Hello everyone, here is the tea at the end.
As a well-known green tea in China, Enshi Yulu occupies a very important position in the history of Chinese tea.
It was once the darling of the imperial court and appeared as a tribute tea during the Qing Dynasty.
Nowadays, Enshi Yulu has put down her noble figure and walked into the ordinary ordinary people's home, which everyone can drink on weekdays.
Today, let's understand the history and legend of Enshi Yulu.
First, the historical evolution
Enshi Yulu is a Chinese steamed green needle shaped green tea, and it is also the only steamed green needle shaped green tea preserved in China's history.
The steaming process of Enshi Yulu flourished in the Tang Dynasty, and the shape production was created in the Qing Dynasty, becoming famous in the Republic of China.
Enshi is the birthplace of the Ba people, Shennong and Ba people intersect in the Qingjiang River basin, and tea is used in this place.
In the Three Kingdoms or earlier Han Dynasty, Enshi's "JingbaJian" had tea processing for "picking leaves to make cakes".
In the Tang Dynasty, "Shizhou Fang Tea" became a best-selling tea commodity in Jiangling and Xiangyang.
According to research, Enshi Yulu was produced during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, and was originally developed by a tea merchant with the surname of Lan in Huanglianxi, Huanglianxi, who was developed.
Its roasted tea stove is very similar to today's Gyokuro tea roaster, and the tea leaves produced are called 'Jade Green'.
The Lan family founded the "Enshi Jade Green" and its production techniques, and experienced the hereditary inheritance of the first to seventh generations.
In 1946, Yang Runzhi, director of Qingyangba Public Factory of Enshi Experimental Tea Factory of China Tea Company, on the basis of Enshi Yulu, improved and perfected its tea soup color, green and bright leaf bottom, fresh flavor, lustrous and emerald green appearance, and white as jade, so it was renamed Enshi Yulu.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, in 1937, the capital of Hubei Province was moved west to Enshi.
In 1939, the China Tea Company set up an experimental tea factory in Enshi.
In 1942, the Hubei Affordable Goods Supply Office set up tea factories in enshi, and from 1938 to 1942, it was the peak period for tea production and export in Enshi Prefecture.
In 1945, Enshi Yulu was exported to Japan, and since then "Enshi Yulu" has been famous in the world.
Since the 1970s, Yang Shengwei has established the theoretical system and technical regulations of Enshi Yulu, ending the history of "hand-in-hand" transmission between individuals and creating a new situation of group inheritance.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Zhang Wenqi built China's first Enshi Yulu continuous automated production line, realizing two technological leaps in Enshi Yulu's mechanized production and continuous automated production.
He also formulated the local standards of Enshi Yulu Hubei Province, and successfully declared it as "Hubei's First Historical Famous Tea", bringing Enshi Yulu back to life.
And led the entire industry to embark on the development path of modernization, scale and standardization, and became one of the pillar industries of enshi economy.
Second, stories and legends
During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, there was a tea merchant with the surname Lan in Enshi, Hubei Province.
I don't know what the reason is, the business of the tea shop has been bad, and it is about to close down, and the shopkeeper is also ready to go home and farm.
But this tea merchant with the surname Lan had two daughters who were like flowers, one called Blue Jade and the other called Blue Dew.
These two daughters are not only beautiful, but also have a certain sensitivity in tea.
The two girls saw that their father's eyebrows were tightly locked, and they were worried all day, and the tea leaves were piled up but could not be sold for a long time, just imagine, is there something wrong with the tea.
Therefore, after consultation, the two decided to personally go up the mountain to pick tea leaves, and the two specially selected the kind of verdant bud leaves, only one bud and one leaf or one bud and two leaves of fresh leaves, and the requirements were strict to the point that each bud leaf must be well-proportioned, delicate and full, bright green in color, and the shape was as straight and solid as pine needles.
Because of the high requirements, the two only picked two pounds of fine tea leaves in half a month on the mountain.
After returning home, the two began to develop, after a series of steam killing, drying and kneading, and finally some fragments, old stems, etc. were removed, wrapped in characteristic kraft paper, and stored in a sealed lime bowl.
It took the two of them 8 days and 8 nights to make this tea.
The two brewed the tea for the father to taste, and the tea merchant surnamed Lan was amazed by the "tea" after drinking it, and praised it.
This tea has also been widely praised by customers, and has been selling well, and the tea merchant surnamed Lan was so happy that he named this tea "Gyokuro" in his daughter's name.
Because the Lan family's father and daughter live in Enshi, everyone is generally called Enshi Yulu, and since then Enshi Yulu has been famous all over the world.
After hundreds of years of development, Enshi Yulu has become a unique cultural symbol.
It not only helps local tea farmers get rid of poverty and become rich, but also helps spread Chinese tea culture around the world.