Tea classroom
Tea Ceremony and Practices of Bai People’s Horse Drivers
发布时间:2015/12/24 10:07:33信息来源:作者:浏览次数:
In Addendum of Book on Chinese Materia Medica written by Chen Zangqi in Tang Dynasty, tea was claimed ‘the cure of all sorts of illness’. In Guidebook of Tea written by Gu Yuanqing in Ming Dynasty, tea was described to have the function of quenching thirst, assisting digestion, eliminating phlegm, reducing drowsiness, benefiting the urethra, improving eyesight, refreshing, relieving anxiousness and grease. People in Japan even consider tea a miraculous cure to quench thirst, prevent illness and prolong lives. Due to the medicinal and health protection characteristics of tea, many Chinese have a habit of drinking tea. China is one of the native places to tea and has always been called the Kingdom of Tea. China is also the first country that utilized tea and therefore have its own the Tea Scripture, Tea Ceremonies and Tea Practices. The tea ceremony and practices of Bai People’s horse drivers can also be considered a unique tea culture.
China’s tea ceremonies have many varieties. According the relevant historical records, China’s tea ceremonies became increasingly standardized and popular since Tang Dynasty. The Tea Scripture written by Lu Yu recorded the culture of tea ceremonies of Qingping (peaceful), Guifei (imperial concubine), Wenshi (scribe), Chan (Zen), Minsu (folklore) in the Tang Dynasty. Each of these tea ceremonies has its own merits. Qingping tea ceremony was typically royal and contained 16 moves including tea set preparation, tea leave appreciation, toasting, rolling, screening, water boiling, putting in salt, spooning, placing tea in the water, brewing, outgiving, tea offering, smelling, observing, tasting, and expressing thanks. Wenshi tea ceremony had 12 moves: tea set preparation, hand washing, scent burning, poem composing, tea leave appreciation, water evaluating, tea spoiling, smelling, observing, tasting, discussing and expressing thanks. Thanks expression was the climax in the ceremony, in which people who were invited to the ceremony would express their thanks to the host in the companion of playing Qin (an ancient Chinese string instrument) and bamboo flute as well as sword dancing. This was a tea art in the tea industry. Chan tea ceremony was folklore type of tea art and also a type one tea ceremony used in Buddhism. The 13 procedures included hand cleaning, scent burning, worshiping Buddha, putting in salt and other ingredients, putting in tea leaves, spoiling, outgiving, tea offering, smelling and eating snack food (a kind of porridge made from Chinese onion, ginger, jujube, orange peel, cornel, mint, pine nuts, etc.) with tea, and expressing thanks. From these tea ceremonies we can see that tea drinking was not only a habit or life style but also a state and way to cultivate oneself.
The tea ceremony upheld by horse drivers among Bai people in Heqing was a combination of industrial tea art and folklore type of tea art, with strong local characteristics and profound essence of ethnic culture. It was also called Guotou (the leader in a horse caravan) Tea Practice and has five styles: Kaishi (market opening), Kaishao (short breaking), Kailiang (illuminating), Feng’an (sealing) and Chicha (tea drinking with snack food).
Kaishi Tea Ceremony: this was the tea drunk by Maguotou (leaders of horse caravans) gathered together on the day before the horse caravans setting off for their first trip of the year. The tea that they drunk was presented by the owners of the tea goods to be delivered in the horse caravans’ first trip on the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, and was therefore called Kaishi Tea (market opening). It was said that elves of Tea God lived in Kaishi tea to keep the horse caravans, both horses and their drivers, safe from any disasters and hardship. That was why people would like to use Kaishi tea for the Kaishi tea ceremony. The ceremony was usually held in the Horse God temple or the Mountain God temple if there was no Horse God temple in the village. People held the ceremony for two purposes: one, to worship the Horse God (or Livestock God) and pray to the god for a prosperous year for the horse caravan and safety of both the horses and drivers; two, to discuss and arrange transportation related matters for the year and reaffirm the rules of the horse caravan and allocation plan of incomes. People who attended the ceremony were all members of the caravan and their principle family members.
