Love tea's life
Tea culture researcher
"Little Dragon Regiment" is a tribute tea in the Northern Song Dynasty, which was invented by bearded Cai Xiang in Song Renzong period.
The large-scale costume TV series "Qingpingle" has been very popular recently. The fire is so serious, brain burning tests the basic skills of ancient Chinese, and fans are screaming again and again.
Song Renzong, played by Wang Kai, is popular with fans. Song Renzong in the play is an indispensable tea, especially a tribute tea called "Little Dragon Tuan".
Follow the tea media tea fairy (search WeChat official account: tea media) and watch a group of large-scale tea drinking scenes in the play first.
Officials' desks are inseparable from tea every day.
The housekeeper drinks, and the queen drinks.
After the queen drinks, the Miao Niangzi drinks.
Miao Niangzi drinks, Hui Rou drinks.
The prop group finally changed to a black building!
"Xiaolong Formation" is a tribute tea in the Northern Song Dynasty, and it is listed as "Little Phoenix Formation" together with "Xiaolong Formation". You guessed right, there is another group called "Dragon Group" and "Taihō Group".
Longfeng Tuancha, also called Longtuanfeng Cake, is a general term for Beiyuan Gongcha in the Northern Song Dynasty. Beiyuan is located in the area of Fenghuang Mountain in Jian 'ou, Fujian. "Three miles east of Jian 'an, there is a mountain called Phoenix Mountain, which leads directly to Beiyuan. "
In the early years of Song Taizong, Longfeng Tea Group appeared. During the Jian 'an period of Xianping (998- 1003), Ding Wei worked in Fujian in the Song Dynasty and supervised "Longfeng Tea". This man is good at sucking up to the leader. He founded the "Dragon Group" and forced tea farmers to pick tea buds ten days in advance. As soon as the tea is brewed, it will be sent to Beijing as soon as possible, so that the emperor can drink new tea in March of that year. After tasting it, Song Taizong even praised it as a good tea, and "Dragon and Phoenix Group Tea" became famous all over the world.
Xiaolong group is the pattern on the left.
Portrait of Cai Xiang in China Tea Museum
"Little Dragon Regiment" was invented by bearded Cai Xiang in Song Renzong period. Cai Xiang served as an official in Fujian many times. In the seventh year, Li Qing was appointed as Fujian's transshipment ambassador and began to take charge of Beiyuan tribute tea. That year (A.D. 1047), Song Renzong Zhao Zhen was almost 40 years old and had no son (the previous one died, so I felt distressed and most excited). He was so sad that ministers forced him to adopt the imperial children every day. Look at the plot of "Qing Ping Le" again. In fact, the emperor also brought his prince into the palace. Empress Cao kept it for several years, and she taught them to be sensible.
Cai Xiang in Qingping Music looks like this (first from left)
Injong teased Cai Xiang. Where did he put his beard when he slept at night?
As a clique of Injong, Cai Xiang wanted to please the emperor, so he reformed the practice of "Dragon Group" and developed a more exquisite and refined "Little Dragon Group" tea. Renzong was very happy when he saw the tea of Xiaolong Group. He also wrote the word "Mo Jun" with his best flying white, and gave it to Cai Xiang.
This incident was also ridiculed by North Korean official Fu Bi. "This servant loves his master's career, but I don't want you to do it again!" Meaning, servant concubines curry favor with the Lord, I didn't expect you Cai Xiang to do so. Ha!
The main difference between "Dalong Group" and "Xiaolong Group" lies in the size of tea cakes. "Dragon Group", 8 yuan per catty, "Xiaolong Group", 0 yuan per catty/kloc-0. Later, there was a smaller tea cake called "Miyun Long", which cost 20 yuan per catty.
Song Renzong's beloved "Little Dragon Group" is very troublesome to make, and its annual output is extremely low. Hundreds of people work hard in the tribute tea garden, and the emperor enjoys only a few tens of kilograms every year.
Introduction of Longfeng Group Tea in China Tea Museum
There are six main processes to make tribute tea in Song Dynasty: picking tea, picking tea, steaming tea, grinding tea, making tea and baking tea. Every working procedure has extremely strict standards.
