Chasu
01 · Historical Records
Gongcheng was originally called "Chacheng" (Tea City); it was founded in the fourteenth year of the Daye era of the Sui dynasty (618 CE), and in the fourth year of the Wude era of the Tang dynasty (621 CE) was renamed "Gongcheng". In 1990 Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County was established. Already in the Sui dynasty Gongcheng was an important area for the cultivation of and trade in tea.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The oil-tea custom of the Yao people is a distinctive dietary custom that the Yao, who live in the Nanling corridor, gradually worked out in the course of long co-existence with a natural environment of damp mountain land, heavy miasma and unpredictable heat and cold; it is a summation of the Yao people's experience in adapting to the mountain environment of Lingnan. Oil tea is a drink made by putting raw materials such as oil-tea leaves, ginger and garlic into an iron pot, pounding them repeatedly, and then adding hot water and boiling them; it is commonly known as "beating the oil tea", and has the efficacy of aiding digestion and strengthening the stomach, dispelling dampness and avoiding miasma. The county lies in the northeast of Guangxi and the southeast of Guilin City, in the Nanling corridor; its terrain is surrounded by mountains on three sides, higher in the north and lower in the south, and it belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate zone. Beginning in the Tang dynasty, Yao people migrated in from Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and elsewhere; they improved the local tea-drinking custom, added to the recipe of ingredients, and refined the production techniques and tools, thus forming the distinctive Yao oil-tea custom. The oil-tea custom runs through the whole life of the Yao people: it is present everywhere, from a baby's full-month celebration, marriage, birthday congratulations and funerals to sacrifices, festivals and the receiving of guests. At a baby's full month one must "boil tea"; the betrothal ceremony is called the "tea engagement"; at marriage there are the tea-opening rite and the singing of tea songs; when an elder celebrates a birthday there is the "birthday tea"; after an elder has died, oil-tea leaves are placed in the coffin; and when sacrificing to the ancestors one must offer oil tea. When a guest enters the house they drink oil tea first — "when a person or guest enters the room, tea is the courtesy" — and Yao girls sing songs as they offer the guests oil tea, with fried rice, glutinous rice cakes, peanuts and other fine foods placed in the tea bowls; only after the guest has drunk at least three bowls will the host family contentedly go and prepare the proper meal. People sit round the hearth, beating oil tea and chatting about family matters as they do so, harmonising relations between neighbours, drawing host and guest closer, and widening the circle of social contact. Elders and village headmen in the villages who understand and master the Yao tea rules pass on to young people the relevant knowledge of the Yao oil-tea custom. The Yao oil-tea custom embodies in concentrated form the optimistic and positive attitude to life that the Yao people formed and maintained in harsh circumstances; it is a treasure of China's tea culture and food culture, and has broad popular practicality. The Yao oil-tea custom has distinctive geographical features, prominent ethnic and folk characteristics, and the cultural character of openness, interaction and sharing among multiple ethnic groups; it is of important significance in promoting ethnic unity and the harmonious development of society.
Pounding the oil tea in an iron pot
Leaves, ginger and garlic are pounded in an iron pot over heat, then boiled until the oil surfaces.
Picking tea at Grain Rain and storing it by the hearth
Leaves picked around Grain Rain are dried and hung above the hearth until a honored guest or a wedding demands them.
The tea-opening rite and tea songs
At weddings the tea ceremony opens the celebration, with tea songs sung as the couple serve the guests.
Three bowls as the minimum
Guests are served at least three bowls with rice, cake and peanuts before the host prepares the main meal.
Tea rites for betrothal, birthdays and funerals
Tea marks every stage of life, from the first-month rite to weddings, birthdays, funerals and ancestor worship.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Yao oil-tea custom is distributed mainly in the Yao-inhabited areas of Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County, Guilin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and of the counties of Guanyang, Ziyuan, Longsheng, Zhongshan and Fuchuan in Hezhou City; Yao-inhabited areas in Hunan and Guangdong also have the custom. In the course of interaction between the Yao and the local Zhuang and Han peoples, the Yao oil-tea custom gradually spread to the local Zhuang and Han, becoming a custom shared by multiple ethnic groups. In its concrete forms of expression, local Yao people have the habit of planting oil-tea trees before and behind their houses; it is generally held that the Guyu tea (picked around the Guyu solar term) is the best, and once the leaves have been fixed (killed green) and dried in the sun to make tea, they are stored above the hearth or the earthen stove, to be taken down when entertaining honoured guests and holding happy events.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Over the long course of transmission, the Yao oil-tea custom has gradually become an important means and method of Yao social interaction, an important link in life-cycle rites, and the highest courtesy in receiving honoured guests, and has formed a specific set of tea rites, tea customs and tea rules. The Yao oil-tea custom continues to be passed on mainly by means of family transmission and social transmission. The Yao people of the mountain areas of the Nanling corridor — in particular the Yao of Gongcheng Yao Autonomous County in Guangxi and of the surrounding counties — are the principal transmitting community.
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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