China is the origin of tea and tea leaves. The history of drinking and eating tea is extremely long.
The southwest of the continent is the source of tea trees, but in the late stage of human primitive society, tea trees have been distributed among various mountains in the Yangtze River basin. It is really difficult to determine who first collected the leaves of the tea tree and used it to treat diseases and maintain health, but it is an indisputable fact that in the primitive society, people ate the young leaves of wild plants, and it was an indisputable fact that they used both medicine and food. Tea has been passed down from generation to generation. Because it is able to detoxify, prevent and treat gastrointestinal diseases brought about by climate and diet, it is refreshing. Legend has it that in ancient times, Shennong's family, tasting herbs, would get seventy-two kinds of poisons every day, and with tea, they could detoxify. Therefore, the earliest and most important function of tea is medicine.
Judging from the eating habits of ancient humans, the most popular thing to collect in spring is the young leaves of trees and the young stems of plants. Tea trees are no exception. From the point of view of the growth law of the new leaves of the tea tree, usually in mid-spring, in late spring, the leaf buds are the most tender and luxuriant, it can be said that before the solar terms are determined, people eat tender tea, and should be in the rainy season of Qingming Valley.
Therefore, the history of Guyu tea is also very long, although it was people at that time, and it was the young leaves of wild tea trees that were collected.
The spread of tea leaves makes people feel strange, its own taste is not sweet, it is difficult for people to fall in love with it at the first bite, and even with bitterness, why does it last forever? But if you think about it, you will understand. In ancient times, when medicine was not developed, people relied more on herbs and the effects of herbal medicine. In "Dream of Red Mansions", Qingwen was seriously ill and feverish, begging Jia Baoyu to pour her a bowl of household tea, which was crimson in color, and Jia Baoyu thought that there was no taste of tea at all, but Qingwen drank it in one go, like drinking nectar. I carefully deliberated on this detail, there must be other drinking water in this room, why did Qingwen only want tea? Is it just because she is thirsty? Tea water, for the uncomfortable patients with fever and burning of the five internal organs, is undoubtedly cool and plays a soothing role in the body. And when we are thirsty or hot, there will also be tea water that can quench our thirst more than ordinary water and ice water. This is also the reason why the contemporary beverage industry, tea drinks have sprung up and swept the country.
The spread of tea, of course, is that there is a high-end thirst for the deep mountain tea tree and longevity of the upper class of the generations, and even in a certain dynasty, it is popular to eat tea to live forever, but more people come from ordinary people on the road, and the actual demand for tea to relieve physical and mental hunger and thirst fatigue and prevent and treat diseases. An old woman in Sichuan during the Jin Dynasty carried porridge boiled with tea leaves to sell on the mountain road.
I believe that it is this sweet, bitter and cool taste that makes these people who are tired and running around have a love for tea, take a little out of the mountains, sell a little out, let the tea from the deep mountains flow to the city, and spread the tea from another most simple road.
So what does tea have to do with Gu Yu?
Tea is a peculiar species, extremely sensitive to climate, temperature, sunlight, geography, and soil environment. The young leaves of the new tea can absorb the minerals of the soil to the greatest extent and form a unique taste.
During the Qingming to Guyu period, it is the best period for the germination and growth of young tea leaves, after a winter of brewing, the tea leaves at this time are tender but flexible, rich in various beneficial substances. After the Guyu solar term, the sun and wind and rain will quickly make the new leaves grow and disperse, and the medicinal value and taste of tea will also be reduced.
Therefore, in the Tang and Song dynasties, it was best to use the new tea before and after the valley rain. It is called Guyu tea.
Although some people also emphasize the freshness of winter tea and young tea before the Qingming Festival, it is rare and expensive, and it is actually inferior to Guyu tea in taste and value.
Of course, it can't be said that the tea leaves in other periods are not good and cannot be drunk. For example, the old woman on the side of the tea mountain road in Sichuan in the Jin Dynasty, the tea leaves she used to cook porridge may not be so particular, a bowl of hot porridge with the aroma of tea leaves, warm the stomach and relieve fatigue, and the taste of Chunshan.
And the tea that Qingwen drank, or the big leaf aged tea, but for her, it was also the nectar that extended her life.
Li Shizhen, the compendium of materia medica, said that tea is bitter and cold, and it can best reduce fire.
Whether you drink new tea in the rainy season or not, drinking some tea can always relieve the physical and mental discomfort caused by the season.
"Before the rain in the spring valley, and pick the fragrant smoke by hand.
It is difficult to be green and tender, and it is easy to be clear and late.
And recruit neighboring guests to try to cook Luohua Spring.
The land is far away and the labor is sent to each other, and there is no coming and the next year. "From the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties · Qi Ji "Xie Zhongren Sends Tea"
This is the poet monk Qi Ji left his own tea mountain, wandering in the field, after the valley rain, received the spring tea sent by the monk friend Zhongshang.
This reminded him of the good times when he was picking tea in the mountains, working with the mountain people, and drinking tea.
In the spring tea mountain before the Guyu solar term, there are tea buds, everyone uses both hands to collect the latest tender tea buds, and the tea buds are light and green like smoke.
The tender green tea leaves are rare to collect in a small basket for a day, and the sky is so dark in the clear air, dusk comes.
After a tiring day, looking at the full new tea, I gathered my neighbors to come over, and used the spring water at this time to fall on the flowers, and boiled with the new tea, and everyone spent a good night in the fragrance of tea.
