| Transcript |
- Introduction
It was during the middle period of the Tang dynasty (618-906) that the habit of tea drinking, already popular in court circles by early Tang times, quickly spread to all classes of Chinese society. By the second half of the eighth century, the tea�drinking vogue had reached its climax and developed into a national custom. Tea was available in various forms-coarse, loose-leaf or powdered, but most tea drinkers preferred caked tea.
By the Song dynasty (960-1279) tea came to be regarded as a collector�s item, and tea equipment such as bowls and cups, became objets d�art. Scholars, officials and nobles were expert in preparing tea, and parties and contests became popular where tea connoisseurs competed at identifying the origin of a certain type of tea used and even the source of water used.
The most popular way to prepare tea in the Song period was the �whipped� method. Freshly powdered leaves were spooned into a tea bowl, hot water was added, and the mixture was whipped with a bamboo whisk until a froth appeared on the surface. With the change during the Song dynasty from cake to powdered tea came a preference for heavy bowls of bluish black and dark brown glaze.
In order to simplify the processing of tea and to preserve its true flavour, tea manufacturers in the period from the tenth to fourteenth centuries gradually replaced solid cake and ball-shaped tea with the loose form. The loose leaves were neither rolled nor pounded but roasted directly after steaming. The pre�ferred method of preparing loose-leaf tea was by steeping it in a teapot or cup. The innovation near the end of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) of roasting fresh tea leaves directly, greatly improved their colour, aroma, flavour and shape. By the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), caked tea had fallen out of favour altogether.
Teapots were probably made as early as the Song dynasty, but since it was then the fashion to whip powdered tea in a tea bowl, their use was not yet widespread. It was not until the Ming dynasty that the steeping of whole leaves became the preferred way to prepare tea and the teapot became an indispens�able accessory, replacing the tea bowl. Teapots and tea cups were produced by a number of kilns in different shapes and styles, especially famous were the elegant and colorful porcelains of the Jingdezhen kilns.
During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, brown stone�ware teapots made at Yixing in Jiangsu province were generally regarded by tea connoisseurs as the best vessels for brewing tea and were admired for their rustic elegance, simplicity, earthy colours, inventive design, ingenious shapes and meticulous craftsmanship.
Yixing stoneware teapots became the favourite tea ware for the Chinese literati and wealthy merchants of the Ming and Qing periods. The literati were educated
7
|
|---|
