I believe friends who have been to Guangdong will definitely have an impression of Guangdong, that is, herbal tea is absolutely indispensable in the daily life of Cantonese people. However, this herbal tea does not refer to cold tea, but this kind of herbal tea is bitter and astringent, and it does not contain tea leaves, nor is it cold, but a bowl full of Chinese medicine. Friends from other regions cannot understand why friends from Guangdong enjoy such a bitter and astringent food. In fact, there are historical and geographical reasons for this.

The reason why Cantonese people drink herbal tea

If herbal tea is understood according to the current meaning, it should be a soup made from tea leaves and left to cool. Located in Lingnan, it is hot and humid all year round. The human body living in such an environment is very easy to absorb the heat and dampness. Herbal tea has the functions of clearing away heat, detoxifying, producing body fluids and quenching thirst, allowing the human body to drive away the heat and restore nature.

According to different effects, herbal teas can be roughly divided into four categories:

1. Heat-clearing and detoxifying tea, mainly suitable for people with internal heat and severe anger. Representative medicinal materials include silver flowers, chrysanthemums, and mountain thorns. Gardenia, Scutellaria baicalensis, etc. are suitable for drinking in spring, summer and autumn.

2. Jiegan tea mainly treats exogenous wind-heat, four-season colds and flu. The representative medicinal material is isatis root, which was sold at a sky-high price during the SARS period. This tea is suitable for drinking in all seasons.

3. Heat-clearing and moisturizing tea has good medicinal effects on dry mouth, dry tongue and cough. Representative medicinal materials include Adenophora polygonatum, Longli leaves, winter wheat, snow fungus, etc. Best for drinking in autumn.

4. Heat-clearing and damp-removing tea: This tea is suitable for people with heavy dampness, hot breath, loud breath, and yellowish complexion. Representative medicinal materials include honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, capsicum, smilax, etc., which are suitable for drinking in summer.

The history of herbal tea

The history of the invention of herbal tea is very long. Traces can be traced as early as 5,000 years ago during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. As for the origin of herbal tea, academic circles generally recommend that Shang Zu made the soup. He pointed out the concept that "medicine and food come from the same source and do not cure the disease before it is cured", which means to prevent the disease before it occurs.

Huangdi Xuanyuan pointed out that treating diseases starts with prevention. In addition, people should pay attention to health preservation, health preservation, longevity and longevity. Cheng Tang inherited the Yellow Emperor's idea. After the "Soup Oath" was completed, he entrusted his teacher Yi Yin to announce that the Chinese herbal soup prepared in advance in a soup cauldron should be distributed to the entire army, one portion for each person; the medicinal soup should be used instead of wine as a token of appreciation. care. These traditional Chinese medicine soups can strengthen the body and prevent diseases.

Herbal tea in Guangdong originated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Ge Hong, a medical scientist from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, came to the Lingnan area in 305 AD. At that time, miasma was prevalent in the Lingnan area, and the local people were deeply affected by the disease. Ge Hong devoted himself to studying various medicines for febrile diseases in Lingnan and relieved many diseases for the people at that time. Local medical scientists studied and summarized it in the medical works he left behind, and in the process of fighting and preventing diseases, people gradually formed a deep-rooted herbal tea combination unique to Lingnan people.

The story of Lin Zexu and herbal tea

Speaking of modern herbal tea, we have to mention the now famous "Wanglaoji". The founder of Wonglaoji is Wang Zebang, also known as Wang Aji. During the Daoguang period, there was an epidemic of plague one year. Wang Aji's family went to the mountains to escape, and received a true biography from a Taoist priest. They prepared an exclusive herbal tea with more than 10 kinds of mountain herbs such as Gangmei root and golden cherry root and distributed it to the local people. The effect was remarkable, and Wang Aji became famous. , and then opened a herbal tea shop in Shisanhang, which quickly became popular in Guangzhou.

Later, Lin Zexu came to Guangdong because of the smoking ban. Because he was not used to the hot and humid weather in Lingnan, he felt a lot of physical discomfort and was very distressed. Later, I heard that Wang Aji's herbal tea was very effective in this, so I sent someone to buy it and drink it. After a while, I felt all the discomfort was gone. I was so amazed that I sent someone to bring a cup with three words "Wang Laoji" engraved on it. The large copper pot with gold characters was given to Wang Zebang. From then on, Wang Zebang opened a herbal tea shop under the name of "Wanglaoji" and it has been passed down to this day. It is well-known throughout the country and sells well overseas.

Wong Lao Kat’s extraordinary contribution in the Opium War

The Opium War started in Guangdong in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty urgently mobilized the Hunan Army to support Guangdong. Unexpectedly, the Hunan Army suffered a heavy blow due to the hot and humid climate in Guangdong. Eating chili peppers with every meal caused him to become acclimatized and angry, and he fell ill even before he went to the battlefield. After Wang Zebang heard about it, he brought herbal medicine from the "Wanglaoji" pharmacy and sent it to Humen and Huangpu. He also organized local people to boil herbal tea and send it to the army. After drinking it for several days, most of the soldiers were cured of their illnesses.

In May 2006, the State Council officially approved Guangdong herbal tea as the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage, and herbal tea can now be inherited and carried forward.