Chayi
01 · Historical Records
Chaozhou gongfu tea art is a tea-brewing technique transmitted in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong Province; it began in the Song dynasty, had already become a widespread fashion by the mid-Qing dynasty, and even spread to various parts of Southeast Asia.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The brewing of Chaozhou gongfu tea follows a set procedure, composed chiefly of the following steps: presenting the tea utensils, the tea master washing the hands, lighting the clay stove, bailing water with the clay kettle (a vessel for boiling water), boiling the water over olive charcoal, scalding the pot with the boiling water, then warming the teacups, tipping the tea leaves onto white paper, putting the oolong into the pot, rinsing the tea with sweet spring water, lifting the kettle and pouring from a height, scraping the foam with the pot lid, pouring over the lid to hold in the heat, scalding and rolling the cups, pouring the tea liquor low, "Lord Guan inspecting the city", "Han Xin deploying troops", respectfully inviting one to taste, first smelling the tea fragrance, sipping gently in a calm spirit, smelling the bottom of the cup three times, and "auspicious vapour blending in harmony". Besides its distinctive brewing, Chaozhou gongfu tea art has another outstanding characteristic, namely that oolong tea is the principal tea used.
Presenting the tea set and washing hands
The opening two steps: naming the utensils for the guests, then washing the hands before the long sequence begins.
Lighting the clay stove with olive-wood charcoal
Water is heated slowly over olive-wood charcoal and poured hot into the warmed pot.
High pouring, skimming and chasing heat
Boiling water is poured high, then the lid skims the foam and rinses the pot to chase the heat.
Guan Gong tours the city, Han Xin counts the troops
The last pours: a low circling rinse of the cups, then the dregs dripped out evenly so the last infusion is not thin.
Smelling first, sipping gently
The closing section: smell the aroma first, sip gently, then sniff the bottom of the cup for the lingering scent.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chaozhou gongfu tea is practised throughout the three prefectures of Chaoshan; the procedure is broadly similar between counties and townships, while the shape of the pot, the form of the cup and the details of hand gestures vary slightly from village to village and household to household. This way of drinking tea rests on gongfu (skill and effort): washing the hands, lighting the fire, bailing water, boiling the water, warming the pot, warming the cups, putting in the tea, rinsing the tea, pouring from a height, scraping the foam, pouring over the lid and scalding the cups — twenty or so steps gone through one after another; a person in the trade can tell from the strength of colour in the tea liquor whether the other's craft is fully accomplished or not. For utensils, the finest are purple-clay pots produced in Chaozhou itself and thin-bodied porcelain cups, matched with a slow fire of olive charcoal; olive charcoal burns without smoke or odd smell, and boiling water poured into the pot does not overpower the fragrance of the tea — this is one of the clearest distinctions between Chaozhou gongfu tea and tea settings elsewhere. The principal tea is fixed on oolong: the strongly fragrant and full-bodied Tieguanyin and Fenghuang Dancong are both regulars; whether serving tea to a guest on arrival or offering it at parting, the tea is poured from the cup in the same way, and even though several infusions may be changed during the sitting and host and guest differ in status, the procedure is not relaxed in any way. Following the migration of Chaozhou people, this way of drinking tea spread to Chaozhou settlements in Southeast Asia, where the utensils and tea were replaced by local products but the procedure remained essentially the same. In the streets of Chaozhou one can still commonly see tea drinkers setting out a mat facing the street: apart from a tin pot and a small stove there is no long table, just one pot and one cup; the noise of the street passes the ear while the tea service remains undisturbed. This kind of street tea setting best reveals the everyday face of gongfu tea.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chaozhou gongfu tea art is an important component of Chaozhou traditional culture, and has research value in fields such as folklore studies, Chaozhou studies (Chaoxue) and the history of social life. As society develops and the pace of people's life keeps accelerating, most young people no longer understand gongfu tea well; the traditional Chaozhou gongfu tea technique has been replaced by simplified brewing procedures, and the Chaozhou gongfu tea technique is showing a tendency to decline, urgently requiring protection.
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)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。