China's Intangible Cultural Heritage - Tea Art

I. Overview of Tea Art

Chinese tea art is a lifestyle art form that uses tea as a medium, integrating philosophy, aesthetics, and etiquette, including:

  • Six Major Tea Categories: Green tea, black tea, oolong tea, white tea, yellow tea, and dark tea
  • Core Skills: Cultivation, processing, brewing, and appreciation
  • Cultural Connotation: The oriental philosophy of "Harmony, Serenity, Joy, and Truth"

In 2019, "Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social practices in China" were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

II. Historical Evolution

1. Origin and Development

Dynasty Key Milestones
Tang Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea" established the tea ceremony system
Song Prevalence of whipped tea, emergence of tea decoration art
Ming Loose-leaf tea brewing became mainstream
Qing Maturation of Gongfu tea art, golden age of the Ancient Tea Horse Road

2. Key Cultural Relics

  • Gilded tea sets from the Tang Dynasty at Famen Temple
  • Tea banquet scenes in Emperor Huizong of Song's "Literary Gathering"
  • Ming Dynasty purple clay teapot by Shi Dabin in the Palace Museum collection

III. Regional Characteristics

1. Major Tea Art Schools

  • Chaoshan Gongfu Tea:
    Brewing techniques like "Lord Guan Patrolling the City"
    Small zhu ni teapots with ruo chen cups

  • Sichuan Long-spout Teapot Art:
    1.2m copper teapot "Eighteen Dragon Movements"
    Blending martial arts and dance

  • Suzhou Biluochun Tea Customs:
    "Spring Equinox Tea Worship" tradition
    "Suzhou-style Tea Banquet" with tea snacks

2. Representative Heritage Sites

journey
    title China's Tea Art Map
    section Zhejiang
      Hangzhou Longjing tea roasting skills
      Huzhou Changxing purple bamboo shoot tea banquet
    section Fujian
      Wuyishan rock tea production
      Anxi Tieguanyin tea ceremony
    section Yunnan
      Pu'er tea processing techniques
      Bai ethnic Three-Course Tea ceremony

IV. Cultural Significance

1. Lifestyle Aesthetics

  • Tea Ware: Purple clay, Jian ware, blue-and-white porcelain
  • Tea Space: Ming Dynasty Wen Zhenheng's tea room design in "Treatise on Superfluous Things"
  • Tea Food: Hangzhou osmanthus-longjing cake, Chaozhou tea snacks

2. Social Functions

  • Etiquette: Tea serving rituals, wedding tea customs
  • Wellness: 24 solar terms tea drinking rhymes
  • Commerce: World Heritage Site Ancient Tea Horse Road

V. Preservation and Inheritance

1. Current Challenges

  • Mechanized production threatens manual techniques
  • Lack of young practitioners

2. Innovative Practices

  • Digitalization: AR recreation of Song Dynasty tea whisking
  • Education: Tea art elective courses in primary schools
  • International Promotion: Confucius Institute tea culture programs

"Tea as a beverage originated with Shennong and became known through Duke of Zhou" — "The Classic of Tea"