中国饮茶方法的四次较大改变

22　中国饮茶方法的四次较大改变　The Four Major Developments in Chinese Tea Drinking Methods

China has a tea culture that goes back thousands of years.Through the centuries，Chinese people have continually improved their tea-drinking methods as teaprocessing technology advanced.The following four major developments have occurred in the history of Chinese tea drinking.

The Initial Change:Tea Leaves Decoction

In primitive clan society our ancestors did not have enough food to eat because of low agricultural productivity.They picked and ate wild tea leaves as food because the leaves were edible and had no poison.They ate these leaves only to satisfy their hunger.

People discovered that tea leaves offered greater benefits，including quenching thirst，driving away summer heat，and even counteracting poison.Gradually tea was taken as a medicine rather eaten to supplement the diet.At this stage，people usually boiled the tea leaves to extract juice to cure diseases.Boiling the tea leaves to extract the flavor can be seen as the first step in tea drinking.Tea served as a medicine or as a sacrificial item offered at the altars erected for the dead or deities.

The Second Development:Tea Porridge

From the primitive times to the Han Dynasty，tea gradually evolved into a daily beverage.At that time，when people boiled tea，they usually added millet rice and flavoured seasonings，and continued boiling it until the tea water had been turned into a thin porridge.This method still remained popular during the Tang Dynasty.And some ethnic nationalities in the outlying areas of China currently still keep this tradition alive by adding some food to tea water.

The Third Development:Tuanbing Tea Drinking

The third tea drinking method appeared in the Three Kingdoms Period and prevailed in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Song Dynasty.Tea producers would pick tea leaves and pound them into a cake shape.When drinking，they would pound a teacake to pieces，put them into a kettle，and then fill the kettle with boiling hot water.At that time，they added ginger，oranges，and other seasonings.

In the middle period of the Tang Dynasty，Lu Yu(陆羽)，author of The Book of Tea(《茶经》)，firmly opposed to adding any seasonings，and instead emphasized that everyone should taste pure tea with no other additives.Tang Dynasty Chinese people called this way of drinking pure tea“qingming(清茗).”“Qing”means“pure;”“ming”“tender tea leaves.”After drinking“pure tea，”drinkers would chew the boiled leaves to further appreciate its flavour.

During the Song Dynasty people gradually brewed“pure tea.”Eating tea porridge gradually disappeared save for some outlying areas.

The Fourth Development:Whole Piece Tea Drinking

Drinking whole pieces of tea leaves started in the Tang Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing dynasties.In the Tang Dynasty，people found a way to make loose tea(散茶)through steaming and baking processing;they tended to brew whole piece tea leaves with hot boiled water.In the Song Dynasty the practice of drinking whole piece tea leaves coexisted with tuanbing tea drinking.In the Ming Dynasty tea producers primarily made“loose tea，”and people usually brewed tea with whole piece tea leaves.This whole piece tea leaves drinking method has continued up through now.Most modern people drink tea this way.

Notes: 1)initial 最初的 2)productivity 生产力 3)extract 提取 4)outlying 边远的 5)additive 附加的;添加物 6)chew 嚼 7)tend to 倾向于 8)primarily 主要地