Schematic diagram of the Wanli Tea Ceremony.
Qujiang flakes. (Image source: Hunan Xiangban)
Historical facts have proved that Anhua black tea has a very long history and has created a precedent for Black Tea in China.
The Mawangdui Han Tomb excavated in Changsha, China in the 1970s is a major wonder in the history of world archaeology, and this 2,000-year-old Western Han Tomb unearthed a complete female corpse and an unimaginably large number of precious cultural relics. In June 2016, the Mawangdui Han Tomb was rated as one of the world's top ten ancient tombs. More than 3,000 precious cultural relics have been unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb, one of which is inconspicuous tea wrapped in bamboo boxes, which has become an important historical witness closely related to the black tea industry.
In 1987, the journal "Tea Communication" published an article in which a black granular item contained in a bamboo box in the tomb of Mawangdui Han was identified as tea leaves through slice analysis.
Some experts have proposed that this box of mysterious tea leaves of the Western Han Dynasty may be the prototype of Anhua black tea. Here's why:
First, all the dynasties of Anhua have been the origin of court tribute tea, and dignitaries and dignitaries not only drank Anhua black tea in their lives, but also used Anhua black tea to accompany the burial when they died.
Second, Anhua belongs to the jurisdiction of the owner of the Mawangdui Han Tomb, which is well documented in the history of the mainland.
The third is the production process of Anhua black tea, which is baked and dried by pine wood, which has the functions of odor aroma, sterilization and antiseptic, which can be stored for a long time and meets the requirements of funerary products.
Fourth, the tea leaves excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha are packaged in bamboo boxes, which is the most obvious packaging feature in the history of Anhua black tea.
Fifth, Anhua black tea can be transported to Changsha at any time, whether by water or by land.
Therefore, there are sufficient reasons to explain that the tea leaves excavated from the Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha should be Anhua black tea. The history of tea production in Anhua can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty more than 2300 years ago, and it is impossible to verify when it was before.
Judging from the written records, Qujiang flakes have been famous in history for thousands of years, and the earliest written records are in the tenth year of Tang Xuanzong's Dazhong (856), and Yang Ye's "Records of the Chefs" has a record of "Qujiang flakes are bitter and hard from oil", which coincides with the characteristics of Anhua since ancient times using pine wood to bake and make the tea black and brown.
Later, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, in the second year of the Later Shu Mingde (935), Mao Xiwen's "Tea Spectrum" recorded: "There is a canal river between Tanshao, and there is tea... Its color is like iron and the aroma is abnormal, and it is cooked without hesitation. He also said: "Qujiang flakes, one pound and eighty pieces." "One pound and eighty pieces" indicates that the volume is small, may be similar to the early metal iron coins, and should belong to the early pressed tea.
Later, Wu Shu recorded in the "Tea Endowment" that "Fu Qidi quenches thirst, changes bones and turns, tea runs for profit, and its merits are like gods, then qujiang slices, western mountain white dew, clouds weeping green willows, fragrant floating green milk." It can be seen that Qujiang flakes have been listed as famous products in tea gardens during the Song Dynasty.
To this day, the "Chinese Tea Classic" edited by Chen Zongmao, the "Atlas of Chinese Famous Tea" edited by Shi Haigen, and the "Taste of Chinese Famous Tea" edited by Ruan Haogen have all recorded and introduced the Qujiang thin slices. These records all show that the processing and production of Anhua black tea has a history of at least thousands of years.
This article is excerpted from "One Hour to Read Anhua Black Tea", edited by Anhua Black Tea Magazine, edited by Jiang Yuedeng and Li Puyun. Synthesized by the RedNet Anhua Black Tea Channel.