Pu'er tea production technology (tribute tea production technology)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Pu'er tea making techniques (tribute tea making techniques)

Applicant: Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province

Project No.: 934

Project No.: VIII - 151

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Yunnan Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province

Protection unit: cultural center of Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County

Brief introduction of Pu'er tea production technology (tribute tea production technology)

Applicant: Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province

Yunnan Pu'er tea has a long history of traditional production technology, which can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. By the Tang Dynasty, Pu'er tea had been exported to the mainland and Tibet. In Song Dynasty, it played an important role in the trade policy of "tea horse mutual market". In the Ming Dynasty, Pu'er tea was sold more widely, and there was a grand occasion of "all Pu'er tea is owned by scholars". In the Qing Dynasty, Pu'er tea was listed as a tribute, and the imperial court set up an official tea bureau to deal with tea related affairs. Yunnan Pu'er tea is mainly produced in Ning'er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Menghai county and other places, and has formed a unique production technology in the long-term production process.

The production technology of Pu'er tea in Ning'er County, also known as "tribute tea production technology", is gradually formed by local tea workers who have accumulated experience in thousands of years of practice. This technique is closely combined with local folk customs. Before tea picking, it is necessary to offer sacrifices to the tea God. After the ceremony, the production began. The tea makers strictly selected the picking place and season according to certain standards, and picked the raw materials by hand according to the specific technical requirements. After the raw materials are prepared, they enter the process of drying, kneading and drying, and the fresh leaves are processed into sun dried green tea by a specific process. Then it is autoclaved, that is, through steaming, kneading, pressing, shaping, drying, packaging and other processes, the sun dried green tea is made into a variety of finished tea.

The unique traditional production technology, profound historical and cultural connotation and related folk culture of Pu'er tribute tea are an important part of Chinese tea culture, and its reasonable production process has become the basis of modern Pu'er tea technology research and development. Pu'er tribute tea has high research value in history and culture, ethnology, folklore, history of science and technology, etc. from the cultural consumption trend of modern people's pursuit of returning to natural ecology and health, it has many potential development and utilization values.