Green Tea Processing Craftsmanship

Ⅷ-148Traditional CraftsmanshipSuzhoushiwuzhong, JiangsuBatch 3 (2011)Extension ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

According to local histories, tea cultivation in Suzhou began during the Two Jin and Northern and Southern dynasties; in the Tang dynasty, Lu Yu's "Classic of Tea" (Cha Jing) recorded that tea came from "Tongting Mountain in Changzhou County (present-day Suzhou)." Zhu Changwen of the Northern Song dynasty, in his "Continuation of the Wu Prefecture Illustrated Gazetteer," recorded: "Tongting produces fine tea, formerly presented as tribute..." In the early Qing dynasty, Tongting tea was popularly called "Xia Sha Ren Xiang" (astonishingly fragrant); in the 38th year of the Kangxi reign (1699), when the Kangxi Emperor toured the Taihu region, he bestowed the tea name "Biluochun" (Green Snail Spring) on the grounds that the tea was jade-green in color, spiral-curved like a snail, and picked in early spring.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Biluochun tea is produced on the East and West Tongting Mountains of Taihu Lake in Suzhou. The picking and processing of Biluochun tea are entirely done by hand, and to this day it fully employs the traditional picking and making craft. Its making craft consists of seven process steps: "picking, sorting, spreading, high-temperature fixation, rolling and shaping, curling into pellets to bring out the tips, and gentle-fire drying." "Pick early, pick tender, sort cleanly" and "hands never leave the tea, tea never leaves the wok, rolling within frying, frying and rolling combined, continuous operation, done upon lifting from the wok" are the technical essentials of the Tongting Mountain Biluochun picking and making craft. Biluochun from Tongting Mountain made by the traditional picking and processing method has an appearance of "slender strips, curled like a snail, downy all over, silver-green with hidden jade," and an inner quality of "jade-green liquor, elegant and lofty fragrance, sweet and refreshing on the palate, endless aftertaste"; it is famed at home and abroad for its "four excellences—beautiful shape, brilliant color, rich aroma, mellow taste," and is known as "one tenderness (the bud) and three freshnesses (color, aroma, taste)."

Documented Process Records

Its making craft consists of seven process steps: "picking, sorting, spreading, high-temperature fixation, rolling and shaping, curling into pellets to bring out the tips, and gentle-fire drying."

Hand never off the tea, tea never off the pan

From kill-green to slow drying the work never pauses, keeping the leaf's freshness intact.

Rolling together with frying

Rolling and frying are combined rather than separated, giving the curled, downy leaf with no holding stage.

Rubbing the balls to bring out the down

Rubbing the rolled leaf into small balls brings out the down that defines the finished appearance.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Biluochun production area lies on the East and West Tongting Mountains of Taihu Lake in Suzhou, a narrow strip between the hills and waters of Wuzhong District. The tea gardens are close to the lake and heavily misted, so the window for picking and processing is very short, and output has therefore always been limited. The Tongting Mountain people treat "pick early, pick tender, sort cleanly" as a shared rule for the whole village; if any household rushes to pick coarse leaves out of season, the neighbors can tell. With few locals and many newcomers, the handwork cannot be scaled up—which is both the reason for its fame and the reason it remains difficult to mechanize to this day.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Shi Yuewen (per official inheritor archival records): Male, Han ethnicity, born in November 1967, a native of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Green Tea Making Craft (Biluochun Making Craft)." A Biluochun green tea making technician. Born into a "Tea King" family. Having practiced the craft for over thirty years, he has continuously explored and summarized through practice, formed his own unique tea-frying craft, and has tried to make new products such as Biluo black tea and osmanthus-flavored black tea. The Biluochun he fries has an appearance of slender strips, curled like a snail, downy all over, silver-green with hidden jade, and an inner quality of jade-green liquor, elegant and lofty fragrance, sweet and refreshing on the palate, and endless aftertaste. Over the years he has persisted in teaching the craft and has taken on nearly thirty apprentices. In 2004 he won first place in the Suzhou Tongting Mountain Biluochun Tea-Frying Skill Competition. In 2007 he won the first prize at the 7th "China Cup" National Famous and Superior Tea Evaluation held by the China Tea Science Society, and in 2010 he won the grand prize at the first "Guoyin Cup" National Tea Evaluation held by the China Tea Science Society. The Biluochun craft has been passed down through a clear master-apprentice line; Shi Yuewen was born into a Tea King family, has practiced for over thirty years and taken on nearly thirty apprentices, and has also tried making new products such as Biluo black tea and osmanthus-flavored black tea, expanding this old craft from a single product into a whole category of craftsmanship. This set of picking and processing methods flows in one breath from picking, sorting, and spreading through high-temperature fixation, rolling and shaping, curling into pellets to bring out the tips, and gentle-fire drying—the seven process steps—where stopping midway is most taboo.

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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