Intangible Cultural Heritage refers to the traditional cultural expressions of various peoples, passed down from generation to generation and regarded as part of their cultural heritage, along with the objects and places associated with them. Intangible cultural heritage is an important marker of a nation’s historical and cultural achievements and a vital component of fine traditional culture.
China is a great nation of cultural heritage: to date, 43 intangible cultural heritage elements have been inscribed on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage lists, ranking first in the world.
On November 29, “Traditional Chinese Tea-Making Techniques and Related Customs,” nominated by China, passed review and was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, stirring the tea world and drawing wide attention.
The 44 projects involved in this nomination are located across 15 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. Those from Yunnan are:
Pu-erh tea making technique (tribute tea making technique)
Pu-erh tea making technique (Dayi tea making technique)
Dark tea making technique (Xiaguan tuocha making technique)
Black tea making technique (Dianhong black tea making technique)
Tea custom (Bai Three-Course Tea)
De’ang ethnic sour tea making technique
Here, we will visit these heritage elements one by one, showcasing the rich and colorful tea-making crafts and culture of Yunnan.
As a major tea province, Yunnan has six projects in the nomination, for several reasons:
Deep historical and cultural heritage: over thousands of years, the rich history of tea and horse caravans and the caravan spirit have allowed tea culture and tea crafts to grow and flourish in Yunnan, with abundant ethnic cultural underpinnings and technical support. Many ethnic groups in Yunnan drink tea, with diverse methods and techniques, each with its own merits.
Rich cultural substance: as a combination of traditional craft and folk custom, the processes of the six tea techniques involve offering sacrifices to the tea god, selecting raw materials, fixation-rolling-drying, steaming and pressing into shape, and ethnic-style tasting—strongly folk in character, watchable, and unique in craft.
The persistence of traditional craftsmen: for years, many heritage inheritors have persisted in passing on tea crafts through families or as individuals, promoting their skills through teaching and sharing, devoting their life’s energy to the transmission and development of tea-making techniques within the intangible culture.
The pu-erh tribute tea making technique is a local traditional craft of Ning’er Hani and Yi Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and one of the national intangible cultural heritage items. Yunnan’s traditional pu-erh tea processing craft originated in the tenth year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing (1732).
The craft of the pu-erh tribute tea—”steamed and rounded, pressed into shape”—matured gradually through history. Its making comprises roughly four procedures: offering sacrifices to the tea god, selecting raw materials, fixation-rolling-sunning, and steaming and pressing into shape.
Tribute tea is naturally fermented raw tea; kept ventilated, dry and odor-free, it can be stored for a long time. The longer it ages, the better the taste, and its value grows year by year—it has the collectible function of preserving and increasing value, and is called “an antique you can drink.”
On June 7, 2008, the pu-erh tea making technique (tribute tea making technique) was approved by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China for inscription on the second batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list, item no. Ⅷ-151.
In 2011, the Kunlu Mountain Gongji Tea Farm, a main source of raw material for pu-erh (tribute) tea making, was named a national productive protection base for intangible cultural heritage.
Recently, after the pu-erh (tribute) tea making technique was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, Li Xingchang, an inheritor of the tribute tea craft, said in an interview: “This world-level cultural recognition is not only full affirmation of the pu-erh tribute tea craft, but also of the persistence and efforts of our whole family.” On the craft’s future transmission and development, he believes one must have an unshirkable sense of responsibility, the original heart of upholding tradition while innovating, and the perseverance of diligent study. One must learn to use culture to empower production and production to energize culture, raise output, stabilize quality, and build a sound craft management mechanism, working in mutual support with tea farmers, government and other parties.
As Li Xingchang’s son, the young tea man Li Mingze says: “Traditional culture is the crystallization of history. As the ninth-generation inheritor of the pu-erh tribute tea making technique, I hope to combine the consumption habits of today’s young people and use the internet to bring the old crafts and heritage culture into the public eye; to integrate the craft into regional tourism and promote the integrated development of tourism and cultural creativity; and to use the craft to aid rural revitalization, combining traditional handwork with modern popular elements to make merchandise and cultural-creative products—thereby building the spiritual and cultural coordinates of the new era, so that the pu-erh tribute tea craft may be better carried forward and passed on.”
This is an era of cultural confidence. As one strand of culture, intangible cultural heritage is the traditional cultural expression passed down through generations of all peoples and an important component of culture—an important marker of a nation’s historical and cultural achievement. It is a nation’s intangible asset, representing the height of humanity’s cultural heritage spirit; its inheritance and promotion are an important embodiment of driving the high development of human cultural industries. Transmission is not merely the passing on of tea-making technique; in essence it is the transmission of thought and spirit. For a family it may be called family tradition; for society, a soul.
Conscious “breaking out of the circle” is a way to display the lasting vitality of Chinese culture. Conscious integration—blending traditional culture and crafts with cultural IPs and cultural tourism—can better carry forward Chinese traditional culture and spirit and root the nation’s culture more deeply. Conscious exchange—telling the stories of Chinese traditional culture well through artistic and technological means, in visual, watchable art forms—can arouse the recognition and resonance of international society and its publics for Chinese traditional culture.
Let heritage return to the present
Promote it in transmission
Innovate in promotion
Tomorrow we will show you the unique features of the Xiaguan tuocha making technique. Stay tuned.
Images: provided by A Cuan / Li Mingze
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Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
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