As the foremost among China's six major tea categories, green tea is the oldest and most representative tea in Chinese tea history. Its characteristic of "non-fermentation to preserve the original quality" not only retains the most primitive natural flavor of tea leaves but also carries the thousands of years of tea-drinking culture and life wisdom of the Chinese nation. Evolving from its initial use as a medicinal herb and food to later as a beverage and for ceremonial purposes, the development of green tea is deeply intertwined with the social economy, cultural customs, and scientific and technological progress of ancient China, becoming a fresh and enduring part of traditional Chinese culture. This paper traces the historical thread to sort out the development of green tea from its origin to maturity, from the folk to the imperial court, and from China to overseas, exploring its historical origins and cultural connotations behind it.
China is the hometown of tea, and the origin of green tea can be traced back to the distant ancient times. The earliest records of tea are scattered in the works of pre-Qin scholars and ancient classics. Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica states: "Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and encountered seventy-two poisons in a single day, yet was saved by tu." Here, "tu" refers to the archaic character for tea. At that time, tea was not a beverage but a medicinal plant. In the process of gathering wild fruits and vegetables, ancient ancestors discovered that fresh tea leaves had the effects of clearing away heat and toxic materials, and refreshing the mind. They plucked the leaves to chew directly or boil them in water for drinking, which was the most primitive form of green tea. Tea at this time was not yet artificially cultivated, mostly wild tea trees, and distributed mainly in the Bashu and Jingchu regions south of the Yangtze River basin. This area, with its mild climate and abundant rainfall, is suitable for tea tree growth, and thus became the birthplace of Chinese tea history.
From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, the use of tea gradually extended from medicinal to edible, and the rudiments of artificially cultivated tea trees emerged in the Bashu region. Records of the Huayang Kingdom: Records of Ba notes: "After King Wu conquered Yin, he enfeoffed his clan Ji in Ba with the title of Viscount... Cinnabar, lacquer, tea, honey... all were presented as tributes." This indicates that in the Western Zhou Dynasty, tea from the Bashu region had become a tribute to the royal family, reflecting its preciousness at that time. Tea at this time was called "ming vegetable"; people boiled fresh tea leaves with rice and millet to make "ming congee", or matched them with other ingredients as dishes. This integration of tea and food was an important feature of the early development of green tea. As the birthplace of green tea, the Bashu region not only nurtured the earliest tea culture but also became an important hub for the spread of tea to the Central Plains, laying the foundation for the subsequent nationwide development of green tea.
After the Qin Dynasty unified the six states, exchanges between the Bashu region and the Central Plains became increasingly frequent, and tea thus spread out of Bashu to the Jingchu and Jiangnan regions. By the Han Dynasty, the technology of artificial tea cultivation had achieved initial development, and the scope of tea drinking gradually expanded from the aristocracy to ordinary scholars. Tea in the Han Dynasty was still mainly boiled with fresh leaves, and a mature production process had not yet formed. However, special tea sets appeared at this time. Among the cultural relics unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tombs in Changsha, Hunan, bamboo slips and utensils related to tea were found, proving that tea had become a daily beverage in the southern regions during the Western Han Dynasty. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the famous physician Hua Tuo wrote in Treatise on Diet: "Prolonged consumption of bitter tu sharpens the wits." This was the first clear statement of tea's effect of refreshing the mind and enhancing intelligence, further promoting the popularization of tea drinking and laying a theoretical foundation for the transformation of green tea from a "medicine and food" to a "beverage".
The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties marked an important transitional period for the development of green tea. The social unrest and the rise of metaphysics made tea an important carrier for literati and refined scholars to retreat from the world, engage in leisurely conversations, and cultivate their moral character. The cultural connotation of tea began to enrich gradually, and the production process of green tea witnessed its first important breakthrough. At that time, the scale of tea tree cultivation in the Jiangnan region expanded continuously, and the commanderies such as Kuaiji, Wuxing and Yongjia became new tea-producing areas. Dissatisfied with the primitive way of boiling fresh leaves for drinking, people began to explore more refined processing methods.
The most important technological innovation in this period was the emergence of sun-drying and steaming green tea techniques. People no longer only used fresh tea leaves directly but spread the picked fresh leaves to dry in the sun to remove excess water, then steamed them to inactivate the enzymes in the leaves, and finally kneaded and dried them to form loose tea leaves. This preliminary processing technology not only prolonged the preservation time of tea but also initially fixed the flavor of green tea, making it a formal beverage independent of food and medicine. At the same time, tea culture flourished in this period: literati gathered to hold tea parties, recite poems and fu with tea as a medium, and Buddhist monks in monasteries also regarded tea drinking as a way to meditate and keep awake during practice, which made tea integrate with metaphysics and Buddhism, and added a strong cultural color to the development of green tea. By the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, green tea had basically completed its transformation from a medicinal and edible plant to an independent beverage, and its production techniques and drinking customs had taken initial shape, laying a solid foundation for its prosperity in the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
The Sui and Tang Dynasties were the golden age for the prosperity and nationwide popularization of green tea. The unification of the country and the prosperity of the economy created favorable conditions for the development of the tea industry. Tea tree cultivation spread from the south of the Yangtze River to the north, and tea-producing areas expanded to more than 40 prefectures and counties across the country, forming a number of famous tea-producing regions such as Xihu Longjing in Zhejiang and Biluochun in Jiangsu. The production technology of green tea was further improved and standardized: on the basis of steaming green tea, the technique of pan-frying green tea appeared, which made the tea leaves have a more delicate and fragrant flavor by controlling the temperature and time of frying. Pan-frying green tea gradually replaced steaming green tea and became the mainstream processing method of green tea, a craft that has been inherited and developed to this day.
