Huang Tea Processing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Junshan Yinzhen tea has a long production history: it began in the Tang dynasty, was fixed in form in the Song, and flourished in the Qing. In the Qing dynasty it was designated a tribute tea.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The craft of making Junshan Yinzhen tea is one of the representative yellow-tea making techniques of China, found mainly on Junshan Island and in Xushi Town in Junshan District, Yueyang City, Hunan Province. Junshan Island is surrounded by water on all sides; on the island the peaks are clustered and the ravines wind back on themselves, with green bamboo and trees. This special geographical setting and the moist climate create the conditions for tea bushes to grow. Junshan Yinzhen tea is excellent in colour, aroma, taste and shape. Made from 'one bud and one leaf', it is carefully produced through nine process steps: spreading to wither, de-enzyming, cooling, first drying, first wrapping, second drying, second wrapping, final firing and sorting. Among these, the 'nine no-pick rules' and 'double-stage yellowing' are the important guarantees of the golden bud body, the fresh, mellow, refreshing taste and the long lingering finish of Junshan Yinzhen. The nine no-pick rules are that buds are not picked in rain, after wind or frost, when they have opened, when they have turned purple, when they are hollow, when they are bent, when they are insect-damaged, when they are thin and slender, or when they are off-size; the standard is extremely strict. Double-stage yellowing means fermenting the leaves twice, producing a yellow tea with a degree of fermentation of no more than 50 per cent that is mellow, resistant to repeated brewing, with a lasting fermentation aroma and a bright liquor, so that under the combined action of the air and its humidity the tea takes on a distinctive flavour. The finished Junshan Yinzhen has plump, firm and upright buds covered in feathery white down; the bud body is golden and lustrous, the inner quality fresh and tender with a downy aroma, and the infused leaves are thick, even and bright. Because the inside of the leaf is orange-yellow and it is wrapped in a layer of white down, it is elegantly called 'gold inlaid with jade'; and because the tea buds look very much like silver needles, it is named 'Junshan silver needle'. The tea is famous for the 'three rises and three falls' of the buds when it is brewed; the liquor is clear and apricot-yellow in colour, sweet and mellow in taste, and it does not change its flavour on standing. In recent years more than 20 modern, technology-based tea enterprises have gradually taken shape, integrating tea research, cultivation, processing, sales and the spread of tea culture, and more than a thousand tea houses of various kinds have grown up around them, with over ten thousand people directly employed. The craft of making Junshan Yinzhen tea has a long history and has accumulated a great deal of knowledge and experience in tea cultivation, production, tasting and drinking; it is interwoven with the life of the local people and is an important part of Chinese tea culture, with relatively high social and cultural value.
Archival Records of Process Steps
Junshan Yinzhen tea is excellent in colour, aroma, taste and shape. Made from 'one bud and one leaf', it is carefully produced through nine process steps: spreading to wither, de-enzyming, cooling, first drying, first wrapping, second drying, second wrapping, final firing and sorting.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The distribution of the Junshan Yinzhen tea-making craft is tied closely to the lake-island tea gardens of Junshan Island and Xushi Town, where the picking seasons at the two places fall slightly at different times, which is why there is the rule of the nine no-picks: no picking in rain, after wind or frost, or when the buds have opened, turned purple, are hollow, bent, insect-damaged or thin and slender. The methods divide over yellowing: the Junshan line uses the double-stage process of yellowing twice, keeping the degree of fermentation within fifty per cent. Compared with yellow teas elsewhere in Hunan, Junshan Yinzhen takes only one bud and one leaf.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Historically the craft of making Junshan Yinzhen tea was passed on mainly within families and between masters and apprentices, and the transmission system is fairly complete, with a clearly recorded line of transmission extending to four generations. The Junshan District ecological tea garden on Junshan Island is the main place where the project is transmitted. With the active support of the local government, inheritors advance the transmission and spread of the project mainly through production practice in enterprises, running training courses, taking part in promotional and display activities, and organising students to experience tea work. In addition, Junshan Yinzhen, as a regional brand, has played a positive role in transmitting and spreading Chinese tea culture, promoting rural revitalisation and bringing about social harmony.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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