The procedure of Kaishi Tea Ceremony was as follow: 1. Beiqi, to preparation the tea set; 2. Taoshui, to get water from the source of the local spring with a sacrificial ceremony and prayer, and then boil the water; 3. Zancha, to tell and chant by the Yaoguo (a special member in the horse caravan whose external function was to maintain connections with bandits and internal function was to relieve worries and difficulties for the caravan) the history of tea and story of the Tea God; 4. Jiancha, to toast tea leaves in a pottery jar with honey and brackish water; 5. Zhucha, to cook tea with ginger, jujube, bud of Chinese scholartree, pregelatinized malt, hawthorn fruit, daisies and spearmint, and make it a perfect beverage perfect for long trip, with functions of quenching thirst, relieving summer heat and fatigue, promoting digestion and urination, and tonifying vigor and circulation; 6. Peicha, to share the snack food eaten with tea equally among attendees, including tea leave rice cakes (with a medical effect of preventing and curing enteritis and diarrhea), white radish preserved in thick tea (with a medical effect of preventing and curing sore throat, stomatitis, dry mouth and tongue bashfulness), boiled eggs with tea leaves (with a function of tonifying vigor and circulation and relieving summer heat and fatigue), and tea porridge ( made from tea leaves, green beans, walnuts, ham slices, red yeast rice and salt, and with a medical effect of preventing and curing summer heat and cold); 7. Jishen, to place the Kaishi tea and snack food in front of the statue of the god and kowtow, pray, sing and dance around the temple or the statue; 8. Chicha, to drink the tea and eat the snack food sitting on the ground in a circle. During the ceremony, Zongguotou (the general leader of the caravan) would announce the arrangement of transportation for the year, and Yaoguo would introduce the routes to be taken and relevant topographical knowledge, local customs and weather conditions, etc.
Kaishao Tea Ceremony: this was the tea drunk by the caravan before the lunch in the field on their trip. The procedure was: 1. Xuanshui, to find drinkable water; 2. Shaocha, to burn one or two tsaoko with some tea leaves in the firepit because it was said that the smell of burning tsaoko and tea leaves could frighten away poisonous insects and beasts, and because it was also a way to worship the Tea God; 3. Peicha, to cook tea with honey, walnuts, dry ginger by Yaoguo; 4. Pincha, to drink tea while discussing issues to be solved in the trip. The purposes of this tea ceremony were to relieve fatigue from the trip and restore energy for the rest of the trip, as well as to discuss important issues and give mules and horses a short break.
Kailiang Tea Ceremony: the word ‘Kailiang’ referred to sleeping afield of the horse caravan, When the horse caravan slept afield at night, there was always possibility that they could be harassed by poisonous insects, beasts or bandits, and therefore, they would need to take some precautions. This tea ceremony was actually a very uinque combination of physical precaution, religious safeguarding and rest. The procedure was as follow: 1. Shishui, to test the water in a testing jar by using several tea leaves that were soaked in and prepared with a testing herbal liquor to see if the water was drinkable (if the water remained unchanged then it was not drinkable, and if the water changed into green color the it was safe to drink it.); 2. Shenghuo, to make the fire by Yaoguo or Shaotou (the safeguard in the horse caravan) at the four corners and the centre of the campsite and burn some tsaoko and tea leaves, and then scatter Sanbao (a mixture of tea leaves, salt and rice) around the campsite, which was called ‘setting up Sanbao walled city’. It was said that with the guard of a walled city, no poisonous insects or beasts would dare to harass. After that, a mess cook would prepare meal on the firepit at the centre of the campsite, and Shaotou would cook Renchu (human and animal) tea on the firepits at the corners, which was a type of tea porridge made of tea leaves, malt, rice, lard, dry ginger and salt for both horses and their drivers. 3. Gezuocha, to drink tea and sing around the firepit of all members in the caravan after dinner. Before the horse drivers went to sleep, they would add water into the tea porridge and gave it to their mules and horses together with the feed. At night, each firepit was guarded by a Shaotou who would burn sweet wormwood to drive away insects for his fellows while keep cooking Renchu tea porridge for the mules and horses.
