Liangcha
01 · Historical Records
In 306 CE, the Daoist physician and pharmacologist Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin traveled south to Lingnan; because epidemic miasma was then prevalent, he was able to devote himself to studying the various warm-disease medicines of Lingnan.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Liangcha (herbal tea) is a beverage developed by the people of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao based on local climate and soil-water characteristics, in the long process of disease prevention and health care, guided by traditional Chinese medicine's health-preservation theory, using Chinese medicinal herbs as raw materials, and refined through consumption and experience. It accompanies people's daily lives and has effects such as clearing heat and detoxifying, promoting fluid and quenching thirst, and dispelling fire and removing dampness. It has specific terminology to guide daily consumption, with neither dosage restrictions nor the need for a doctor's guidance. The medical treatises left by Ge Hong, together with the rich experience summarized by later Lingnan 'warm-school' physicians from the laboring people's long process of disease prevention and treatment, gave rise to Liangcha with its profound Lingnan cultural foundations; its formulas and terminology have been passed down through generations. Historical anecdotes and folk legends about Liangcha are widely circulated in Lingnan and overseas, enduring through the ages. For several hundred years, the Liangcha shops standing in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have formed a unique cultural landscape of Lingnan. During the 'Cultural Revolution,' although Liangcha culture suffered severe destruction—not only were Liangcha shops closed, but also the implements, sites, relics, historical materials, and photographs related to Liangcha were reduced to very few—it nevertheless endured in Hong Kong and Macao. The 54 formulas of 16 Liangcha brands—including Wanglaoji, Shangqingyin, Jianshengtang, Denglao, Baiyunshan, Huang Zhenlong, Xu Qixiu, Chunhetang, Jin Hulu, Xingqun, Runxintang, Shaxi, Li's, Qingxintang, Xinglinchun, and Baoqingtang—and the Liangcha culture they constitute have gained broad public recognition.
Herb tea shops in Hong Kong
Arriving with migrants from the late nineteenth century, herb-tea shops became a fixture of the street, selling also guilinggao and liangfen.
Clearing heat and damp
Blended for heat, dryness and damp in the Lingnan summer, and re-blended wherever the climate differs.
Drunk on the street
Served in bowls or plastic cups to be drunk on the move, as the peddled tea of old Guangzhou was.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Liangcha-making craft is widely circulated in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; its shops are found throughout Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. The signboard wording is largely the same as in Guangdong, though the measurements differ slightly. Since the 19th century, as the Chinese population in Hong Kong grew denser, Liangcha shops arrived with emigrants from their hometowns, becoming part of everyday street life. The Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR is the item's protecting unit.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Liangcha · Liangcha.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Liangcha formulation craft has been passed down through family hereditary succession for several hundred years. The long history of Liangcha culture, together with its broad folk character, widely recognized effectiveness, strict transmission, and great late-developing effect, has made it a 'dark horse' among world beverages. At present, Liangcha output has reached 2 million tons (including Hong Kong and Macao), and its sales range covers the whole country as well as nearly twenty countries including the United States, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. Today, amid the rapid development of the industry, as a component of Chinese dietary culture, protecting and promoting Liangcha culture has certain practical significance.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Yonghui 05-2783
- Zheng Rongbo
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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