Mei Xiangjing
01 · Lineage & Regional School
After years of training and transmission, the tea-making techniques of the Mei family have been passed into the hands of the clan's descendants, and the Meishan school has accordingly come to have many fourth-generation successors. Within the regional tradition and school record of Bai Tea Processing Craftsmanship in Fuding, Fujian: The craft of Fuding white tea is concentrated in the line of Mount Taimu, with earlier distinctions among small production areas: during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing, Chen Huan and Zhang Xiaqin of Bailiu in Diantou first propagated the white-down tea at home, and in the first year of the Guangxu reign Zhou Kaichen again moved and spread it to Huanggang. The plucking times differ from place to place; precisely because the initial processing passes only through the two steps of withering and drying, the colour produced on clear days versus rainy days shows a clear difference in quality. In his Ming-dynasty "Zhupo Shupin" (Tasting Spring Water and Its Grades of Quality), Tian Yihheng held that: "Among teas, those fired over fire rank lower, while those sun-dried in the raw state rank highest, for they are closer to nature." The modern craft of white tea flourished in Fuding during the Qing dynasty; the Qing writer Zhou Lianggong recorded in his "Minxiao Ji" (Minor Notes on Fujian): "On Mount Taimu there was of old the Green Snow Bud; today it is called the White Down, surpassing all in colour and fragrance, and the finest of all comes from the Hongxue Cave." According to records, in 1857 Chen Huan and Zhang Xiaqin of Bailiu in Diantou, Fuding, transplanted and propagated the plant at home; then in the first year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing (1875) Zhou Kaichen again transplanted it and spread it to Huanggang, and the history of manufacturing white tea thus began in Fuding.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Mei Xiangjing was born in June 1945 in Fuding, Fujian Province; he is of Han ethnicity. He is a national representative bearer of White Tea Processing Craftsmanship (the Fuding White Tea Processing Craftsmanship), a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is a technician in the processing of Fuding white tea. Born into a family long established in the tea trade, he learned from an early age from his elders Mei Yufang, Mei Yuhou, Mei Yuhuai and others how to cultivate white-hair tea seedlings and how to process white tea. His tea processing follows the methods handed down by his forebears and centres on the two operations of withering and drying, the principal procedures comprising natural withering and compound withering; the technical sequence reflects the characteristics of the natural sciences. He has improved the raw material for white tea, and the white tea now produced relies extensively on improved tea cultivars that he himself has cultivated. Within the documented technical tradition of Bai Tea Processing Craftsmanship in Fuding, Fujian: Fuding City lies in northeastern Fujian, on the border between Fujian and Zhejiang; its distinctive elevation, terrain, soil and climate provide natural conditions suited to the production of white tea. Mount Taimu in Fuding is the birthplace of white tea and has a long history. Lu Yu of the Tang dynasty wrote in his "Cha Jing" (The Classic of Tea): "Three hundred li east of Yongjia County there is a White Tea Mountain." Scholars believe this to be Mount Taimu in Fuding. … When sun-dried tea is steeped in a bowl, the standard for plucking the fresh leaf and the craft of making tea, as reflected in the banner-and-spear buds, is regarded as the embryonic form of white-tea making. This shows that Fuding white tea has a fairly remote history of appearance. Fuding white tea takes its name from the plump, sturdy buds of the finished product, thickly coated with white down, silvery and snow-white; in its making it is neither fried nor rolled, but slowly dried over a gentle fire, and through moderate natural oxidation it retains abundant active enzymes and polyphenolic substances. Its initial-processing principle and procedure consist mainly of two process steps: withering and drying. The initial-processing flow of white tea runs: fresh leaves — withering — piling — drying — sorting. The refining flow runs: rough tea — sorting (by hand) — graded tea — blending — baking — boxing. Affected by air temperature, the white-tea making craft is divided into normal-climate initial processing and abnormal-climate initial processing. The products of Fuding white tea mainly comprise such categories as Baihao Yinzhen (Silver Needle), Baimudan (White Peony), Gongmei (Shoumei), and the newly developed craft white tea. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "": "Documented process record": The initial-processing principle and procedure of white tea consist mainly of two process steps — withering and drying. The initial-processing flow runs: fresh leaves — withering — piling — drying — sorting. The refining flow runs: rough tea — sorting (by hand) — graded tea — blending — baking — boxing.
Documented process record
The initial-processing principle and procedure of white tea consist mainly of two process steps — withering and drying. The initial-processing flow runs: fresh leaves — withering — piling — drying — sorting. The refining flow runs: rough tea — sorting (by hand) — graded tea — blending — baking — boxing.
Core Technique I
Fuding City lies in northeastern Fujian, on the border between Fujian and Zhejiang;
Core Technique II
its distinctive elevation, terrain, soil and climate provide natural conditions suited to the production of white tea.
Core Technique III
Mount Taimu in Fuding is the birthplace of white tea and has a long history.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2012, Mei Xiangjing was announced in the fourth batch of national representative bearers for Bai Tea Processing Craftsmanship, with Fuding, Fujian as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Bai Tea Processing Craftsmanship in Fuding, Fujian: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Fuding, Fujian as its declared area, and Fuding Chaye Association as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
In his Ming-dynasty "Zhupo Shupin" (Tasting Spring Water and Its Grades of Quality), Tian Yihheng held that: "Among teas, those fired over fire rank lower, while those sun-dried in the raw state rank highest, for they are closer to nature." The modern craft of white tea flourished in Fuding during the Qing dynasty; the Qing writer Zhou Lianggong recorded in his "Minxiao Ji" (Minor Notes on Fujian): "On Mount Taimu there was of old the Green Snow Bud; today it is called the White Down, surpassing all in colour and fragrance, and the finest of all comes from the Hongxue Cave."
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mei Xiangjing | Fuding, Fujian | 04-1931 | This page |
| Lin Zhenchuan | Fuding, Fujian | — | Same declared area |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。