| The Chosen Saheng Collection of Records’(also known as Chosun Sahengrok) refers to records made by Korean envoys after their travels to China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Presently there are40Chosen Saheng records in existence, among which20have records about tea. The word "tea" appeared more than500times in these records.In the Chosun Sahengrok Record,30kinds of various tea were mentioned, among which more than10kinds of health-protecting tea and10unspecified kinds of tea. The collection of records also contains extensive information on the Qing Dynasty tribute teas and other historically famous teas as well as Korean teas, for example:Longjing tea, Pu’er Tea, Pu’er tea extract, Olive (Ganlan) tea, Jianxi tea, Kongzhoujian tea, Qiqiang, Orchids shoots (Lanhuasun), La tea, Laojunmei, Daye, Biluo, Pekoe (Baihao)tea, Mao tea, Xiangtan, Shaoxing Tea, Shiyi, Songluo, Tea cake, Green tea, The mica (Yunmu) tea, Longtuan, Yinqiang tea, Queshe tea, Spring (Chun) tea, Jasmine (Xiangpian) tea, Jasmine (Xiangpian), Yellow tea, Qing tea and etc.The Chosun Saheng Collection of Records provides an illustration of Chinese Imperial Palace, folk culture, Taoist temples, and tea ceremony in the18th and19th century. The Chosun Saheng records the following elements of the tea set:teapot, tea caddy, wooden bowl (Wan), ceramic bowl (Wan), Zhong, Cup (bei), Cup, light (Zhan), tea bowl, tea stand, tea bottle, the tea stove, the tea shallow, tea tray, China small dish, and lacquer small dish.Upon their arrival to China (through Zhamen), the Korean envoys and scholars paid tax according to the rank of the officers and the tax was paid in varying amounts of tea. The highest ranked officer would pay100-400g (1to4liang), the second ranking officer would pay100-200g (1to2liang), and the lowest ranking officers would pay5-100g (1qian to5liang). After the Korean travellers arrived in Beijing, several welcoming banquets were given (Palace ceremony, Xiama banquet, Shangma banquet, Chaocan gift ceremony etc.), during which they were served tea. The Chosen Saheng Records record many social groups practicing a habit of drinking tea (including scholars, common folk and monks). The Chosen Saheng Records show that in Northern China scholars, common folk, monks, and others had a habit of serving guests with tea to welcome guests and to make friends. The Korean scholars enjoyed the process and Chinese scholars highly appreciated the possibility of knowledge exchange with. During the meetings, tea was a must drink, and during drinking tea they freely discussed issues concerning both countries came along. Moreover, for scholars drinking tea was also a topic of poems and practicing this habit was a fuel for writing poems. Officers from both countries were exchanged gifts, among which tea was often used, eg; Xiang tea (fragrant tea), Pu’er tea paste, Kongzhou fried tea, Green tea (Qingcha) and Dragon Well (Longjing) tea, and etc. Also, Korean travellers gifted Korean tea to their Chinese counterparts. The Chosen Saheng Records had mentions on Chosun, Hwanghedo, Chongsoosan, and Oklyu spring water. After the Ming diplomatic envoy Hanshineng’s assessment, these products became well known.The Chosen Saheng Records describe tea drinking methods in the18th century China. Tea was infused with hot water. After it cooled down it was poured into a tea pot. Drinking one cup of tea lasted almost as long as smoking a cigarette. In Northern China, the tea pot was usually placed on the stove on which the tea was boiled. Also a teacup with a lid was used to cleanse and infuse the tea. During wedding ceremony, the betrothal presents from the bride’s side were called "small tea"(Xiao cha) and the gifts from the groom’s side were called "big tea"(Da cha). Moreover during the Yang festival (9th day of9th lunar month), families would take with tea stoves and food along as they went sightseeing. At the beginning of19th century, a sack was carried around into which the owner would put cigarettes or tea. This sack was called "Yanzhunang"(for cigarettes) or "Yanchanang"(for tea).Monks and common folk used the same methods for brewing tea:boiling on the stove or infusing it in a teacup with a lid. In the temples, coal was used to brew tea and as the water quality in Northern China wasn’t as good for the tea, the water was boiled for many times. Sometimes monks and common folk used the same tea sets the same, both using painted or black porcelain tea sets. Monks would use utensils made of copper. Panshan Shaolin Temple and some other temples, made their own specialty tea sets were made themselves. In1720, tea was became an indispensable daily element within the Catholic Church.The Chosen Saheng Records contain a lot of information about tea houses, mostly concerning the flourishing business of them. There were many names, refering to tea houses, in cluding, Tea guan, Tea fang, Tea pu, Tea jing, Tea si, Tea lou, and etc. In Zhamen, Fengchuang city of Liaodong, Tongzhou, Qing Imperial summer residence at Chengde, Old Summer Palace, Liulichang and in their surrounding areas, tea houses were common and their business was flourishing. During the18th and19th centuries in Beijing, Liayang, Tongzhou and Liaodong districts tea markets were very popular. There were also tea stoles selling Yangmei berry’tea, Chrysantemium flower tea, etc. Those fruit and flower infusions were often used as alternatives of for tea coming from a tea plant. In tea stole of Liaoning street, Yangmei tea costed6wen. Outside Beijing Yue Gates, tea house sold a cup of Kangxi tongbao tea at2qian. In Pingyuan of Liaodong district, a cup of tea from a tea stole would cost1tong. As a result of the low quality of the water in the Northern China, water cars were developed to transport water from els where and sold locally. The rich merchants and monks would all buy this water to brew tea.In18th and19th centuries, Korean merchants imported considerable amounts of Chinese tea, which was a high profit commodity. In Tongzhou and Liulichang, there were shops, where guests were served with tea as they entered the shop. The shop owner would also call on the street for guests to enter this shop to enjoy a cup of tea. In Tongzhou, a parrot was used for greeting customers by singing,"come in","come in to enjoy a cup of tea","tea","come"... |
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