[一] 茶道
Cha Dao
The Dao of Tea (part 1)
品茶论道。
Tasting tea and discussing the Dao.
Making green tea is an extremely meticulous and labour-intensive procedure. This brief two-part introduction aims to give an outlook on this process and its relation to Daoism. To detail every single step of this cultural tradition which is thousands of years old is, however, beyond the scope of this article.
The first step is gathering the tea leaves. What seems to be straightforward manual labour is actually a crucial part in the overall process. If the buds are picked incorrectly, the quality of the tea is effected. When removing the tea buds and the first one or two tender leaves, rather than using the tips of the fingers close to the nails, one needs to have the flat part of both the thumb and of the index finger pressed around the stem of the tip of the plant. That is to provide a larger surface to evenly distribute the pressure. Then the tip can be gently lifted. Another way to describe this technique would be to ‘prop’ the tip up. If the stem is pinched with the fingertips or, even worse, with the finger nails, the broken end will turn visibly black during the roasting process. This is a sign of a sub-standard tea since it shows it was not picked conscientiously.
The tea collectors from the village at the bottom of the mountain can collect approximately one kilo per day, which requires fast working and nimble fingers. 1650 grams of fresh tea eventually shrink and dry down to roughly one kilo of dry tea. The tea’s final value will depend on the season it is picked, its variety, as well as how much is picked off the tip. The most expensive teas are only made of tea buds and no leaves at all. It is needless to say the amount of work and time which is integrated into them.
The second step is to use a wok to roast the tea; using a flat pan or pot is absolutely not acceptable. Traditionally this is done over a fire. This stage processing with heat is called “Sha Qin”’ (杀青 in Chinese, which literally means “to kill the green”). The objective is to soften the leaves and reduce their firmness by removing the Water-Qi and moisture. While continuously kneading and turning, the tea is roasted on top of a bright fire. It eventually becomes slightly sticky and is taken off onto a winnowing basket to be left to cool down for a while.
For the next part, the fire is decreased into a smouldering fire with which the remaining moisture of the leaves is removed. Again the leaves are continuously turned, but this time with much less force, as not to crush the now hardening and crumpled up leaves. If too much strength is applied, the tea leaves will break into very small fractions. When the dried leaves in the wok generate a sort of high-pitched sound when they hit the wok’s surface upon turning, the tea making is nearing its final stage. If the final tea product contains yellow or black tea leaves, it is due to lack of caution when turning the tea leaves inside the wok, which results in them being burnt.
Li Shifu roasting White Horse Mountain Tai Ji Tea
