The Gongfu tea ceremony or Kung fu tea ceremony, is a kind of Chinese tea ceremony, involving the ritual preparation and presentation of tea [1]. It is a traditional tea-drinking custom unique to the Chaoshan area of Guangdong Province. The Chaoshan Gongfu tea is the most prestigious and famous all over the world. It is honored as the "Chinese Tea Ceremony".
The Gongfu tea, actually it’s more like a tea-drinking culture of people in southern Fujian and Chaoshan and overseas.
Gongfu tea ceremony is the most representative tea ceremony in China's traditional tea culture, and it is also the most representative one in Chinese tea art. Gongfu tea has a long history, Chinese tea culture prevailed in the Tang Dynasty, and Gongfu tea was popular in the Song Dynasty, with a history of thousands of years. The sencha ceremony in Japan and the tea-making ceremony in Taiwan are all derived from Gongfu tea.
The correct writing of "Gongfu Tea" in Chinese is "Gongfu", not "Kungfu". This is a wrong way of writing. This is because people don't understand Teochew dialect, and the wrong way of writing is spread out. Why is this "gongfu" instead of the other "kungfu" is because the word "gongfu" in the Teochew dialect means exquisite methods of doing things, here it refers to the exquisite methods of making tea and tasting tea, which means making “tea with skill” [2]. It is called Gongfu tea because it takes time to select materials, bake, store and brew. Gongfu Tea has its particular way that pays attention to tea set, tea leaves, water, brewing method, and taste.
Chaozhou Gongfu Tea has a set of methods that pay attention to tea set, tea, water, brewing method, and taste. "Gongfu Tea" is very particular about tea sets, tea leaves, water quality, tea, pouring, and tea drinking. The first thing about Gongfu Tea is the tea set. The reason why it is different from other methods of drinking tea is also the tea set. According to the "Chaozhou Tea Classics", there are more than twenty kinds of traditional Gongfu tea. Chaozhou Gongfu Tea pays attention to the sophisticated equipment and cooking skills of tea utensils. Teapots, tea cups, tea trays, tea mats, water bottles, clay pots, sand chop, olive core carbon, etc. are essential tea sets. Strict cooking needs to be carried out according to the procedures of infuser, natcha, hot soup, brewing, frothing, dripping, and sprinkling tea, etc., to get the "three flavors" of Gongfu tea. It is these special utensils and cooking methods that make Kung Fu tea unique and famous all over the world.
Gongfu tea is known for its high concentration. It seems bitter to drink it at first, but after getting used to it, it doesn't taste good enough for other teas. Gongfu tea uses oolong tea, such as Tieguanyin, Narcissus and Phoenix tea. Oolong tea is half-fermented between red and green tea. Only this type of tea can produce the color and fragrance required by Gongfu tea.
Drinking Gongfu tea is generally suitable for three people. The more elegant one is to use small clay pots and white porcelain glazed tea cups produced in Yixing. This tea cup has a caliber of only a silver dollar, like a small wine cup. Fill a small clay pot with oolong tea and water, and boil it on a small charcoal stove or a small alcohol stove. After the tea is boiled, pick up the teapot and make a circular motion on the 3 porcelain cups (locally known as "Guan Gong Xuncheng") on the top of the three porcelain cups and taste slowly. When drinking tea, you can't fill up one cup and then pour another cup, but take turns to pour the cups back and forth. Therefore, in addition to brewing Gongfu tea, it takes time to drink tea.
Chaozhou Gongfu tea is different from ordinary tea. The difference between the two is that it is not the same as drinking tea. Drinking it in large sips and large cups, but in small cups and small cups, means savoring the fragrance of tea. Secondly, Chaozhou Gongfu Tea pays special attention to the etiquette of drinking tea. When the tea is finished, the host and guest will always be courteous, and then invite the elderly and VIPs to taste it first. The etiquette of Gongfu Tea is the traditional Chinese "tea ceremony".
The brewing process of Chaozhou Gongfu tea art is also very particular, and the process is slightly different in different situations. For example, the brewing process used in different occasions is different. Generally speaking, there are eight steps; for more formal occasions, there are 16 steps; for more higher standard occasions, there are as many as 21 steps in the entire brewing process. Therefore, compared with ordinary tea drinking, Gongfu Tea Ceremony is more like a performance, combining traditional culture and art, letting people to appreciate and appreciate the cultural connotation and feel the high level of Chinese tea art.
References
[1] Richardson, Lisa Boalt (2010). The world in your teacup: Celebrating tea traditions, near and far. Eugene: Harvest House Publishers. p. 12.
[2] Hendren, Jay (2012). "Gongfu Cha: A New American Luxury". Colorado Journal of Asian Studies. 1 (1): 57.
[3] YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtWVkv_dw_c