Kung-fu Tea 中国工夫茶

  The kungfu tea, also known as the Chinese tea ceremony, is a Chinese cultural activity involving the ritualized（仪式化的）preparation and presentation of tea. It is mainly based on the tea preparation approaches originated in Fujian and Guangdong. Today, the approach is used popularly by teashops, and by tea connoisseurs（鉴赏家）as a way to maximize the taste of a tea selection, especially a finer one.

  Attention to tea making quality has been a classic Chinese tradition. All teas, loose tea（散装茶）, coarse tea（粗老茶）, and powdered tea（抹茶） have long coexisted with the “compressed tea”（紧压茶）. By the end of the 14th century, the more naturalistic “loose leaf”form had become a popular household product and by the Ming Dynasty, loose tea was put to imperial use. In Japan, tea production began in the 12th century following Chinese models, and eventually evolved into the Japanese tea ceremony, meant to be exclusive to political and military elites. The related tea ware including tea pot and later the gaiwan（盖碗） were used. It is believed that the Kung-fu tea preparation approach began only around the 18th century. It is generally accepted that it was the people in Chaozhou in the Chaoshan area in Guangdong started this particular tea culture. Oral history from the 1940s still referred to Kung-fu Tea as “Chaoshan Kung-fu Tea”. It is likely that regardless of the earliest incidence of the approach, the place that first successfully integrated it into daily life was Chaoshan area. Chaozhou is recognized by some as the“capital” of Kung-fu tea. After the 1980's, Taiwanese of Chaoshan origin brought back tea sets designed in Taiwan. For example the tea dripper tray which provides an easy solution to rinsing cups and teas.

  Kungfu tea settings exist in many levels of society; one can see the similar tools and utensils being used. In Chaoshan, Fujian and Taiwan, many older people above the age of 40 use the Kungfu tea sets to brew teas（泡茶）. Visitors to these regions could find them by the streets, in front of small shops or in their living rooms. Although the same utensils and equipments are used, at folk level it is not seen as an obviously ritual or ceremony. People see the tea setting as a place to bring family and friends closer, to enjoy some teas or quench their thirst（解渴）. In small businesses a tea set is often placed to keep the water flowing, which in folk Taoist belief is to keep the money flowing. One can identify this type of set-ups by spotting a ceramic 3-legged toad placed on the dripper tray to attract good fortune. In Chaoshan area, the dripper trays weren’t available. Their sets are composed of a small Yixin pot and 4 cups on a small rounded tray rather than the 1980’s Taiwanese invention of dripper box styled Kung-fu Tea. Traditional Chaoshan Kung-fu tea usually uses small pots and lots of semi-fermented tea（半发酵茶） to compress a strong brew..

  At the street level one can expect the practitioner to pursue taste, aroma, and usually long and pleasant aftertastes. Many people would be able to brew their favorite teas very well from day to day practice. Such small-pot brewing was recorded in Chinese history as early as Qing Dynasty. 

  Detailed information about tea can be found in The Book of Tea① (Cha Jing) written by Lu Yu in Tang Dynasty, which elaborates the production of tea leaves, apparatus for cooking tea, habits and customs of drinking tea. It enriched the art and the cultivation of tea, significantly affecting the tea culture in China.

Abridged and revised from

               http://www.chinaculturecenter.org/cultural_learning/themes.php?classid=10500