Chasu
01 · Historical Records
The three-course tea is an ancient tea-tasting art of the Bai people, originating in the Nanzhao period of the eighth century, and has a history of more than a thousand years to the present day. When the great traveller Xu Xiake of the Ming dynasty came to Dali, he was entertained with the three-course tea by the monks of Jizu Mountain, and recorded it in his travel notes as "pouring tea for amusement: first pure tea, then salted tea, and last honey tea". Through being handed down from generation to generation, the three-course tea has gradually evolved into a Bai tea custom whose principal area of circulation is Dali City in Yunnan Province.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
According to the Manshu (Book of the Southern Barbarians) written by Fan Chuo of the Tang dynasty, as early as the Nanzhao period the ancestors of the Bai people already had the tea-drinking habit of "boiling it and drinking it together with pepper, ginger and cinnamon". The three-course tea is a rite of courtesy of the Bai people at festivals and celebrations and when receiving guests. Whenever a guest or relative arrives at the house, the host warmly ushers them into the main hall. After host and guests have taken their seats, the host sets a tripod over the brazier, places a kettle on it, and begins to brew tea for the guests. The first course of the three-course tea is bitter tea, also known as "thunder-crack tea" (Leixiang cha). The host first heats the empty tea jar, puts in the tea leaves, and then roasts them over the charcoal fire while shaking them. Once the tea leaves have turned slightly yellow and give off their fragrance, a small amount of boiling water is poured in; at this point the tea jar gives off a rumbling sound like a clap of thunder, hence the name "thunder-crack tea". Also, because the jar must be shaken without stopping more than a hundred times during the roasting, it is also called the "hundred-shakes tea". The liquor of the thunder-crack tea is amber in colour and richly fragrant; after being poured into the teacup a little boiling water is added, and it can then respectfully be offered to the guest to taste. This tea is made chiefly of green tea from Cangshan Mountain; its taste is sweet and bitter, signifying that a person's life will pass through many tribulations. The second course is sweet tea, or sugar tea. Thinly sliced walnut kernels and brown sugar are put into boiling water and boiled until the fragrance of the tea fills the air, whereupon it may be drunk. Some Bai people also add honey to this course to make the tea sweeter and more pleasant, signifying that bitterness gives way to sweetness. The third course is the aftertaste tea. Honey and a little Chinese prickly ash and cassia bark are put into the cup, tea is poured in, and it is drunk while being gently swirled; the taste is sweet with a slight numbing quality and a faint bitterness, signifying the recollection of one's whole life in old age. The three-course tea, with its three flavours going from bitter to sweet to aftertaste, contains the various feelings of life; its meaning is profound, and it can arouse an echo in the guest. As an important rite in the Bai people's customs of hospitality, the three-course tea reflects the warm-hearted, civilised and hospitable character of the Bai people. By inviting guests to taste in turn three kinds of tea of different flavours, it leads people to think of the journey of life, and after tasting they come to understand the philosophy of life embodied in "first bitter, second sweet, third aftertaste", reflecting the optimistic and positive attitude of the Bai people towards life.
The first infusion: thunder tea
A pre-heated jar of leaves is shaken over coals until fragrant, then a little boiling water is added with a thundering sound.
The second infusion: sweet tea
Sliced walnuts and brown sugar boiled with the tea, sometimes with added honey for a sweeter taste.
The third infusion: the lingering cup
Honey with a little pepper and cassia in the cup, swirled and drunk: sweet, slightly numbing, and bitter on the finish.
Welcoming guests at the hearth
Guests are seated by the hearth, where a tripod over a brazier boils the water for the three infusions.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Bai three-course tea is most flourishing in the outskirts of Dali City and the surrounding Bai villages; Bai households in the Xizhou and Zhoucheng area still follow this sequence of three courses when receiving guests, and the neighbouring plain areas of Bai settlement also use the same code of courtesy, though the ingredients are increased or decreased according to local produce. The thunder-crack tea makes the greatest demands on heat control and hand technique: if the jar is not hot enough, the firing is off, or the shaking is insufficient, the tea fragrance will not come out; for this reason locals mostly use their own hand-roasted tea when receiving guests, and guests are accustomed to checking first whether the colour of the tea is amber.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The three-course tea sets the order of bitter, sweet and aftertaste, turning one act of hospitality into an unspoken lesson of admonition and instruction; the drinker need not be told the reasoning again, for the tongue first tastes the three stages of life. According to the Manshu by Fan Chuo of the Tang dynasty, as early as the Nanzhao period the Bai ancestors already had the old method of boiling and drinking together with pepper, ginger and cinnamon; the later three-course tea was modified precisely from this local way of drinking, and the change lies not in the medicinal flavour but in the etiquette and phrasing of hospitality. When Xu Xiake travelled in Dali he was entertained with the three-course tea by the monks of Jizu Mountain and recorded it in his travel notes; this event brought this tea rite into Chinese-language travel writing, and let people beyond the mountains hear of its origin for the first time.
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)
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