Feng’an Tea Ceremony: Feng’an was the action of sticking Jiama (a type of woodcut print used by people of old time as a worship tool) on the saddle after the sacrificial ceremony of the Horse God to indicate that the caravan would have a rest at the place. Before Feng’an, all the members of the horse caravan would gather at the place of Zongguotou to have Feng’an tea. This ceremony was held on the new year eve and Feng’an tea was drunk in the early morning of the new year eve.
The procedures of Feng’an ceremony were as follow: 1. Jucaishui, to gather fresh water from all springs and pools in the village into a ‘Jucai’ (wealth gathering) jar because people believed that water was a symbol of wealth and call the gathering of water as ‘gathering of wealth’. 2. Jicai, to collect some firewood on the way to the place of Zongguotou. Firewood in Chinese is ‘Chai’ which sounds similar to ‘Cai’ (wealth), and therefore, the collecting of firewood by all the members of the horse caravan symbolized rolling of wealth. 3. Pingcha, in this procedure, attendees to the ceremony would each present Zongguotou some wild flowers collected on the way and a little bit of tea given by the tea goods owners to be used on the ceremony. Yaoguo would appraise each tea presented to Zongguotou by explaining the features, places of origin, processing methods and functions, etc., and then give the tea to Zongguotou. 4. Cook Shuangweicha (dual-flavor tea), Zongguotou would cook the tea presented by the attendees according to the categories. Wild tea would be boiled with sweet wine, walnuts, ginger slices and honey as Sweet Tea. Gift tea would be cooked with pepper, cumin seeds and tsaoko as Gentle Tea betokening harmonious relationship among the members of the horse caravan. It was called dual-flavor tea because it was sweet and spiced. 5. Pincha, to drink the Gentle Tea first and the Sweet tea. During this procedure, Zongguotou would make a conclusion of the situation of the horse caravan in the year; Erguotou (the deputy leader of the horse caravan) would announce the statement of income and expenditure account and allocation breakdown; Yaoguo would execute all the rewards and punishments; and Huoshou (leaders of group in the horse caravan) would communicate experience. Later generations also called the Feng’an Ceremony meeting of summary and dividends. 6. Zengcha, to pay wages and award prizes to members in the caravan by Erguotou or Yaoguo. Since no matter whether it was wage or a prize, it was always wrapped in a tea parcel, this procedure was called ‘tea presenting’.
After dinner, horse drivers would return home to hold a separate Feng’an ceremony. They would place saddles in front of the stable gate and then place horse flag, Tubiao (a type of small decoration worn on the forehead of mules and horses) and harness on the saddles, and then stick Jiama on the saddletree. The entire family would then burn some scents and pray and sacrifice Horse Feed. After the sacrificial ceremony, they would remove the saddletrees and feed the horses and mules. The Horse Feed on the night of Feng’an ceremony was especially fine and was made of tea leaves mixed in lard with minced young dove meat, brown sugar, sweet rice wine soup and fried soybean flour. After the ceremony, horses and mules would be fed with refined tea leaf feed every night, which was made of soybeans, tea leaves, sweet rice wine soup mixed with straws cut into inch long.
Chicha Tea Ceremony: this was a way to drink tea with eating snack food. Inside the horse caravan, there would be a foundation to give loan to the members charging no interest. Each member of pooled a small amount of money to the foundation which was kept by Yaoguo. When someone in the caravan had an urgent need of money, he could borrow it from Yaoguo, and when he paid back the money, he would also invite members of the caravan to his home to drink tea with eating snack food.
