The story of Pu'er tea

 

The story of Pu'er tea

 

Lacuo and his party tasted Lijiang's delicacies at a tea horse station halfway up the mountain. That night, Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing danced around the bonfire with the Naxi people.

Abu, a Tibetan Tashi, is in his early 40s, short, dark-skinned, and speaks fluent Mandarin.

While drinking Pu'er tea together, Lacuo and his party listened to him talk about Tibetan culture and Tibetan Buddhism, and also heard him tell the story of Pu'er tea. He served as a border guard in Tibet for nine years.

Abu said:

China is the first place in the world to plant tea trees, and the discovery of ancient broad-leaf magnolia fossils in Jinggu confirms that tea trees originated in Yunnan. The tea tree has many similarities with the plant fossils of broad-leaf magnolia and Chinese magnolia, and they are genetically related. Jinggu County in Simao City is the only distribution area of Tertiary magnolia flora in China.

It is said that during the Three Kingdoms period, the Shu Kingdom failed to attack the Wu Kingdom, and all the counties in the south of the country rebelled. Zhuge Liang personally marched south, crossed Lu in May, and pacified the four counties. In order to stabilize and develop the Nanzhong region, Zhuge Liang promoted advanced farming techniques among local ethnic minorities and advocated the planting and consumption of tea. Therefore, Zhuge Liang is also regarded as the "ancestral of tea" in many areas. However, such legends have not been found in historical records. They are more derived from the admiration and borrowing of the Central Plains culture by the people in the southwest.

Tea can bring various benefits to people. In some border minority areas where fruits and vegetables are scarce, the dependence on tea is even more prominent because the diet is mainly tsampa, beef and mutton. There is a popular saying that "it is better not to eat food for three days than for one day". No tea” proverb. Tea is rich in tea polyphenols, vitamins, amino acids and other ingredients. It not only has the functions of clearing away heat, detoxifying, moisturizing, diuretic and promoting digestion, but can also make up for the deficiencies in vitamins caused by dietary structure.

While drinking Pu'er tea at the Tea Horse Inn at noon, Abu said to Agudengba, Adhuo, Chu Sanxing and Lacuo:

According to research, the tea in Yinshengcheng is a Yunnan large-leaf tea species, which is also a Pu'er tea species. Therefore, the tea produced in Yinshengcheng should be the ancestor of Pu'er tea. From the understanding of the history of tea culture, tea flourished in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty.

Li Shi of the Song Dynasty recorded in his book "Extended Natural History": "Tea comes from the mountains, and is harvested from time to time. It is cooked with garlic and ginger and drunk."

In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a place named "Bu Ri Bu". Since it was later written in Chinese characters, it became "Pu'er". At that time, the word "Er" did not have three dashes of water. The word Pu'er first appeared here, and it has since been corrected and written into history. Yunnan tea, which has no fixed name, is also called "Pu Cha" and has gradually become a necessary commodity sold in markets in Tibet, Xinjiang and other regions. The word Pu'er tea became famous both at home and abroad. It was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that the name was changed to Pu'er tea.

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Xie Zhaozhe mentioned the word "Pu tea" (i.e. Pu'er tea) in his book "Dian Lue". The book said: "All Pu'er tea used by scholars and common people is steamed into balls." This is the first time the term "Pu Cha" has been used in writing. Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty also recorded in "Compendium of Materia Medica" that "Pu'er tea comes from Yunnan Pu'er".

Ruan Fu's "Pu'er Tea Records" of the Qing Dynasty said: "Pu'er belonged to Yinsheng Prefecture in ancient times. The use of Pu'er in Western Tibet has been since the Tang Dynasty." "Liu Tea Mountain Relics" recorded in Daoguang's "Pu'er Prefecture Chronicles" of the Qing Dynasty more than 1,700 years ago During the Three Kingdoms period, tea was grown in Pu'er Prefecture.

Abu then recounted the history of Pu’er tea cultivation:

Pu'er tea has a very long history. As early as more than 3,000 years ago when King Wu conquered Zhou, the Pu people, the ancestors of Yunnan tea farmers, had already offered tea to King Wu of Zhou. However, the name Pu'er tea did not exist at that time. The Bangwei transitional ancient tea tree is a living fossil left over from the cultivation and domestication of tea trees by the ancient Pu people.

Historical documents record that the first person to plant Pu'er tea was Fan Chuo, an official of the Tang Dynasty. In the seventh volume of his book "Manshu", it is said that "tea comes out of the mountains around Yinsheng City, and there is no way to harvest it. Mengshe Man eats pepper." Cook it with Jiang Guihe and drink it. "According to research, the tea in Yinshengcheng should be Yunnan large-leaf tea species, which is also Pu'er tea species. Historical records show that as early as 1,100 years ago, Sipu District, which belongs to the "Yinsheng City Boundary Mountains" in Nanzhao, was rich in tea.

While drinking Pu'er tea, Abu also talked about the skills of drinking Pu'er tea:

Pu'er tea pays attention to brewing techniques and the art of drinking. It can be drunk clearly or mixed. Clear drink refers to brewing without adding any auxiliary materials, which is more common among the Han people; mixed drink refers to adding auxiliary materials to tea, which is more common in Hong Kong and Taiwan. For example, in Hong Kong, chrysanthemum, wolfberry, American ginseng and other health-preserving foods are added to Pu'er tea.

Pu'er tea has a rich orange-yellow soup with long-lasting aroma, unique flavor, rich taste and long-lasting brewing ability.

Pu'er tea is divided into two types: raw Pu'er tea and cooked Pu'er tea. Pu'er tea was once classified as dark tea, but is now classified as post-fermented tea in the reprocessed category.

To drink Pu'er tea, you must smell the aroma while it is hot. Hold the cup in front of your nose. At this time, you can feel the aroma of the old fragrance coming to your nostrils like a spring. Its elegant and refreshing feeling is not inferior to the orchids and chrysanthemums.

Pu'er tea needs to be tasted carefully and sipped to get its true flavor. Although the tea soup tastes slightly bitter in the mouth, when the tea soup stays in the mouthpiece for a while, you can feel the tea soup penetrate the gaps between the teeth, penetrate the gums, and The ganjin produced from the root of the tongue is returned to the surface of the tongue. At this time, the mouth is full of fragrance, and the nectar "generates fluid", making people refreshed and refreshed.

Abu impromptu sang a song "Song for Tea":

 

Me and my friends,

Sitting on a rich meadow,

In the sunset time,

We drank Pu'er tea.

 

At this time, the orange sunshine

From the forest on the top of the mountain,

Shining around us,

We drank tea and chatted.

 

The grassland has calmed down,

The cute alpaca,

With leisurely eyes,

Looking at us talking.

 

The herdsmen have gradually dispersed,

Every day at this time,

We drank Pu'er tea,

Look at the moon hanging in the sky.