Tea Culture in Xiping Town

Xiping has a long history of producing tea, and its tea culture is rich and colorful.

Regarding the origin of Tieguanyin, China Tea Classic, Fujian Oolong Tea and Anxi County Records all recorded that Tieguanyin originated in Xiping, Anxi County. Cloned varieties. There are two legends about its origin: one is "Wei Shuo". According to legend, Yin Wei (1703- 1775), an old tea farmer in Songlintou, Yaoyang Township, Chongxin, was diligent in growing tea and believed in Guanyin. He will offer a cup of green tea in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva every morning and evening for decades. One night, while sleeping, Yin Wei dreamed that he was going out with a hoe and walked to a stream. He found a tea tree in a crack, which was flourishing and had an attractive fragrance. Yin Wei was curious and was about to bend over to pick it up. Suddenly a dog barked, disturbing a good dream. Rosty Yi and Yin Wei searched in their dreams, and sure enough, they found a tea tree they had seen in their dreams in the crevice of a stone pit in Guanyin Lun. Careful observation shows that the leaves are oval, the mesophyll is thick and the buds are purple-green, which is different from other species. He was overjoyed, so he transplanted the tea tree into a broken iron tripod at home and carefully cultivated it. After several years of propagation, the plant grew strong and its leaves were oily green. It's time to collect, and sure enough, the tea has unique quality and extraordinary aroma. It is regarded as a treasure and kept in a jar. Whenever distinguished guests come to the door for tea, people who have drunk this kind of tea are full of praise. One day, a teacher drank this kind of tea and asked in surprise, "What good tea is this?" Yin Wei told the teacher in detail what he met in his dream, and transplanted it, saying that this tea was found in a cliff stone carving, which was even more powerful than Lohan. After transplanting, it was planted in an iron tripod, so he wanted to call it Iron Lohan. The teacher shook his head and said, "Some arhats are ferocious and terrible, and good tea can't be called out." Is this tea a dream of Guanyin, or is it called Tieguanyin! " Hearing this, Yin Wei repeatedly applauded, which is the "Guanyin Dream Theory". The second is "Wang Shuo". According to legend, Wang Shirang, a scholar in Nanyan (now Nanyan Village, Xiping Town), Chongxin Yaoyang Township, Anxi County, served as a deputy car in the tenth year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1732) and served as a judge in Zhou Qi, Huangzhou Prefecture (now Hubei Province) in Huguang for ten years (1745). He once built a study at the foot of Nanshan and named it "Zhou Nan". In the spring of the first year of Qing Qianlong (1736), Wang and his friends often wrote in Nanxuan, and whenever the sun set, they strolled in Nanxuan's garden. One day, he happened to find a tea tree in the desert garden, so he transplanted it to the tea garden in Nanxuan, managed it day and night, carefully cultivated it, and propagated it every year, with lush leaves and red leaves. Made of finished products, the smell is extraordinary; After soaking, the fragrance is mellow and refreshing. After six years of Qianlong (174 1), Wang was called to Beijing to meet assistant minister Fang of the Ministry of Rites and take tea as a gift. Fang tasted its unusual taste, so he turned to the palace. After drinking it, Emperor Qianlong was very happy. He called the scholar to inquire about the history of Yaoyang tea, and named it "Tieguanyin" because it was moist, heavy as iron and delicious as Guanyin. Tieguanyin is the best oolong tea with warm color; The rope is fat, curly and tight, with obvious sand green and heavy as iron; The soup is orange and bright; The fragrance is long and fragrant, better than orchids; The taste is rich and sweet, strong but not astringent, depressed and not greasy, and it is known as "green leaves with red edges and seven bubbles of incense". When drinking, the teeth and cheeks are fragrant and the throat is sweet. Delicious and fragrant. In particular, the unique "Guanyin rhyme" brings people into the profound art of tea ceremony, elegant and poetic, reaching the realm of extraordinary holiness.

