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The Influence of Dou Cha on Lei Cha

Beginning in the Northern Song Dynasty, a trend of “tea fighting” quietly emerged, and people’s attention began to shift to taste the original taste of tea. Before the Northern Song Dynasty, the bud tea brewing method had already begun. As a result, Lei Cha mixed with ginger and salt was not only ridiculed by the scholar-official class, but also gradually abandoned in the vast areas of the south.

For example, Su Dongpo once wrote dozens of tea poems. Among them, “Ciyun Caofu Sends Heyuan to Trial Cultivate New Buds” describes Fujian Tuancha as a tribute tea: the fairy mountain spirit grass is wet and the clouds are washed all over, and the fragrant muscle sand powder is evenly distributed. The bright moon comes to cast Yuchuanzi, and the spring breeze blows through the martial arts spring. You must know that Bingxue has a good heart, not a new face of ointment. The little poet who plays the game smiles, and good tea is always like a beautiful woman.

Su Dongpo is also very particular about the spring water used for making tea. In the poem “Jianjiang Jiancha”, it says: “The running water must be boiled, and it is deep and clear from the fishing stone.” The big ladle stores the moon and returns to the spring urn, and the small ladle divides the river into the night clang. The snow milk has been frying the feet, and the pine wind suddenly makes the sound of diarrhea. It’s not easy to ban three bowls with a dry mind, and sit and listen to the length of the deserted city.

What these poems sing about is obviously not Lei Cha. The so-called “Xinya” refers to the bud tea that “has always been a good tea like a beautiful woman”. Naturally, good spring water is required to make bud tea, which shows that before the Northern Song Dynasty, the method of brewing bud tea had already begun. As a result, Lei Cha mixed with ginger and salt was not only ridiculed by the scholar-official class, but also gradually abandoned in the vast areas of the south. This phenomenon can be seen from “Dongpo Zhilin”: “People in the Tang Dynasty used ginger for frying sticks, so Xue Neng wrote in his poem, ‘Salt damage adds to the constant warning, and ginger should be cooked more’…

Those who use these two things in modern times I laughed out loud.” However, due to various reasons, Leicha is still very popular in the northern folks. Su Zhe’s poem “He Zizhan Jiancha” can prove: “There is nothing wrong with drinking tea in the north. Salt, cheese, pepper, and ginger are full of praise. Tired of wandering and thinking about hometown, not learning from the south and the north…”

The custom of making tea in the Song Dynasty, which was originally in the Central Plains, spread to Fujian with the northerners entering Fujian. The Hakka people in Fujian have always maintained the habit of eating Lei Cha. And it takes a lot of flowers. “Lei, grind things.” Lei Cha is to process tea leaves by grinding. The main raw material of Hakka Lei Cha is tea leaves. Depending on the region, season, and drinker, ginger, peanuts, sesame, Chinese herbal medicines, etc. are also added. Therefore, “Lei Cha” has a lot of ingredients, with ever-changing tastes and different effects. Eating “Lei Cha” should also be accompanied by refreshments: peanuts, melon seeds, fried rice crackers, fried soybeans, olives, salty bamboo shoots, candies, and pastries.

Lei Cha in Ninghua, the ancestral land of the Hakkas, is divided into “meat” and “vegetarian”. The basic raw material of Ninghua Leicha is “Huaishan leaf”, which is added with oil, salt and herbs. Vegetarian Leicha can be added with basic ingredients: cowpea, japonica rice, dried powder, kelp, glutinous rice, etc.; meat Leicha can be added with basic ingredients: marinated hog oil seasoning, shredded bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms Silk, vermicelli, fried tofu, chives and so on. The raw materials of these lei cha should be boiled first, poured into the bowl together with the hot soup, and then eaten after being stirred evenly. Lei Cha like this is totally food.

Relatively simple is Fujian Guangguang Leicha, which only uses tea and rice as the basic raw materials. If you are particular, you can also add capillary, tangerine peel, chuanxiong, licorice, and ginger. There is a folk song in the local village of Guangze: “Walk to the host, go to the west, drink Lei Cha, play haha, come and go to get married.” In the process of drinking Lei Cha, it is also a channel for rural people to connect with each other.

Wuping in western Fujian is also the main settlement of Hakka people. The Leicha in Dongliu Township of Wuping has various names due to different ingredients, such as “Xiang Leicha”, “Sweet Leicha”, “Scattered Leicha”, “Medicinal Leicha” and so on. Wait. “Xiang Lei Cha” should add sesame seeds, fried rice and sesame oil to the ingredients. “Sweet Lei Cha” is to add rice powder, peanuts and sugar to the ingredients. “Cai Lei Cha” should be added with spinach and cooked wood oil. “Xiang Lei Cha” and “Cai Lei Cha” are also added with vegetable oil, salt and the leaves of the local slab tree. The teas served with Dongliu Lei Cha also have local characteristics, such as “Pang Tongzi”, “Sugar Rice”, “Old Shrimp”, “Dried Sweet Potato” and so on.

Matcha became popular in the Southern Song Dynasty. Later, Zen Master Daying, an eminent Japanese monk, studied Buddhism at Jingshan Temple in Yuhang. Later, when he returned to his hometown, he brought the matcha method popular in the Southern Song Dynasty back to Japan. Today, from the point of view of the Japanese matcha method: matcha is to grind the tea into fine powder and then boil it in water in a teacup. The tea soup should be boiled very thick, and after cooling, it becomes a soup shape, which is used for eating.