Little Dragon Group Zhihu

Xiaolong Tuancha looks like this! "Qingpingle" Song Renzong's favorite

Tea-loving life

Tea culture researcher

"Xiaolongtuan" was a tribute tea in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the reign of Renzong, it was invented by the bearded Cai Xiang.

The large-scale costume TV series "Qing Ping Le" has become very popular recently. The court drama is so popular that it seriously burns your brain and tests your classical proficiency. Fans kept saying it was so good.

Song Renzong, played by Wang Kai, is even more popular among fans. Song Renzong in the play cannot live without tea every day, especially a kind of tribute tea called "Xiaolongtuan".

Follow Tea Media Tea Fairy (search public account: Tea Media) to watch a group of large-scale tea drinking scenes in the drama.

The official desk is inseparable from tea every day

After the official drinks, the empress drinks it

The empress drinks it, and the Miao lady drinks

< p>Miao Lady finished drinking, Huirou drank

The prop team finally changed to a black Jianzhan!

"Xiaolongtuan" is a tribute tea in the Northern Song Dynasty. Alongside "Xiaolongtuan" is "Xiaofengtuan". You guessed it right, there is another combination called "Dalong Tuan" and "Da Feng Tuan".

Dragon and Phoenix Tea, also called Dragon and Phoenix Cake, is the collective name for Beiyuan tribute tea during the Northern Song Dynasty. Beiyuan is located in the Phoenix Mountain area of ??Jianou, Fujian today. "Thirty miles east of Jian'an, there is a mountain called Fenghuang, and directly below it is Beiyuan."

Dragon and Phoenix Group Tea appeared in the early years of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. During the Xianping Period (998--1003), Ding Wei worked in Fujian and supervised the creation of "Longfeng Tuan Tea". This person was good at currying favor with leaders. He created the "Big Dragon Group" and forced tea farmers to pick tea buds ten days in advance. As soon as the tea was ready, it was quickly sent to the capital, so that the emperor could drink new tea in March of that year. Song Taizong praised the tea after tasting it, and "Dragon and Phoenix Tea" became famous all over the world.

The small dragon group is the pattern on the left

The portrait of Cai Xiang in the China Tea Museum

The "little dragon group" was created by the bearded man during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty. Cai Xiang invented. Cai Xiang served as an official in Fujian many times. In the seventh year of Qingli, he served as the transshipment envoy to Fujian, and the matters of Beiyuan tribute tea came under his control. That year (AD 1047), Song Renzong Zhao Zhen was almost 40 years old and had no son yet (the previous one died in infancy, so it would be best to feel sorry for him). He is so worried. The ministers are forcing him to adopt the clan children every day. Looking at the plot of "Qing Ping Le", in fact, the emperor also brought the clan children into the palace. Empress Cao raised them for several years and taught her that Shu Dali was quite sensible.

Cai Xiang in Qingpingle looks like this (first from left)

Renzong teased Cai Xiang, where should he put his beard when he sleeps at night

As a direct descendant of Renzong, Cai Xiang Wanting to make the emperor happy, he reformed the "Big Dragon Tuan" method and developed a more refined and refined "Xiao Long Tuan" tea. Renzong was really happy when he saw the "Xiaolongtuan" tea. He also used his best Feibai calligraphy and imperial pen to inscribe two words "Jun Mo" and gave it to Cai Xiang.

This matter was also laughed at by Fu Bi, an official of the same dynasty, "This servant and concubine loves her master, but I don't expect Jun Mo to do the same thing again!" It means that the servant and concubine flatter the master of the family. I never thought you, Cai Xiang, could do it. ha!

The main difference between "Big Dragon Tuan" and "Little Dragon Tuan" lies in the size of the tea cake. "Big Dragon Tuan", 8 cakes per catty, "Xiaolong Tuan", 10 cakes per catty. Later, there was also a smaller tea cake called "Miyunlong", which was 20 cakes per catty.

The "little dragon dumpling" that Song Renzong loved was very troublesome to make, and the annual output was extremely low. Thousands of people worked hard in the tribute tea garden, and the emperor only enjoyed a few dozen kilograms every year.

China Tea Museum’s introduction to Longfeng Tuan Tea

The production of tribute tea in the Song Dynasty mainly had six processes: picking tea, sorting tea, steaming tea, grinding tea, making tea, and baking tea . Every process has extremely strict standards.

To pick tea, it must be in a "thin and cold climate" in early spring that is "overcast but not too cold and sunny but not too warm", and it must be early morning before sunrise.

