Our current tea, which has tea leaves, is different from foreign tea, and even from our traditional, historical tea, such as the tea-drinking method of the Song Dynasty and the tea-ball method of the Tang Dynasty, which are actually not the same concept as today’s tea. The current concept of tea, the way of drinking tea, the way of brewing tea, and the way of tea leaves only started in the Ming Dynasty. Before, tea in history was just called this name, which may not be the concept of tea we understand today. History is such a process, and we also need to know the future development. The future development may not be in the form of today.
Now there are many experts who are critical of these fashionable and young teas. The editor thinks this is a personal misunderstanding of the experts. Many experts usually only specialize in one line, do not understand the changes and preferences of the market, and may not understand the future development trend of the industry. Therefore, we should start from reality and look at the tea industry objectively and scientifically. The tea industry may present a colorful form, which is more in line with the current consumer market or people’s preferences. This is very important, rather than blindly sticking to tradition, not thinking about change, and not keeping pace with the times.
The Ming Dynasty began to drink leaf-shaped tea, and the Song Dynasty’s tea-drinking method, if we travel back to the current historical environment, we can say that at that historical moment, the tea-drinking method was not traditional, it was fashionable and popular at the moment. We observe from the positive side, from the consciousness, and from the concept, in fact, the form of tea drinking has changed. The current tea-drinking method is more adapted to the production relations of that period, or to people’s living habits. This way of drinking tea was exactly the most popular, youngest, and most fashionable at the time. This is when we look back at the queue phenomenon like Heytea, and Shenzhen Nayuki’s Tea is also queuing. What does this phenomenon show? To put it bluntly, it is still a beverage. However, the concept of Chinese tea is beginning to return to the public’s vision in this younger, more fashionable, and more beverage-like form.
Thinking from this direction, how will China’s real leaf-shaped tea change? I believe that the brewing method of traditional Chinese tea in our eyes and mouths will change accordingly. How it will change in the future is a question we should think about. Nowadays, the quick teabag brewing method is more in line with people’s behavior habits than the Kung Fu tea brewing method. But there is a problem. If we step into the teabag brewing method in one step, then the leap is too big. It is too big to jump from the existing model and business category to the Lipton or other office tea models. But looking back, is this brewing method suitable for the public in the office, on the trip, or in the hotel? I think this adaptability is not enough. At this time, how do we weigh the way between teabags and traditional Kung Fu tea, how to find a balance point? In fact, many traditional tea merchants are making great efforts and attempts in this direction, but they have not yet found a very clear solution. But I believe that because of their curiosity and spirit of exploration, they are also full of confidence in the future, and this road can work.
Fashionable tea and traditional tea culture are completely two different lifestyles. For example, my biggest pleasure may be the moment of prying or taking tea, or slowly boiling water and choosing tea at ease. Today I use a purple clay teapot, tomorrow I use a covered bowl, and the process of choosing tea sets and tea, the sense of ritual and behavior. Because the process of Gongfu tea is very complicated, people can’t help but calm down and enjoy the fragrant tea in front of them leisurely. Why is it popular to brew tea with covered bowls all over the country now? This slow life seems to be out of touch with the fast-paced society, but it is actually a lifestyle. For young people, let them choose the slow-paced tea drinking method of Gongfu tea. They need a more dynamic, novel, distinctive, more individual and more participatory way of drinking tea. This fast and slow way of drinking tea is two directions, and what they drink in the end is tea.
In the slow lifestyle of traditional Gongfu tea, and in the more novel, interesting and individual lifestyle needed by the younger generation, what they pursue together is “beauty” itself, and what they ultimately pursue is a kind of aesthetics. At the height of aesthetics, it is consistent. However, the path to aesthetics varies due to different habits, ages, circles, and cultural backgrounds. We need to be tolerant of different aesthetic forms, and this era must be diversified. In general, in the underlying logic of pursuing aesthetics, tradition and fashion are not opposites, but complementary. What we call traditional tea culture today was also fashionable at the moment it was born.