I asked many friends around me: Do you know the source of matcha? 70% of my friends gave me the answer: Japan, of course, and several friends actually said it was European. ...
Perhaps influenced by the Japanese tea ceremony, everyone takes it for granted that matcha is Japanese. Matcha is really popular in Japan, but its real origin is in ancient China. Of course, if you don't know this common sense, I don't blame you. After all, Japan is a nation that imitates strange people.
Matcha originated in the Tang Dynasty in China, and it is said that its predecessors had infinite wisdom. At that time, someone invented the process of steaming and grinding tea, that is, steaming the tender leaves of spring tea, making it into group tea and preserving it. When you want to drink, take out the tea balls and bake them on the fire, then grind them into powder. Matcha powder was born in this way.
When did it begin to be introduced into Japan?
Song dynasty began to play some tea, and the emperor took the lead, and his literati followed suit. Later, the tea ordered in the Song Dynasty was introduced to Japan and developed into today's Japanese tea ceremony.
Its main operations and musical instruments still follow the norms of the Song Dynasty. Tea cans were also introduced to Japan and have been used ever since. The tea basket mentioned here is a tool used when ordering tea, and its shape is as follows.
From the Ming Dynasty, China began to brew loose tea, and the matcha tea ceremony in China was gradually lost. However, the matcha culture was introduced into Japan, but it was carried forward, cited as a gift of national guests, and regarded as the best in Japan.
In fact, the art of ordering tea has not been completely lost in China. On the basis of tea-ordering skills, we have created tea-dividing skills (also known as Shuidanqing, Chabaixi and so on). ), and our tea-Baixi culture is also continuing. In Wuyishan, there are some tea-Baixi inheritors who practice and popularize cultural knowledge for more young people.
(The picture shows Mr. Zhang Zhifeng, the inheritor of Tea Hundred Opera)
Video | Tea under the Brush (click on the link for details)
In addition, does our Hakka tea culture in Fujian also have a certain origin with the original matcha culture? Hakka friends who know this knowledge can leave a message in the comment area and discuss this topic with us.