Legend has it that "Liu Pao tea was ranked as a tribute tea during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty (1796-1820) for its special betel nut aroma and health effects."
But is this true? Many friends have asked this question about toast. In order to thank the friends for their love for toast, the toast lasted for months and cost "a lot of money", and finally figured it out for the friends! [Applause] [Applause] [Applause]
First, what is tribute tea
The tribute tea here is certainly not the milk tea shops that are all over the street now! It refers to the tea that princely states or localities pay tribute to kings and emperors!
As early as more than 3,000 years ago in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were already records of small princes offering tribute tea to the Zhou royal family, which is the earliest record of tribute tea seen so far. In the Tang Dynasty, tribute tea really formed a relatively complete system.
There are two forms of the Tang Dynasty tribute tea system: the first is the Tang Palace Preferred, that is, from more than 20 regions with excellent tea quality, as a quota of Nagong prefectures, such as Changzhou Yangxian tea, Huzhou Guzhu purple shoot tea, Muzhou Jiukeng tea, Shuzhou Tianzhu tea, Xuanzhou Yashan tea, Raozhou Fuliang tea, etc.
The second is customized by the Tang Palace, and the imperial court directly set up a tribute tea house in a famous tea-producing area with a unique ecological environment, excellent natural quality, relatively concentrated output and relatively convenient transportation, specializing in the production of tribute tea (that is, tribute roasting). In the fifth year of the Tang Dynasty (770), the imperial court established the first state-owned tea processing factory in the history of the mainland in the Guzhu tea area.
The top brand of Song Dynasty tribute tea belongs to dragon and phoenix group tea. The "Xuanhe Beiyuan Gong Tea Record" written by Xiong Bo in the Song Dynasty recorded that "the Holy Dynasty opened the treasure end, the lower Southern Tang, the beginning of the Taiping and Xingguo, specially set up dragon and phoenix models, and sent envoys to Beiyuan to make group tea to drink from other people." "Song Huizong's "Daguan Tea Theory" cloud: "The prosperity of this dynasty, the tribute of the river built in the years, the phoenix cake of the dragon group, the name of the world".
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the trend of tribute baking was slight, and the scale was not as large as that of the Tang and Song dynasties, and only small imperial tea gardens were built in Wuyishan, Fujian, but the quota tribute system was still implemented as usual. The more famous tribute teas of the Yuan Dynasty include Wuyi White Chicken Crown Tea and Sichuan Mengding Tea. In the twenty-fourth year of Ming Hongwu (1391), Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty believed that the dragon and phoenix tuanzhuan cake tea was both laboring and consuming national strength, and issued an edict to "strike the dragon troupe, only pick bud tea to advance", and officially abolished the tribute paid by Fujian Jian'an tuan tea. This simple requirement is not only a reform of tribute tea, but also a major revolution in the history of Chinese tea drinking.
After the rulers of the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, the tea drinking habits gradually changed from the original milk tea to the tea culture of Han culture. Emperors such as Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty were all famous old tea sticks. For example, Kangxi directly named Biluochun, and Qianlong left many legends of drinking tea. Along with this, the Gongcha area expanded to thirteen provinces, and the varieties and quantities of Gongcha were also much richer; Moreover, the exquisite tea ware that goes with it is also endless. The Qing court played an important role in promoting the development of tribute tea.
Second, why is Liu Pao tea not tribute tea
First of all, in the direct records of tribute tea in the Qing Dynasty, Guangxi is not one of the provinces of official tribute tea, and Liu Pao tea is not included in the tribute tea archives.
According to the "Palace-in-the-Palace" collected by China's First Historical Archive, the provinces that listed tea as tributes in the Qing Dynasty included Fujian, Yunnan, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Guangdong and Guizhou, and the tea entered included Wuyi tea, lotus heart tea, small seed tea, Tianzhu flower fragrant tea, Pu'er tea ball, daughter tea, Junshan silver needle tea, Lu'an tea, Tongshan tea, Mengding mountain tea, Jili tea, Biluo Chun tea, Longjing tea, Bird tongue tea, Anyuan tea, Chen Meng tea, Baoguo oolong tea, There are more than seventy varieties of Longli bud tea. Among them, there are no records of Liu Pao tea or other Guangxi tea.