After Tieguanyin was discovered in Xiping, it has been cultivated and popularized for several generations, and has become the first choice of fine varieties and important export commodities in oolong tea producing areas. In the 5th year of the Republic of China (19 16), Tieguanyin, the "Wanshou Taopai" concocted by Wang Xi Tea House and distributed by Tianxin Tea Shop, won the first prize and a gold medal in the tea selection activities held in Taiwan Province Province, and was the earliest winner of Tieguanyin Tea King in Anxi County. Tianxin Tea Shop also awarded Wang Qian a gold medal and a certificate (now preserved), which read: "Wanshou Peach in Yaoyang Township, Anxi, Wang Xi, the owner specially selected the famous tea before, and the quality was excellent, so he presented the gold medal as a reward and prayed that it was a lotus flower. Presented by Wang of Tianxin Tea House in Taipei on October 15th, Showa 6th year. " In the 34th year of the Republic of China (1945), Taishan Peak brand Tieguanyin, which was concocted by Wang Liandan Tea Company and distributed by Gao Jianfa, won a gold medal and a pair of golden pens in the tea prize in Singapore, becoming the first Tieguanyin tea king to win an overseas prize. 1950, the "Bitianfeng Brand" Tieguanyin, which was brewed by Wang registered tea house and distributed by Wang Bingji tea shop, won the Thai tea prize with a bonus of 1000 Hong Kong dollars. 1June, 982, Tieguanyin was awarded as a famous tea in China. 1986, Tieguanyin was rated as one of the top ten famous teas in the world at the International Food Expo held in Paris, France. Since 1990s, Xiping Tieguanyin has won four consecutive gold medals in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. From June 65438 to June 0996, Xiping Town was named as the only "Tieguanyin Oolong Tea Production Base" in China by the General Administration of Agricultural Reclamation of the Ministry of Agriculture and the South Asia Thermal Engineering Office.

Xiping Tea has also set many firsts in history: in the 24th year of the Republic of China (1935), Wang Chengwen of Pingyuan Village invented the "tea cutting method" for asexual propagation of tea trees for the first time, and this invention was awarded the "Science and Technology Achievement Award of the National Science Conference" by Wang Wenzhang. 1992 10, Yan Song Village and Fujian Tea Society jointly held the earliest village-level tea Wang Sai in the province; 1996165438+10, Wang Jiyang's award-winning 500g Tieguanyin Tea King was auctioned in Guangzhou 17000 yuan, and was selected as the best in Fujian. In June 2000, Xiping took the lead in selecting Tieguanyin Tea King at the Tea King Appraisal Meeting in Shantou City, Guangdong Province. In the same year, Xiyuan Tea Factory became the first private tea enterprise in the province to obtain the certificate of national origin mark protection products; Xiping Tea sponsored by Xiping Tea Trade Branch is the only township-level tea news in Fujian Province.

Xiping is the origin of the famous tea Benshan. In the ninth year of Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty (1870), it was discovered by a man named Yuanxing in Yaoyang, Xiping, so it was also called "Yuanxing Species". The plants in this mountain are shrub type, clonal variety, mesophyll type and medium bud type. It is one of the four famous teas in Anxi with excellent quality, rich aroma and mellow taste.

Oolong tea is a kind of semi-fermented tea, which "still hides half of her face behind her guitar so that we can't see it". It has a unique fragrance between the complete fermentation of black tea and the unfermented green tea. About its origin, there is a beautiful and magical legend in Yaoyang, Xiping:

A long time ago, Nanyan Mountain was lush with trees, full of clouds and fragrant tea all year round. A general named Wu Liang, dissatisfied with the tyranny of the feudal dynasty, chose to live in seclusion in the mountains and made a living by hunting and picking camellias all day. One afternoon, Wu Liang went up the mountain to pick tea with a tea basket and a shotgun as usual. He picked a basket of tea leaves, suddenly rushed out of the rock and trotted down the hill. Wuliang chased after him with a gun until Guanyin Stone captured the deer. That night, Wuliang was busy killing landscape deer, so she put the matter of frying tea on hold, but because Wuliang chased landscape deer, the tea in the tea basket jumped up and down, shaking the tea basket from time to time, and as a result, the edge of the tea green was rubbed and fermented overnight. In order not to waste the collected tea, Wuliang fired it. Unexpectedly, when making drinks, Wuliang found that the fried tea not only had no bitterness, but also had a particularly fragrant taste, and its charm was much better than that of the original fried tea. So, after careful study of Wuliang, I finally found that the mystery lies in the process of "shaking green" to make tea. People drank the tea made in this way and were full of praise. Because this method was invented by Wuliang, people call it Wuliang tea. Because "Wuliang" and "Oolong" in Minnan dialect are homonyms, later generations renamed it "Oolong Tea". After Wu Liang's death, in order to commemorate his contribution to the invention of oolong tea, a palace was built on Nanyan Mountain, where he lived in seclusion, and it was named "Hunting General Hall" (abandoned). The custom of fighting tea has declined in most parts of the country, but in Xiping, the hometown of oolong tea and the birthplace of Tieguanyin, this custom has a long history with famous tea and is constantly developing and innovating.