Common snack food eaten in this ceremony included tea leaf rick cakes, buns stuffed with crushed tea leaves and sweetened bean paste, noodles boiled in tea with ham, tea leaves, ham slices cooked with soft beancurd. The tea drunk in this ceremony was called ‘Dragon and Tiger Fight’, which was a mix of tea and wine.
The procedures in the ceremony were: 1. Aocha, to boil tea leaves with ginger, jujube and burnt rice. 2. Peicha, to filter residue from the cooked tea, and the mix it with wine at certain proportion when the tea was cooled, and thus the ‘Dragon and Tiger Fight’ tea was done. 3. Sheshi, to place the snack food and tea on a table and then pour the tea into cups for everybody at the table. 4. Chicha, to drink the tea and eat the snack food while discussing matters such as helping the poor.
Tea ceremonies practiced by the horse drivers of Bai people were a very unique ethnical culture. They were called ceremonies but the main purposes were not only relaxing, health caring or entertaining like other traditional tea ceremonies. These tea ceremonies practiced by the horse drivers of Bai people also had their own cultural essences and practical functions.
First of all, these tea ceremonies were a part of folklore activities. Tea art was the vehicle of these tea ceremonies for religious worship activities, which formed a very unique ethnical culture. Secondly, these tea ceremonies all had very clear practical purposes. They were more like ideal occasions for discussing of transportation arrangement, assigning of work and tasks, making summary of work and rewarding excellent performance, or reaffirming certain rules of the horse caravan. Tea drinking provided horse caravans occasions to encourage members, implement major plans of the caravan and promote its development. Thirdly, during these tea ceremonies, knowledge was spread among the members of the horse caravan and thus helped to improve the qualities. For example, knowledge about tea, geography and meteorology was introduced and explained at the ceremonies to help improving the members in practice. Fourthly, appraisal at tea ceremonies was a very good process to regularize the conduct of members, pass on the traditional ethnic values and merits of integrity, diligence, solidarity, caring, self-sacrifice. Horse caravans were a very special group of people who undertook a very special career that required them to work in the field all year round to deal with vile environment and weather. Without a healthy and fine physique, they could not take on the job; and that was why they valued and kept practicing tea ceremonies to improve their physique and cure illnesses. In this context, tea ceremonies carried significant practical purposes in their lives. For instance, in these ceremonies, tea was not only drunk but also ‘eaten’ and was not only drunk by people but was also given to mules and horses, and this was standard practices in this business. Moreover, tea ceremonies were also a vehicle of folk and ethnic literature. When people got together at these tea ceremonies, they indulged themselves in folk song singing and legend and story telling. In this way, a lot of folk literature works were spread and conserved. Briefly, tea ceremonies practiced by the horse drivers of Bai people were a real multi-cultural crystallization of science, medicine, folk culture and literature and art.
Due to the lack of written material, the author may make these conclusions by relying on the legend and stories told by some Maguotou in the process of seeking for the historical origin of the tea ceremonies practiced among horse drivers in Bai People in Heqing. According to the descendants of the first horse caravan in Heqing, Yibang of Gao family, every year, sacrificial ceremonies to worship the Horse God were held on the first trip and Feng’an at the end of the year; and afterwards, all the horse caravans on the Ancient Tea-horse Road followed the custom and also held Kaishao and Kailiang tea ceremonies. The horse caravan of Gao family was established at the beginning of the ancient country of Dali. The caravan would held tea ceremonies twice a year, which were the early versions of Kaishi ceremony and Feng’an ceremony. The author thinks that Bai people started to hold tea ceremonies around the period of ancient Dali country in Song Dynasty; and horse caravans and merchants from Heqing started business on the Ancient Tea-horse Road after the Opium War, and in this period of time, all horse caravans on the Ancient Tea-horse Road held tea ceremonies. Therefore, the author thinks that during this period of time, tea ceremonies of Bai horse drivers already became very flourishing.