Tea-Drinking Practices in the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty marked the shift from rough consumption to refined tea art.
Tea was mainly prepared through jiancha (decocted tea). Tea cakes were roasted, crushed, and ground into powder, then boiled in a cauldron with water. Sometimes salt or other seasonings were added. This method emphasized careful decoction and slow sipping, elevating tea from a functional drink to an object of aesthetic appreciation.
Song Dynasty
During the Song Dynasty, the Tang-style decocted tea developed into the elegant and competitive doucha (tea contest)—the peak of artistic tea appreciation in ancient China.
To prepare for a tea contest:
- Tea cakes were broken into small pieces and ground into fine powder.
- The powder was placed in a pre-warmed tea bowl.
- Hot water was poured in to form a thick tea paste.
- A special whisk (chaxian) was used to stir and rotate the liquid vigorously, creating a white, fine foam on the surface.
Contestants competed over the color, aroma, and taste of the tea, as well as the skill of the brewer. The quality of the tea, the appearance of the liquor, and the brewer’s technique all determined the winner.
Beiyuan in Fujian was the most famous tea-producing region, known for the imperial Longtuan Fengbing (Dragon and Phoenix Tea Cakes). Two renowned tribute teas were created there:
- Dalongtuan: 8 cakes per jin, created by Ding Wei
- Xiaolongtuan: 20 cakes per jin, created by Cai Xiang
By the Southern Song Dynasty, a primitive form of pan-roasted green tea emerged in Shaoxing, replacing steaming with stir-frying and shaping tea into loose leaves, laying the groundwork for modern green tea production.
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty brought a revolutionary change to both tea processing and drinking.
The mature stir-fixation (chaoqing) method was widely adopted, producing loose-leaf green tea identical to today’s green tea.
Instead of boiling or whisking tea powder, people began to steep loose tea leaves directly in hot water. This simple, convenient method—“one infusion, one sip”—became the foundation of modern Chinese tea drinking.
Green tea became the dominant type, while scented tea gradually gained popularity among ordinary people. During this period, hundreds of books and essays about tea appreciation were written, greatly enriching tea culture.
Qing Dynasty
Tea drinking flourished across all social classes in the Qing Dynasty, with teahouses spreading throughout cities and villages.
In terms of processing, major breakthroughs occurred:
- Semi-fermented oolong tea was invented
- Fully fermented black tea was developed
- White tea appeared
- Traditional compressed tea was further improved
These established China’s six major categories of tea: green, black, scented, white, oolong, and compressed tea.
Tea became an essential part of social etiquette: offering tea to guests and ending a visit by signaling with tea became standard formalities. Teahouses became popular public spaces, serving snacks and hosting storytelling, ballad-singing, and other performances.
While some Manchu nobles used expensive tea to show off their wealth, scholars embraced tea as a symbol of elegance and tranquility, as reflected in the poetic line:
“When a visitor comes on a cold night, tea serves as wine; the bamboo stove boils, and the night deepens. The moonlight before the window is ordinary as ever, but with plum blossoms, everything becomes extraordinary.”