On April 25, the first draft seminar of "Jiang's Ancient Tea and Potala Palace - The Legendary Story of a Generation of Tea Merchant Giants" was held in the Jiang family compound in Yingjing County, Ya'an City, Sichuan Province. The seminar was hosted by the Yingjing County Government and the Potala Palace Management Office, undertaken by Sichuan Jiang's Tea Industry Co., Ltd. and the Chinese Tibetan Culture Research Center of Sichuan Agricultural University, and attended by about 150 people, including relevant leaders of the Ya'an Municipal Government, experts and scholars in various fields, and representatives of the business community.
The picture shows the hall of the Jiang family's compound Photo: Zhang Yu
This book takes the Yingjing section of the Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Ancient Road as the main geographical scope and takes the Jiang Tibetan tea as the research object, studies the historical changes and cultural value of the Yingjing section of the Sichuan-Tibet Tea Horse Ancient Road and the Jiang family of tea merchants, and reflects the contribution of Sichuan tea in maintaining national unity, promoting ethnic unity, and developing local social economy. At the same time, we will study how to transform the cultural value of the ancient tea horse road and activate the cultural relics of the Jiang family, so as to promote the high-quality development of the Tibetan tea industry in Sichuan, promote the exchange and integration of ethnic cultures, and forge the sense of community of the Chinese nation.
At the meeting, Ms. Wan Jianghong, the fifteenth-generation intangible cultural heritage inheritor of Jiang's ancient tea, told about the experience of Jiang's ancient tea in Tibet. Historically, Jiang's ancient tea has won the love of the Tibetan people with its excellent quality and integrity-based spirit, and has achieved the soul of Sichuan tea. Looking forward to the future, Jiang's Ancient Tea will continue to tell the story of China, keep integrity and innovation, and let more people drink healthy and good tea.
The picture shows Ms. Wan Jianghong introducing the history of Jiang's ancient tea Photo: Zhang Yu
Mr. Jiang Lunde, the current patriarch of the Jiang family, expressed his excitement with a sentence "It is very happy to have friends from afar". He told the historical story of the Jiang family's coming to Ying, and now the Jiang family's ancient tea Renzhen Duji has made great achievements with the unremitting efforts of Wan Jianghong and Jiang Yuqian, and he is extremely proud.
The picture shows Mr. Jiang Lunde (middle) introducing the history of the Jiang family Photo courtesy of Chen Meijie
Professor Geler, doctoral supervisor of Minzu University of China and Southwest University for Nationalities, and leader of the research group of "Jiang's Ancient Tea and Potala Palace", said that this work is not only an in-depth excavation of Chinese tea culture, but also reflects the important role played by Tibetan tea in ethnic unity.
The picture shows Dr. Geler introducing the work of the research group Photo: Zhang Yu
Chen Shuqian, executive director and academic member of the China International Tea Culture Research Association, and secretary-general of the Sichuan Tea Circulation Association, proposed that the Ancient Tea Horse Road is an important link for multi-ethnic exchanges and exchanges in the southwest region, the "life" artery for mutual communication between the provinces and regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Gansu and Qingdao, and a major channel for material, economic and cultural exchanges between China and the outside world. As the pearl on the ancient tea horse road, Jiang's ancient tea has made an important contribution to national unity, and it is hoped that Jiang's descendants will uphold the family motto of "loyalty and heirloom, prosperity and prosperity", and continue to work hard to forge the sense of community of the Chinese nation.
Dorjee Phuntsok, a doctor and associate researcher of the Potala Palace Management Office, said that tea, as an important carrier of Chinese culture, has been a bridge between man and nature and between people since ancient times. By telling the story of Jiang's tea merchants transporting tea to Tibet from the Ancient Tea Horse Road, this book shows how tea became an important medium for cultural exchanges between Tibet and China, and promoted in-depth understanding and friendship between ethnic groups.
The picture shows Professor Nancy Levine introducing her investigation experience Photo: Zhang Yu
Nancy Levin, a professor at the University of California in the United States, said that during her visits to Tibet, Sichuan and Qinghai, she found that the government is very concerned about the lives of the people on the plateau and attaches great importance to the production and supply of Tibetan tea. With the joint efforts of the government and the people, the ancient tea horse road in the past relied on horses and people's backs, and is now replaced by highways and railway transportation. With the help of the government, Renchen Duji has resumed production and sales, which is not only conducive to improving people's lives, but also preserving traditional Tibetan culture and preserving and passing on the ancient Tibetan tea production process.
With the successful conclusion of the seminar, the creative team of "Jiang's Ancient Tea and Potala Palace" will continue to work hard and continuously improve the work, so that this work can better show the unique charm and profound heritage of Chinese tea culture and Tibetan national culture. It is expected that this work can attract wide attention and praise, and become a model work to promote the development of Tibetan tea culture and ethnic exchanges. (China Tibet Network Reporter/Zhang Yu, Zhang Mengmeng, Yi Wenwen, Correspondent/Chen Meijie)