Thank you for knowing that I like tea and I didn't get to participate in the tea picking party, so I sent you the tea leaves you picked to remind me of the good tea picking time.
I think it's been a year since I left Chashan, I miss Chashan, I miss you.
"In March, the wind and rain wash a city of flowers.
I don't know how Dongguo Qingming wine is, how it is like rain tea in the West Window Valley. Northern Song Dynasty · Huang Tingjian "See the Twenty Brothers' Advocacy and Five Songs of Flower Character Manxing"
In this poem, Huang Tingjian writes about the quiet beauty and serenity brought by the rain tea in the late spring valley.
There are willow flowers everywhere, and the wind and rain blow down the spring flowers in March.
Instead of traveling in Qingming in such weather and enjoying the sadness of falling flowers and flowing water in spring, it is better to stay at home and enjoy a cup of Guyu spring tea under the west window.
Let the tea fragrance linger, and the heart is calm and cool. In the face of relatives and friends of the deceased, talking idly, on the contrary, there is a certainty and warmth in the world.
The rivers and mountains are full of empty thoughts, the falling flowers and wind and rain hurt the spring even more, and the two urns of tea and smoke are better than to take the people in front of them.
"The old family at the foot of Jingting Mountain, Gu Yuqing is picking tea.
I seem to be cool and good, and I send azaleas in the middle of spring. "Late Yuan and early Ming · Guo Kui "Sending Professor Chen Min Part 1"
This poem is written wittily and playfully, and it is a wonderful poem about asking a friend for Gu Yucha.
At the foot of Jingting Mountain, it is your brother's home, this valley is rainy and sunny, and you are harvesting this year's new tea.
I'm like Lu Tong in the Tang Dynasty, I don't have any other hobbies, so you don't have to send me azaleas, because I don't like azaleas.
So what is Lu Tong's hobby? He just loves to drink tea, and once wrote the poem "Seven Bowls of Tea", believing that tea can "moisten the throat, break through loneliness, search dry intestines, sweat lightly, clear muscles and bones, pass through fairies and spirits, and be fresh and breezy." ”
This is the poet asking the other party to send him the best Guyu spring tea in the mountains this year.
However, such a Suo Cha, I believe that the relationship between the two is excellent, with a playful coquettishness.
"The buds of the valley rain are fang, and the color and fragrance are excellent.
Draw the river water, and go to the mountain home.
If you don't see Zhou Gongmeng, why bother Lu Yu to exaggerate.
The spirit is too refreshing, and the lights are picked up all night. "Late Yuan and early Ming · Tao An "Sipping Tea Two Songs One of Them"
This tea drinking poem can be regarded as writing about the real experience of drinking tea.
The tea leaves in the rainy season have just sprouted, and the color and aroma of the tea leaves at this time are the best.
It is best to use flowing river water for cooking, and the most beautiful place to drink tea is to taste tea on the tea mountain, Spring Mountain.
After drinking tea, he couldn't dream of Zhou Gong, because he didn't dream at all.
Because I was refreshed, I had insomnia in the middle of the night, my eyes were burning, and I was waiting for the dawn with a lamp.
For those who are pressed for time, drinking tea is undoubtedly refreshing, and for those who are longing for loneliness, you may wish to drink a cup of green tea, because time becomes obviously abundant.
However, drinking tea at night is not a good habit, although tea is non-toxic, but it occupies the normal sleep time, accumulated, the body is difficult to repair, that is more than worth the loss.
Although the tea is good, it should not be excessive, should not be drunk, and should not be drunk at night for a long time.
"After the rain in the valley in the mountains, baguio branches are picked.
The dew leaves are still wet, and it is not too late to send the cage.
One scoop is also self-cooked, and seven bowls are my master.
But the smile is like thirst, the golden stem Langersi. "Ming · Wang Jiusi "Zhou Shou Jigu Rain Tea and Big Fan Thank You Two Songs (Part 1)"
This is the Gu Yu spring tea sent by a friend in the mountains after Gu Yu.
This spring tea may not have been roasted and dried, and it is a new tea leaf sent in a bamboo cage.
There was also fresh dew on it.
So what is this tea used for?
We know that the new tea leaves in the mountains need to be pressed or fried to remove the moisture in them before they can be stored for a long time and sold outside the mountains.
But there is another way to eat it, which is to boil fresh tea leaves in water, filter out the astringency, and use them to make vegetable soup.
At this time, the spring tea clearly retains the freshest taste. This is the best gift for those who like the aroma of tea and the original natural green taste of tea leaves.
Of course, this way of eating is also arrogant and wasteful.
He had reason to laugh at Sima Xiangru, saying that if you want to get the dew on the cactus, you can't do it for the rest of your life, and I will boil the top spring valley rain tea buds and boil water as a vegetable to eat. I am the real immortal.
In fact, tea farmers and mountain people are the least short of spring tea to eat, just depending on whether they are willing or not.
If you have no plans to travel far, it is better to make a cup of Guyu tea.
That is to soak the green of the spring mountain into the cup, that is to drink the taste of nature into the body.
Zen tea is too profound, and the tea ceremony is too cumbersome. A cup of Gu Yu tea is cherished in casual, cherishing the beautiful mountains and rivers, the good days of Gu Yu, cherishing nature and yourself.
Hatsui Katsuyuki interprets the love and beauty in the poems for you. #谷雨#