A Tentative Research On The Rise And Fall Of Tea Industry In Three Gorges Area In The Tang Dynasty And The Song Dynasty Period

China is the birthplace of tea culture. Tea plant originates from southwest China. The Three Gorges of Yangtze River, which is located in the edge of southwest China, has an important status on both the evolution of tea plant and the development of Chinese tea culture.Three Gorges Area is a major place of the origination and evolution of tea plant for its distinctive geographical environment. There was an account of the wild tea plant in the " Ba San Xia Chuan " area in the famous " The Book of Tea " by Lu Yu in the Tang dynasty. The upper and middle reaches of Yangtze River including Three Gorges Area, is one source of ancient Chinese culture and the fountainhead of Chinese tea culture. In the remote antiquity of Shen Nongshi, there was a folklore legend, "Shen Nongshi eats tea as antidote ". Nowadays, we still can find the sign of custom of ancient Ba nation eating-tea from "Bi Zi ka " YouCha made by the Tuchias who is the offspring of ancient Ba nation. There are a few historical materials on the tea-industry in Three Gorges Area in the early stage of Chinese tea culture from Han Wei to Liu Chao. In a word, Three Gorges Area is a major role in the historical spreading process of Chinese tea culture from Yangtze River Valley to the whole country. All above became the base of prosperity of tea industry in Three Gorges Area in the Tang dynasty.Drinking-tea finally became a national custom in the Tang dynasty. This process was propelled by the following factors, such as, the northbound shift of tea zone and the increasing of tea yield for climate wanning, the prosperity of Tang dynasty as a result of nation unity, the recommendation of Buddhists and Taoists, and the influence of The Book of Tea by Lu Yu, etc. The tea industry in Three Gorges Area also went into its most prosperous stage in in the Tang dynasty. This prosperity can be found in the extension of tea zone, the increasing of districts tributing tea, more and more brands of tea, etc. In the Tang dynasty, the tea zone in Three Gorges Area included Yu District, Fu District, Kai District, Kui District, Qian District, Gui District, Xia District, Shi District, Jin District, equaling to 9% of the whole. In the 17 districts of tributing tea in Tang, there were 3 districts in Three Gorges Area, i.e. Xia District, Gui District, Kui District. In the 55 brands of tea in Tang, there were 10 in .Three Gorges Area, e.g. Xianrenzhang, Bijian, Mingyue, Fangrui, Zhuyuliao, Xiaojiangyuan, and so on.Tea industry gradually became an independent industry from the Tang dynasty to the Song dynasty. With the development of tea industry, various policies on tea industry were caused. Accordingly, the tea industry in the two different tea zone in Three Gorges Area had different characteristics. In the west tea zone that the key city is Kui District, monopolizing tea did not be implemented in fact, although the policy had been enforced by the Song government in Chuan Xia Four Counties which include Kuizhou County, i.e. the west part of Three Gorges Area. In addition, the portion of Cha Ma trade, which exchange horses with tea from the minorities in southwest China, was little in this zone. In the east tea zone that the key city is Xia District, taxing tea in the Tang dynasty and monopolizing tea in the Song dynasty hadbeen put into force, and caused serious smuggling of tea.Tang and Song is the most prosperous period of ancient Chinese culture. The development of tea industry in Three Gorges Area also can be verified from the verses made by poets in this period. According to incomplete figures, there were 18 poems of tea by 14 poets from Tang to Song, recording the tea industry in Three Gorges Area. These poems, which describe the tea and springs in Three Gorges Area, gave us a distinctive record on the tea industry in Three Gorges Area in this period.The tea-industry in Three Gorges area headed for its decline in the Song dynasty, after the prosperity in the Tang dynasty. This trend could be found in the following three respects. Firstly, the proportion of tea-zone of Three Gorges area against the whole country had not a distinct growth, although tea industry had an obvious development in the Song dynasty. Secondly, the ratio of famous tea brand of the Three Gorges area by that of the whole country had a marked drop in the Song dynasty. In the end, the verses on the Three Gorges Tea had a clear reduction. This shift from prosperity to decline in the Song dynasty was caused by many factors, e.g. the historical climate change, the southbound shift of economic centrality, the development of local humanism, and the special policies of tea, etc.