu, where the mountains are beautiful, the mountains are gurgling and the climate is humid, forming a unique microclimate for tea production. Today, there are still many famous teas starting from the land ports in the west, passing through stables and hidden places, until Wuyan is abandoned.

Main contribution

In addition to the compulsory tribute system, there are also local initiatives to recommend and contribute. This phenomenon is also an important reason for the further expansion of tribute tea.

"Yixing tribute tea is not ancient, but before that, the ancient physician was Li of Zhang Zhou. Monks in the mountains provide good gifts.

tribute tea

Tea drinkers taste it when they meet guests. Lu Yu, a savage, thinks that the fragrance is sweet and spicy, and he is crowned in other places, which can be recommended to the world. Habitat narrative started from it and began to enter 12 thousand, which is also its origin. Because it is a tribute to the land and a tribute to Chang Fubang. ""Zhejiang produces good tea, but I haven't been to the palace since Song Zuo. Li Pu was the messenger of Jianghuai. When he was loyal, Pu praised the beauty of Zhejiang tea for his achievements. As the saying goes, he came to the palace, and the Jianzhou tea cake was not repaired. Our company bought thousands of pounds with envy and begged for it. "

Among the three materials, the first two show that the establishment of the tribute baking system in the Tang and Song Dynasties is directly related to this bottom-up form of tribute, and also show that a local product can be famous all over the world through the form of tribute.

Pu 'er tribute tea presented by E Ertai, Governor of Yunnan-Guizhou Province, is a fine product of existing aged Pu 'er tea, and is called "the emperor of Pu 'er tea" in the tea industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan. There are only two kinds of real Pu 'er tribute teas, which are kept in the Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Hangzhou and the Palace Museum in Beijing. Now the so-called tribute tea in the world is made by some tea factories later, which is not credible.

Pu 'er tea was officially included in the tribute tea case in the tenth year of Yongzheng, that is, AD 1732. At that time, E Ertai, the governor of Yunnan Province, established a tribute tea factory in Ninger County (now Ninger Town) of Pu 'er Prefecture, and selected the best daughter tea in Xishuangbanna to make group tea, loose tea and tea cream to pay tribute to the court. Zhao Xuemin's Compendium of Materia Medica in Qing Dynasty said: "Pu 'er tea can be divided into three types: large, medium and small. The big ones are in groups of 5 kg, such as the head type, called the first tea. It is hard for the people to pay tribute every year. "It is said that the tea used to make tribute tea is picked by unmarried girls, and it is all first-class bud tea. Generally, the picked bud tea is first put in the girl's arms, accumulated to a certain amount, and then taken out and put in a bamboo basket. This kind of bud tea will turn golden yellow after long-term storage.

1963, the Forbidden City in Beijing handled more than two tons of tribute tea, which was Pu 'er tea. According to the article Pu 'er Tea and the Qing Dynasty written by Mr. Wang Yufeng, Deputy Secretary-General and Senior Economist of China Tea People Association, "In the early 1960s, there were still tons of tribute teas left over from the Qing Dynasty, including Pu 'er Tea, Daughter Tea and tea cream.

1963, the Forbidden City handled more than 2 tons of tribute tea. 1October 23rd 1963, 10 By chance, I saw these aged tribute teas in Beijing Tea Factory. Pu 'er tea is as big as watermelon (slightly flat) and as small as tennis and table tennis. They are brown and black, neither moldy nor spoiled, and they are well preserved. There are traces of tightening cloth on the surface of the tea ball, which shows that the tea leaves are wrapped tightly with cloth and rubbed to dry. I once selected a large Pu 'er tea group and weighed it with a scale, weighing 5.5 kg. In the Qing Dynasty, it was considered to be a group tea weighing 5 kg ... In the early 1960s, the output of tea decreased and the domestic market was insufficient. This batch of Pu 'er tea in the Forbidden City was crushed, sieved, put into loose tea and sold. June199265438+1October 13 I met an old expert of the Forbidden City, Mr. Shan Shiyuan, and asked about the tribute tea of the Forbidden City. It is reported that Pu 'er Tuancha and tea cream still have samples. It is said that some experts took some samples of these Pu 'er tribute teas, and the comment was: "The soup is color, but the tea is old and light". Prove what Mr. Deng Shihai said: "Pu 'er tea tasting masters are generally recognized as tasteless and are the best in Pu 'er tea." [3]

Today's famous tea was once included in tribute tea.

Today, many famous teas in China and other places have been listed as tribute teas by the royal families in past dynasties, including (incomplete):

Zhejiang: West Lake Longjing, Siming Twelve Thunder, Chun 'an Jiukeng Tea, Ancient Bamboo Purple Bamboo Shoots, Tianmu Mountain Ding Qing, Yandang Mao Feng, Jinhua Juyan, Japanese Snowbud;

Anhui: Luan Guapian, Huangshan Wu Yun, Jingting Lvxue, Yongxi Huo Qing, Huoshan Huangya and Cuilan Yuexi.

Fujian: White Tea, Tianshan Qingshui Green, Wuyi Dahongpao, Anxi Hu Yue Tieguanyin, wuyi cinnamon and Xiang Yan Tea;

Hunan: Junshan Maojian Tea, Piludong Yunwu Tea, Guanzhuang Maojian Tea, Nanyue Yunwu Tea, Dayong Maojian Tea and Guzhang Maojian Tea;

Sichuan: Mengding yellow bud, green tea in August;

Guizhou: Guiding Yunwu Tea, Duyun Maojian Tea, Meijiang Cuipian Tea, Duobei Gongcha, Zhao Si Gongcha, Fanjing Cuifeng Tea, Shiqian Moss Tea, Duyun Tea, Moon Rabbit Tea, etc. More than 50 kinds;

Jiangxi: Ninghong, Wuyuan Green Tea and Lushan Yunwu Tea (formerly known as Wen Lin Tea);

Jiangsu: Biluochun, Huaguoshan Yunwu Tea, Yixing Yangxian Tea;

Shaanxi: Ziyang Maojian;

Henan: Xinyang Maojian tea;

Yunnan: Pu 'er tea;

Taiwan Province Province: Wenshan Bao grows tea.