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Introduction Lei Cha Chapter 13
Introduction Lei Cha Chapter 13
Hakka lives in remote mountainous areas all year round, and there are few guests, but whenever a guest arrives, no matter what time or which house they enter, the host will immediately take out the “tea rice” and make a cup of strong tea. The Hakka people call tea “tea rice”, and treat tea and rice as the same, which shows how much they attach importance to tea. One is the Hakka people who drink tea by themselves, and the other is the custom of entertaining guests with tea. When the guests enter the door, they will offer tea first, and after tasting it, they will start to do homework or talk about serious business.
Hakka people like to live in tulou buildings, and they have a strong sense of group. When one family has something to do, the neighbors will reach out to help, as if it is their own business. Courtesy exchanges between each household, intimacy. They are very civilized, and when they are accepted for help or congratulated, the head of the household always looks for an appropriate opportunity to invite the relevant personnel to the house and invite them to drink tea as a gift. Therefore, a unique Hakka tea culture has been formed. The festive answering ceremony is expressed through the unique Hakka “leicha” form.
Whenever a guest comes, the Hakka people must first make a cup of strong tea to honor the guest. This is not the case when offering tea as a gift. It has its own special customs and is a unique Hakka culture of gift-giving tea. There are many items that need to be answered, such as the baby’s full moon, the old man’s birthday, the child’s schooling, the child’s entry into the office, the patient’s recovery, a false alarm, the son’s marriage, the daughter’s marriage, etc., all need to set up a tea ceremony. It is usually a gift in the form of “lei tea”.
Lei Cha is made from tea leaves, ginger and rice. The production is very particular. First, the three raw materials are placed in a pottery bowl or a mortar made of bluestone, and then a hammer made of hawthorn or camellia wood is used to repeatedly pound and grind it into a paste. Then stir in chives, dried tangerine peel, sweet potato vermicelli, dried japonica rice noodles and an appropriate amount of salt, add water and cook in a large pot to form a gruel. When eating, sprinkle some spices, such as fried peanuts, fried soybeans, fried sesame seeds, etc.
People in coastal areas are warm, and they often treat guests with tea. Lei tea for hospitality is divided into two types: meat and vegetarian. For vegetarian guests, add peanuts, cowpeas or soybeans, glutinous rice, kelp, sweet potato vermicelli, dried japonica noodles, cold vegetables, etc.; for meat eaters, add fried shredded pork or small intestines, sweet bamboo shoots, shredded mushrooms, Fried tofu, vermicelli, chives and other ingredients.
During their southward migration, the Hakka people traveled thousands of miles, traveled far and wide, ate and drank dew, and experienced untold hardships. When they arrived at the guest house, they needed to start from scratch, and gradually developed a tough, hard-working, outward-looking and adventurous character. It is this kind of character that gives the Hakka people the driving force to tirelessly search for new worlds.
The character of Lei Cha has some similarities with the Hakka spirit. Lei tea, taken from the mountains and fields, cooked on the journey, reflects the sun, moon and stars, dyes the wind, frost, rain and snow; tasting it, it is elegant and leisurely, adding to the rough and heroic concept. It is the treasure of Hakka and the “source” of trekkers… Every food culture is a poeticization and enlightenment of the philosophy of life.
The Lei tea of the Hakka people has a pure taste and strong aroma. It can not only promote body fluid and quench thirst, cool and relieve summer heat, but also strengthen the spleen and stomach, and nourish longevity.
Lei tea is the earliest production method of tea in my country, sipping tea is the earliest way of drinking tea in China, and it is an important part of Chinese tea culture. Although with the advancement of the times, tea production methods and tea drinking methods have also been continuously improved and perfected, but it cannot be denied that the root of Chinese tea culture – Leicha, the use of tea cannot be fundamentally changed.
From ancient times to the present, whether it is to communicate feelings, or entertain guests, or to celebrate weddings, or to worship ancestors, or to trade, etc., there is no one without tea. For example, “tea party” refers to a social gathering where refreshments are used to connect emotions and entertain guests. Such gatherings have continued.
For example, “tea ceremony” refers to a name in “ceremony”. In the old days, the gift of bribes to officials was called “tea ceremony”. For example, “tea ceremony” refers to betrothal gifts, also known as “receiving tea”, which is synonymous with the employment of women in the old days. Chen Yaowen’s “Tianzhongji” volume 44 “Cultivation of tea” says: “Any tea tree planted will give birth, and transplanted will not revive. Therefore, it is customary for women to take tea as a ritual, and the righteousness is inherent in what they take.” For example, “tea food”, It refers to entertaining guests with cakes and desserts at weddings.
“Dajin Guozhi Marriage” says: “The son-in-law pays coins, and they all pay homage to the door in the early stage, and relatives go together with wine and food to… A gathering of merchants to trade in a teahouse. All trades and gangs generally have their agreed teahouses as meeting places, and merchants negotiate the market and conduct business while drinking tea. And so on.
If Lei Cha is an unpretentious “mother”, then the later tea is a “woman” who has been dressed up, and the blood relationship between “mother and daughter” is always cut off no matter what. This cultural background is an important prerequisite for the inheritance of Lei tea in the Hakka area.