The heat of steaming tea is also very important. It cannot be steamed undercooked or overcooked (it was very difficult for tea farmers in the Song Dynasty). Undercooking and overcooking will affect the color of the tea soup when ordering tea.

Before grinding tea, one of the unique tasks of Song Tea is pressing tea. The steamed tea leaves are wrapped in cloth, then wrapped in bamboo skin, and pressed repeatedly to squeeze out the juice from the tea leaves. The pressed tea is then ground into powder or paste.

Grinding tea requires water. For tribute tea of ??the level of "Xiaolongtuan", the process of adding water and grinding needs to be repeated for more than "Sixteen Waters".

Making tea is to grind the tea into fixed molds to make tea cakes. Different molds have different styles, sizes and patterns. Although the "Big Dragon Group" and the "Little Dragon Group" are both flying dragons, their sizes and details are different.

The final step is hojicha. It cannot be roasted in one go. In order to pursue the best color and taste, tribute tea is roasted ten times or even fifteen times.

The literati of the Song Dynasty brought a lot of things to their suburban tea parties

The production of Longtuan tribute tea required huge investment in human, financial and material resources, but the final output was not much. Wu Zeng of the Song Dynasty recorded this in "Neng Gai Zhai Man Lu": "In the early years of Renzong's reign, he made small dragons and phoenixes of thirty kilograms each, and big dragons and big phoenixes of three hundred kilograms each. The small dragons and phoenixes were first built by Cai Junmo for the purpose of building a canal. Ten pounds of it are offered.”

Did you see it? You can have as much gold as you want in the palace. Do you want more "little dragons"? Sorry, wait until next year.

It can be seen from the TV series "Qing Ping Le" that Song Renzong was born to be an official. He had a generous temperament and did not want luxury. He knew and made good use of his subordinates and was generous. Even the most precious Dragon Tuan tea, Renzong did not want to keep it to himself, but would give some to ministers.

In "Qing Ping Le", Xia Song, who was guarding the border in Xixia, returned to Beijing with meritorious service. Renzong gave him his beloved Longtuan tea: "You have a good sip of tea. This spring, Beiyuan imported "Dragon and Phoenix regiments, I have left two regiments for you."

At this time, Cai Xiang had not yet gone to Fujian to serve as an official, and Renzong gave him the "big dragon regiment".

Later, Xiaolong Tuan was created. Because it was so precious, four ministers were sometimes given a cake of tea. Four people, a quarter each. Things are rare and valuable, and the ministers who received the rewards all felt as if they had obtained the most precious treasures, which made them feel more favored by their families (they just had to frame the tea and hang it on the wall).

Simulated plot: All my dear friends, please share a portion of this pancake and dragon dumpling

Han Qi: Ahhh. . . Thanks to the officials for their love

Yan Shu (didn’t get the tea): Do the officials still hate me?

Ouyang Xiu, the representative of literati in the world, was finally rewarded with a cake "Little Dragon Ball" after serving the government for 20 years. In fear, he recorded his unforgettable feelings in the article "Afterword to the Record of Dragon Tea" .

"Tea is the most exquisite thing, and Xiaotuan is the most exquisite one. It is the so-called top-grade dragon tea in the preface. Since it was first made by Jun Mo, it has been paid tribute every year. Renzong especially cherished it. Although The ministers of the auxiliary prime minister never gave him any gifts... I admonished the officials and served in the war. It took more than 20 years to get the gift, and the pills became dragons and phoenixes. It’s just zero blood.”

Simulation plot: After hiding it for several years, Xiu couldn’t bear to take a sip

Ouyang Xiu, who is bold and upright by nature, especially cherishes this cake “Little Dragon Ball” and hides it. At home, I can't bear to drink it, and I only occasionally take it out carefully to play with.

What a pity.

After the Song and Yuan Dynasties and into the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was a rough man and thought the tea group was too delicate and troublesome. In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (1391), an edict was issued to "abolish the regiments and promote dispersion", so the dragon group and phoenix cakes disappeared from history, and the era of loose tea in which a hundred flowers bloomed began.

Reference books for this article:

"Tea and Social Life in the Song Dynasty" China Social Sciences Press

"Tea Utensils and Tea Affairs in the Past Dynasties" Forbidden City Press

"General History of the Tea Industry" China Agriculture Press

"Tea Culture and Tea Health" Tourism Education Press

Pictures for this article: from the official Weibo of the TV series "Qingpingle"< /p>

Published 2 years ago Copyright belongs to the author