The Traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony

Camphor Wood

The way tea culture and tea ceremonies evolved in the Chinese society mirrors the

importance of this wonderful beverage which was first discovered and enjoyed in China.

Tea was cultivated in the beginning mainly as herbal medicine and mostly within temples. Monks began to use tea for its peace and calming effects and as a sign of humility and respect for nature.

Chinese tea ceremony was born as a result of the respect for nature and need for peace which the religious ceremonies involved. The philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism have blended together giving birth to the magical Chinese tea ceremony.
As the time passed, Chinese people started to appreciate tea’s enjoyment and social value, besides its medicinal purposes. Tea ceremonies went from being only religious manifestations to becoming social, cultural and traditional events in different celebrations to honor the royal family or to mark different important events in people’s lives.

One of the famous Chinese tea ceremonies is the one named Gongfu tea ceremony, also known as Kungfu tea ceremony. It is known as the Chinese traditional tea ceremony and its place of birth is unknown. Some historians place it in Fujian region, while others place it in Guangdong region. Oolong tea is traditionally served during this ceremony.
Gongfu tea ceremony has been highly commercialized in the last years, for tourist entertainment. Gongfu cha literally translates as “making tea with efforts” and it actually represents the ceremonial of preparing and serving oolong tea as a sign of respect for the guests the tea is prepared for and humility when it comes to nature. Nowadays the tea shops in China and Taiwan which have a very similar tea ceremony, have been carrying these traditional ceremonies as a way to make tourists and tea connoisseurs interact with each other and especially with the Chinese tea traditions.
One of the first written accounts about the tea ceremonies dates as far back as 1200 years ago, during the Tang Dynasty. The serving of tea was also named “Cha Tao” 茶道 which meant “the way of tea”. Attention to tea preparation and serving were the preoccupations of the Chinese tea connoisseurs which transformed the way tea was regarded by the Chinese.
Compressed tea such as Pu-erh for instance, or powder teas lost their popularity and by the end of the 14^th century, the loose leaf method gained adepts. This meant that tea ceremonies changed the usual ritual and other tools were being used differently from the ones popular in the early days when the tea ceremonies were still a novelty. In Japan, tea production started around the 12^th century and followed Chinese models. The tea way in Japan finally evolved into what we call today the Japanese tea ceremony which was meant to be an exclusive ceremony only for political and military elites.

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