Green Tea Processing Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-148Traditional CraftsmanshipHangzhou, ZhejiangBatch 2 (2008)Newly Added ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

Tea culture flourished greatly in the Tang dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong changed the character "tu" to "cha" in the Kaiyuan Wenzi Yinyi, and afterwards Lu Yu's Classic of Tea (Cha Jing) also appeared. Before the Song dynasty, the tea consumed was mostly compressed tea—the leaves were steamed, pounded, and formed into lumps or cakes, then boiled in water for drinking, sometimes with dried fruits such as melon seeds and pine nuts added. In the Qing dynasty this changed to brewing with boiling water, a practice that continues to this day. In the Tang dynasty it was already popular to pluck the tiny newly sprouted tea buds; these tender buds were sharp like spears, with small leaves shaped like banners growing beside them, and so they were called "banner-spear" (qiqiang), a name that has endured to the present. West Lake Longjing tea originated in the Tang dynasty, became renowned through the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, and flourished in the Qing.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

China's tea-making craft has a long history. More than three thousand years ago, tea used as an accompaniment to drinking already appeared in the ritual ceremonies of the Western Zhou dynasty. In ancient times tea was called "tu," a name that appears in the Book of Songs (Shijing). By the Three Kingdoms and Western Jin periods, tea drinking had become a common custom in the Jiangnan region. Green tea is a type of tea that is fixed (kill-green) at high temperature without oxidation or fermentation, also known as "non-fermented tea." Its production process mainly includes plucking fresh leaves, fixation (kill-green), rolling, and drying. Top-grade green tea is made from the delicate young buds that first emerge, generally plucked before the Qingming or Grain Rain solar terms; the finished tea is commonly called "pre-Qingming" or "pre-Grain Rain." Fixation uses high-temperature processes such as steaming or pan-firing to enhance the green tea's bright color and clear fragrance, and can be divided into steaming fixation and pan-firing fixation. In ancient China, high-temperature steam was used for fixation, called "steam fixation"; in modern times this changed to pan-firing in an iron wok, giving rise to "pan-fired fixation." Fixation makes the leaves soft, and gently rolling them between the fingers twists them into tight, slender strips—this is called "rolling." Rolling helps the brewed tea release its infusion and also reduces the leaves' volume, making storage and transport easier. It is mainly produced in Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province; Longjing Village by West Lake abundantly yields high-quality tea that is green in color, rich in aroma, mellow in taste, and beautiful in form, hence the name "Longjing tea." West Lake Longjing tea is a famous Chinese tea, and green tea represented by West Lake Longjing is closely connected to the daily life of the Chinese people. Through long production practice, tea cultivation and processing in the West Lake Longjing tea region gradually developed a series of tea-production experiences—selecting fine varieties, diligent cultivation, careful plucking, and scientific pan-firing; in particular, a pan-firing technique with distinctive technical characteristics was worked out during the firing process, including the "Ten Great Techniques" of Longjing tea pan-firing: shaking, wrapping, pressing, swinging, lifting, spreading, hooking, grasping, pressing, and grinding. The entire tea-making craft embodies the wisdom of local tea farmers and reveals profound cultural meaning. As the reputation of West Lake Longjing tea has risen, many tea-producing areas, seeking economic gain, have competed to imitate its pan-firing methods and pass off their tea as Longjing, confusing the genuine with the fake, thereby damaging the reputation of West Lake Longjing tea. Moreover, as urban development accelerates, the area of tea gardens shrinks year by year and Longjing tea output declines steadily. With mechanized production replacing manual operation, the ancient craft of hand-panning Longjing tea is also gradually declining.

The ten hand techniques

Ten named hand motions alternate between spreading the leaf over heat and rolling it into the flat, straight shape.

Greening, resting and finishing fires

Greening over a fierce fire, resting to even the moisture, then finishing over a slow flame while straightening the leaf.

Working with soft force

Yang Jichang lifts and turns the leaf with soft force so it never slams into the hot pan.

The arrow-shoot bud and the early-spring pickings

Only the first tender shoots, picked before Qingming or Guyu, are used; the bud resembles an arrow with a flag-like leaf.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The core production area of West Lake Longjing lies around Longjing Village in Xihu District, Hangzhou, and the mountain plots of Shifeng, Longjing, Yunqi, Hupao, and Meijiawu each have their fame. Here the tea gardens are mostly on gentle slopes, and the slope aspect, soil, and number of foggy days directly determine how different the teas under the same "Longjing" name can be. In technique, each household has its own method; everyone knows the Ten Great Techniques, but applies them with different emphasis and tempo, so the resulting shape and aroma each have their own character. Since the Republic of China period, machine-made tea and hand-panning have proceeded side by side, and purely hand-made tea has instead become the minority.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Green tea is currently mainly produced in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan, and other places, among which the most famous are West Lake Longjing of Hangzhou and Wuzhou Juyan of Jinhua in Zhejiang; Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui, and Lu'an Guapian in Anhui; and Dongshan Biluochun of Suzhou in Jiangsu. Inheriting and protecting the plucking and making craft of West Lake Longjing tea is a matter of urgency that must be placed on the work agenda as soon as possible. Yang Jichang (per the official archive records of the related inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1941, a native of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. Representative inheritor of the third batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item "Green Tea Making Technique (West Lake Longjing)." Green tea-making technician. West Lake Longjing tea is known for its "four excellences" (green color, rich aroma, sweet taste, and beautiful form), of which color and form mainly depend on the pan-firing craft. Through long practice, he has mastered the Ten Great Techniques—shaking, wrapping, swinging, lifting, spreading, grasping, pressing, and grinding—within the three processes of initial firing (qingguo), cooling (huichao), and final firing (huiguo) of Longjing tea pan-firing. He pays special attention to using a soft, yielding force when the green leaves enter the wok, strictly controlling the temperature while tossing, and emphasizing techniques such as grasping, hooking, grinding, pressing, and pushing, forming a unique tea-firing skill. In 1988, 1989, and 2006 he won first place in the West Lake Longjing Tea-Firing Competition held by the Xihu District People's Government of Hangzhou City.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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