The Tang Dynasty witnessed the emergence of the world's first monograph on tea-The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu, which systematically sorted out the origin, cultivation, production, brewing and drinking of tea, and established a complete tea culture system. Lu Yu paid special attention to green tea in the book, detailing its processing techniques and brewing methods, which made green tea's production and drinking more standardized and academic. The popularity of tea drinking in the Tang Dynasty was unprecedented: it was not only popular among the people, but also became an indispensable part of the imperial court's daily life and royal ceremonies; tea was also listed as one of the "seven things to open the door" (firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea), becoming a necessity of people's daily life. In addition, with the prosperity of the Silk Road and maritime trade in the Tang Dynasty, green tea began to spread to neighboring countries such as Japan, Korea and Vietnam, becoming an important carrier of Chinese cultural communication and laying the foundation for the formation of the East Asian tea culture circle.
The Song Dynasty inherited the prosperity of the tea industry in the Tang Dynasty and pushed green tea culture to a new height. Although loose tea was still popular, the tea cake culture flourished in the Song Dynasty, and green tea was made into finely processed tea cakes, which became a symbol of the upper class's life. The imperial court set up a special tea bureau to supervise the production of tribute tea, and the production of tribute tea reached an unprecedented scale and level of sophistication. The Song people paid more attention to the art of tea drinking, and the "fight tea" custom prevailed among the literati and the people. Fight tea is a kind of tea art competition that compares the color, fragrance and taste of tea soup, as well as the skill of brewing tea. It not only reflects the superb brewing skills of the Song people but also embodies their pursuit of the artistic conception of tea drinking. Green tea, as the main tea variety for fight tea, has become a bridge connecting people's material and spiritual life. In terms of production technology, the pan-frying green tea technique of green tea was further refined, and the classification of green tea was more detailed, with a variety of famous green teas with unique flavors emerging, which enriched the variety system of green tea.
The Yuan and Ming Dynasties were a period of important changes in the development of green tea. The Yuan Dynasty, though short-lived, continued the tea industry system of the Song Dynasty and further promoted the spread of tea tree cultivation in the north. The most important change occurred in the Ming Dynasty: Emperor Hongwu issued an edict to abolish tribute tea cakes and promote loose tea, which made loose green tea return to the mainstream of social life and completely changed the tea drinking customs of the previous dynasties. This edict not only simplified the tea production process and reduced the labor cost, but also made tea drinking more convenient and popular, making green tea truly enter the homes of ordinary people. The production technology of green tea in the Ming Dynasty was further innovated: the pan-frying green tea technique was more diversified, with different frying methods such as manual frying and pot frying, and the processing tools were constantly improved, which made the quality of green tea more stable and the flavor more distinctive. A large number of famous green teas with fixed production techniques and unique styles emerged in the Ming Dynasty, such as Huangshan Maofeng in Anhui and Lu'an Guapian in Anhui, which have become classic varieties of Chinese green tea and are well-known at home and abroad.
The Qing Dynasty was the period of comprehensive maturity and overseas spread of green tea. The tea industry in the Qing Dynasty developed rapidly, with tea tree cultivation covering almost all southern provinces in China, and the scale of tea production reaching an all-time high. The production technology of green tea was fully mature, and various processing techniques such as pan-frying, roasting and drying were used in combination, forming a complete processing system; the classification of green tea was more detailed, divided into long fried green, round fried green, flat fried green and other categories according to the shape and processing method, with a wide variety of varieties. In the Qing Dynasty, green tea became an important export commodity of China. With the opening of the sea trade, a large number of Chinese green teas such as Bohea and Dragon Well were exported to Europe, America and other regions, becoming a popular luxury in the Western market and promoting the formation of the world tea trade system. The export of green tea not only brought huge economic benefits to China but also made Chinese tea culture spread to the whole world, making green tea a world-renowned beverage.
After modern times, although China's tea industry experienced a period of decline due to social unrest and foreign economic aggression, green tea, as the root of Chinese tea, has always been inherited and developed. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially with the reform and opening up, the tea industry has been revitalized, and the production technology of green tea has been continuously innovated on the basis of traditional crafts-modern mechanical equipment has been applied to tea production, which has improved production efficiency while retaining the traditional flavor of green tea; the research and development of new green tea varieties has been strengthened, and a number of high-quality green tea varieties with high yield and good quality have been cultivated. Today, Chinese green tea has formed a huge industrial system covering cultivation, processing, sales and cultural communication, with its products sold to more than 100 countries and regions around the world, and has become an important business card of Chinese traditional culture going to the world.
From the primitive wild tea leaves chewed by ancient ancestors to the finely processed famous green teas today, from the medicinal and edible plant in the early days to the important carrier of culture and trade, green tea has gone through a development course of thousands of years in China. It is not only a simple beverage but also a condensation of Chinese people's life wisdom, cultural taste and national spirit. The development of green tea is closely linked with the development of Chinese history, witnessing the prosperity and changes of Chinese society, and carrying the profound cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. As a treasure of Chinese traditional culture, green tea will continue to inherit and innovate in the new era, carry forward the Chinese tea culture, and make greater contributions to the cultural exchange and integration between China and the world.