In order to further confirm the situation of tribute tea in the Qing Dynasty, Tusi also consulted the "Illustrated Dictionary of Tribute Tea in the Forbidden City" compiled by the Palace Museum (2022 edition of the Palace Press). This book is the most authoritative work on the contemporary inventory of Qing Dynasty tribute tea. According to the careful combing of the editors of the book, neither the existing Qing palace paper archives nor the Qing palace tea objects left to this day have found any relevant records of Guangxi's Liu Pao tea as tribute tea.
Secondly, in the "Qingshi Record", there is no record of Guangxi officials directly paying tribute to Liu Pao tea.
If any official in Guangxi paid tribute to the Qing Jiaqing Emperor as a special product, such a great thing could be recorded and handed down.
Therefore, Toast found the "Guangxi Records of Qingshi Records" published by the Guangxi People's Publishing House in the Confucius subnet and the Tongzhi Museum and Library of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In the records of Renzong Jiaqing on pages 65-184 of volume (3) of the book, there is no record of Guangxi's tribute to Liupao tea or any tea leaves.
Again, in the dietary records of the Qing court, no record of drinking Liu Pao tea was found.
According to records, in the early years of the Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing Palace had already set up "tea rooms" and "dining rooms". With the strong national strength and the increasing imperial prestige during the Kangxi and Yongzheng dynasties, various related systems were also continuously improved; During the Qianlong period, it was collectively called "Imperial Tea Dining Room", which included not only the Imperial Dining Room and the Imperial Tea Room, but also affiliated institutions such as the Dining Room Library. The Imperial Dining Room "specializes in meals, works written by various palaces and offerings everywhere, seasonal banquets, and attendants. The "Imperial Tea Room" specializes in tea, fruits and offerings everywhere, and waitress. "The imperial tea room also consists of a clear tea room and a Mongolian tea room. Therefore, the records of tea drinking in the Qing Palace are very detailed.
For example, according to the "Miscellaneous Pieces in the Palace" collection of China's first historical archive, "Articles and Food Tea", it is recorded that "from the first day of February in the 25th year of Jiaqing to the 25th of July, Emperor Renzhongrui used three taels of Pu'er tea every day, five catties and twelve taels in January, and one tael a day with the garden, sharing 34 catties." "From August 20, the 25th year of Jiaqing to the 30th day of the first month of the first year of Daoguang, the empress used one or two Pu'er tea every day, one catty and fourteen taels in January, and shared nine catties and twelve taels."
For example, according to the "History of the Palace of the National Dynasty", the daily tea examples of the queen concubines in the palace include "imperial concubines: fourteen taels of tea in Liu'an and eight taels of tea in Tianchi every month; Concubine: 14 taels of tea in Liu'an and 8 taels in Tianchi tea per month; Concubine: 14 taels of tea in Liu'an and 8 taels in Tianchi tea per month; Concubines: 14 taels of Liu'an tea per month, 8 taels of Tianchi tea; Noble: Seven taels of tea in Liu'an tea and four taels in Tianchi tea every month. ”
With this level of meticulousness, it is impossible for Liu Pao tea to be drunk by the emperor without being recorded.
Finally, most of the records that Liu Pao tea is tribute tea are unsubstantiated or illogical.
For example, according to the thirteenth year of Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty (1874), the "Cangwu County Record" contained: "Tea is produced in Liubao in the Xian Township, the taste is mellow and unchanged, and the tea color and fragrance are good." It has been used as a tribute tea before, and it is impossible not to record it in the county record.
For example, according to the "Wuzhou City Record", as early as around the Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty, overseas Chinese in Malaysia and other places have generally used Liu Pao tea as a living drink to cure diseases and relieve diarrhea. If it has been used as a tribute tea, it cannot be widely used by the majority of overseas Chinese; And it has been widely used by the majority of overseas Chinese, and it is difficult to be selected as a tribute tea.
So, dear friends and friends, after reading the above materials, do you think you can determine that Liu Pao tea is not a Qing Dynasty tribute tea?
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