Tea fighting is an ancient form of tea fighting, also known as tea fighting, tea fighting and tea tasting. It began in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty, along the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. It competes for tea quality and cooking skills by cooking and tasting tea. Su Dongpo said in his poem: "The winner is unattainable, and the surrender of the loser is an infinite shame." In ancient times, Xiping folk tea fighting was quite popular, and people often met three or five confidants, offered their own teas, tasted them together and decided to win or lose.

Doucha has evolved into a tea Wang Sai in the contemporary era, which is often called the famous tea appraisal meeting, appreciation meeting, XX Cup Grand Prix and so on. During the Tea King Competition, all participating units (or tea farmers) will send the tea with fine workmanship and excellent quality to the appraisal place, and the jury will code the tea samples selected from all over the country. Members of the jury will look at the appearance and color in turn, then open the soup one by one for evaluation, smell the fragrance and taste, and then rub the bottom of the leaves with their hands to evaluate the tenderness. In a word, the four factors of tea quality, such as color, aroma, taste and shape, were graded one by one on the spot, and sorted according to the scores when they were finally published. Sometimes it is carried out by combining expert evaluation with tea lovers' (consumers') comments.

As the main tea-producing township in Anxi, Xiping hosts the Wang Sai almost every year. Tea King Saiduo is held after tea picking in spring and autumn every year, which is divided into three stages: preliminary competition, semi-final competition and final competition. The preliminary contest was held in the tea-producing area (village), and several pieces with excellent quality were selected; Focus on the rematch of the fine products selected from all over the country, and select excellent tea samples from them; Finally, the jury organized tea experts to review the outstanding tea samples selected in the rematch, and selected the tea king (also known as the special prize) 1 name, the first prize, the second prize, the third prize and several quality prizes. After the selection, tea performances, tea king auctions and street activities are often held.

Exquisite tea performance was performed in the pipa music of "Mountain Flowing Water". The graceful figure of the tea girl, dressed in cheongsam and beautiful appearance, calmly shows the tea set, boiling spring water, ordering soldiers in Han Xin, sipping shower and other 18 processes, vividly shows the art of making tea by combining traditional tea art with modern charm, and makes people enjoy the beauty and appreciate the essence of tea culture.

The "stepping on the street" activity is magnificent and magnificent! In the deafening sound of firecrackers, the "Tea King" was dressed in costumes, holding a flower card and a ribbon on his shoulder, sitting in a sedan chair with a big smile. Among the parades, the leader team, bunting team, yangko team, waist drum team, dragon dance team and lion dance team are vast and full of modern style and traditional characteristics. The winners were beaming and the guests were in high spirits. On both sides of the street, thousands of people stopped and went to see the tea king shoulder to shoulder, which was very lively. There is a poem saying: In the new tea season in Xiping in May, all villages were busy participating in the competition, wearing red and hanging green to win the championship, and thousands of people were empty to see the tea king.

Today, the tea fighting in Xiping is a great spectacle. In June, 1997, 10, a reporter from Shanghai Xinmin Evening News went to Xiping and wrote an article about Xiping's tea fighting, which was published in Shanghai Xinmin Evening News.

The continuous holding of Tea Wang Sai has effectively changed the production concept of Xiping tea farmers. Tea farmers realize that tea must be done well to get a good price, and the "king of tea" is as beautiful as a champion in China, so they have to fight for it and run cattle in a sedan chair! "Thousands of people plow carefully, and Xiping tea is drunk", which is a vivid portrayal. Up to now, Xiping has formed a gratifying situation that everyone strives to be a "tea expert" and a "tea champion". The holding of Tea Wang Sai has improved the popularity of Xiping tea, broadened the tea market and provided new opportunities for the development of Xiping. The auction of tea king also prompted the price of Xiping tea to skyrocket. From 1995 to 1998, the auction of Tieguanyin in Xiping reached a record high, so there is a saying that "Tieguanyin in Xiping is more valuable than gold" (Quanzhou Evening News and Fujian Economic News in June 1996+ 10 10).