Tea picking must be a "thin cold climate" in early spring, and it must be the morning before sunrise.
The temperature of steamed tea is also very important, and it cannot be undercooked or overcooked (it is difficult for tea farmers in Song Dynasty). Both undercooked and overcooked tea will affect the color of tea soup.
Before studying tea, one of the unique jobs of Song tea was pressing tea. Steamed tea leaves should be wrapped in cloth, then wrapped in bamboo bags, and squeezed repeatedly to squeeze out the juice from the tea leaves. Pressed tea is ground into powder or paste.
Tea research needs water, and the process of adding water to "Xiaolongtuan" tribute tea should be repeated with "Sixteen Water".
Making tea is to shoot the studied tea leaves into a fixed mold to make tea cakes. Different molds have different styles, sizes and patterns. "Dragon Group" and "Little Dragon Group" are both flying dragons, but they are different in size and details.
The last step is to bake tea. You can't bake it at once. In order to pursue the best color and taste, tribute tea is baked ten or even fifteen times.
The suburban tea party of scholars in Song Dynasty brought many things.
The production of Longtuan tribute tea has a huge investment in manpower, financial resources and material resources, but the final output is not much. Wu, a Song Dynasty man, recorded in "Notes on Gaizhai": "Renzong first made 30 Jin of dragons and phoenixes, and 300 Jin of dragons and phoenixes. Xiaolong Xiaofeng, when Cai Jin made a trough. "
Do you see it? You can have as much gold as you want in the palace. Do you want more "little dragons" Sorry, wait until next year.
As can be seen from the TV series Qingpingle, Song Renzong was born to be an official. He is generous, not extravagant and makes good use of his subordinates. Even the most precious and precious tea, Renzong doesn't want to enjoy it himself, and will give some to the ministers.
In Qing Ping Le, Xia Song, who was guarding Xixia, returned to Beijing with meritorious service. Renzong gave him his beloved dragon tea: "You are the best tea. This spring, the Dragon Group Phoenix Group entered Beiyuan and specially reserved two groups for you. "
At that time, Cai Xiang didn't go to Fujian to be an official, but Injong gave him the "Dragon Group".
Later, there was Xiaolong Group. Because tea is very precious, four ministers sometimes get a piece of tea. Four people, one quarter each. Scarcity is the most precious thing. If the rewarded minister gets the treasure, he will feel the favor of the court (just frame the tea and hang it on the wall).
Scenario: Ai Qing, you will get a cake from the Dragon Group.
Han Qi: Hmm. . . Thank you for your kindness.
Yan Shu (no tea): Do the officials still hate me?
Ouyang Xiu, a representative of the world's literati, has been an official for 20 years and finally got a piece of cake from the "Little Dragon Group". In fear, he recorded his unforgettable feelings in the article "Preface to the Record of Dragon Tea".
"Tea is the essence of things, and small groups are the essence. The so-called top grade dragon tea is also recorded. Born in Mo Jun, the cover was not given by the assistant minister, but Renzong especially cherished it ... Yu Zi gave the official a piece of advice, and it took him more than 20 years to go to the second building to get this advice. And Dan became a dragon and a phoenix, which Ding could not reach. Every time I play, I will clear my blood and pay nothing. "
Simulated plot: I have been hiding it for several years, but I just don't want to take a sip.
Ouyang Xiu, who is bold and frank by nature, cherishes this "Little Dragon Group" cake and hides it at home. He doesn't want to drink it, but occasionally carefully takes it out for fun.
What a pity.
After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Zhu Yuanzhang entered the Ming Dynasty. He was a clown. He thinks this group tea is too fine and troublesome. In the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu (139 1), the imperial edict of "Abolishing Tuan Xing San" was promulgated, so the Long Tuan Feng Cake withdrew from history and the era of scattered tea with a hundred flowers began.
This article refers to books:
Tea and Social Life in Song Dynasty China Social Sciences Publishing House
Tea sets and tea affairs in past dynasties: Forbidden City Publishing House
General History of Tea Industry China Agriculture Publishing House
Tea culture and tea health tourism education press
Photo in this article: From the official Weibo of the TV series "Qingpingle"
Published two years ago, the copyright belongs to the author.