The Guangdong local standard "Chaoshan congou Tea" issued by Guangdong Quality Supervision Bureau was officially implemented today, which is also the first congou tea standard in the Mainland.
"Chaoshan people drink congou, but not everyone knows congou." Zheng Wenkeng, the drafter of Chaoshan congou Standard and honorary president of Shantou Tea Culture Association, said that although congou has been popularized and stepped out of Chaoshan, the popularization of congou culture is not enough.
"Guan Gong Tours the City" and "Han Xin Dianbing" are the folk summaries of Chaoshan people on the brewing custom of congou, which are now written into this standard for the first time. This standard includes 4 sets of tea sets and 10 brewing procedures. And if you put a "fair cup" when brewing Chaoshan congou, this standard will tell you that authentic Chaoshan congou does not need this tea set.
■ Standard: Tea set has only four treasures in tea.
In mid-June 2009, the working conference of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government was held in Shantou. After the meeting, Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quality Supervision suggested that local standards for Chaoshan congou tea should be formulated, and congou tea should be regarded as a local brand to promote local economic development. This is also the background of Chaoshan congou standard. Soon, it was proposed by Shantou Quality Supervision Bureau and Tourism Bureau, drafted by Shantou Tea Culture Association, and Zheng Wenkeng, honorary president of the association, became the standard drafter.
"He (Zheng) is the most suitable drafter of this standard. We all call him' Cha Sheng'." Zheng Chuhui, vice president of Shantou Tea Culture Association, said.
Although every household in Chaoshan area drinks congou tea, and congou tea has become a part of people's life, in Zheng Wenkeng's view, the culture of congou tea in Chaoshan with a history of 200 years is far from being popularized. "Ordinary people don't talk about tea when drinking tea. Most people drink congou tea at the level of quenching thirst, communication and leisure. " Zheng said to him.
This is a local standard and the first congou standard in the mainland. Zheng Wenkeng said that when drafting, he referred to historical materials, the summary of brewing techniques established by the people and the relevant training materials for tea artists by the state.
Traditional Chaoshan congou tea has as many as 18 sets. Considering the practicality, this standard "tea set" is only formulated for "four treasures in tea". "Four treasures in tea", namely teapot, teacup, teapot and tea stove, are the four essential tea sets for boiling water and brewing. Zheng Wenkeng believes that it is a highlight of this local standard to write folk arts such as "Guan Gong patrolling the city" and "Han Xin ordering soldiers" into Chaoshan congou as the brewing standard.
"Many domestic tea arts are also quoted, but in fact,' Guan Gong patrolling the city' and' Han Xin ordering soldiers' are the summary of Chaoshan people's congou tea brewing, which is written into the standard and is a kind of protection." Zheng said to him.
■ Drafter: The standard divides the brewing procedure of congou tea into 10 sections.
Drafter Zheng Wenkeng said that in addition to advanced nature and practicality, unity and standardization are all drafting principles.
That also means that this standard must be able to answer what is authentic Chaoshan congou. "Now there is a fair mug on the coffee table of Chaoshan people. The guests sit down and pour the tea soup into the fair cup before making tea, and then divide it into teacups. " Zheng Wenkeng said that this is actually not the tea set of Chaoshan congou, but the tea set of Taiwan Province Tea Ceremony. "With fair mug, it seems that the tea soup is very uniform, but it affects the temperature of the tea soup."
Zheng Wenkeng said that not only Chaoshan congou tea set was influenced by other tea ceremonies, but also the local people's summary of brewing was inconclusive. For example, when people make tea, there are so-called "four cents" and "five cents", that is to say, when boiling water is poured into a teapot or bowl, it is divided into four or five cents. "But this is actually wrong." In this standard, the "rushing point" link States that when pouring water, "don't jump straight into the pot to avoid stagnant water."
The reporter noticed that in this standard, the brewing procedure of Chaoshan congou tea is divided into 10, from placing tea sets and tea leaves to boiling water, making points, scraping foam, pouring cans, scalding cups, and low sprinkling, to "Guan Gong patrolling the city" and "Han Xin ordering soldiers". Each step has detailed operating instructions.
Zheng Huifeng, the inheritor of Shantou Kungfu tea art, the first batch of "intangible heritage" projects in Shantou, said that the formulation of standards will be of great help to the promotion of Chaoshan Kungfu tea culture. In the past, the teaching of congou was only passed on by word of mouth, and it was mainly up to the learners to experience it. There is no standard.
■ Controversy: Is there a standard or "time"?
Although the standards have been promulgated and implemented, in some people's view, the art of Chaoshan congou, especially the brewing, depends entirely on pondering, and there should be no standards. "There are standards for congou, so why bother?" Zheng Wenkeng said: "There are standards in the tea making process, but why can some people make good tea and others can't?" He explained that the same single fir tea, brewed by different people, tastes different.
The word "gong" in congou tea in Chaoshan dialect means "caring, careful, considerate and skillful". Zheng Wenkeng emphasized that the real Chaoshan congou tea is "a work beyond words".