Tea-Tasting Culture Symbols in Contemporary China: Times and Spirit DOI:

Abstract

Background and Aim: The tea-tasting culture evolved from the long-established tea culture in China, Tea was first used as a source of food before its medical properties were discovered and it is being recognized as a beverage nowadays. It was not until Lu Yu, the Tea King in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the Bible of Tea (《茶经》) that the method of soup drinking was abandoned to make tea a truly pure beverage. After that tea drinking activities began to be called “tea-tasting”. As a product of the spiritual civilization of human society, tea-tasting culture is influenced by the spiritual temperament of each era during its development from rise, growth, and prosperity to eventual decline. It is still alive in contemporary society, shifting from a culture with literati attributes in the old era to a contemporary popular one. However, in real life, the public’s understanding of tea-tasting culture generally remains at the taste of tea soup, lacking an awareness of the inheritance of tea-tasting culture. Therefore, the objective as well as the importance of this study is to explore the era and spiritual symbols of tea-tasting culture so that it can be well inherited in the contemporary era.

Materials and Methods: This study employs fieldwork, interviews, and creative research methods. Through fieldwork, it delves into the Jingdezhen China Ceramics Museum, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Institute, and Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue, conducting onsite investigations to explore the development of tea-tasting culture. Interviews are conducted with experts in tea-tasting culture, inheritors of Jingdezhen's intangible cultural heritage of handmade porcelain, and art design specialists, aiming to understand perceptions and historical evolution of tea-tasting culture. The creative research method fosters innovative thinking, establishing a "three stories" model to examine the cultural significance and contemporary symbolism of tea tasting. This multifaceted approach facilitates a comprehensive understanding of tea-tasting culture's intricacies and its impact on society.

Results: Through research results were as follows: (1) The knowledge system of tea-tasting culture which could help to understand the historical development of Chinese tea-tasting culture was obtained. (2) The “three stories” research model on times and spiritual symbols of tea-tasting culture was figured out. (3) The value of tea-tasting culture in the contemporary context was acquired to express symbols of the current era and spirit.

Conclusion: As a cultural form, tea-tasting culture enabled tea to rise from the field of food culture to the philosophical field with a spiritual value. This study adopts fieldwork, interviews, and creative research methods to create a "three stories" model of tea-tasting culture for research, aiming to explore how it was inherited in its historical evolution under the macro background of China's tea-tasting culture, and how it continues to develop its times and spiritual symbols nowadays. Research on how the tea ceremony spirit shifted to the Mingdao spirit can provide theoretical support for further research on the inheritance and development of tea-tasting culture.