Basic Introduction to Huangmei Chan Tea
Huangmei Chan Tea is produced in the Purple Cloud Mountains, north of the Fourth Patriarch Temple and the Fifth Patriarch Temple, amidst fog and waterfalls. Huangmei has been a place of pilgrimage for Chinese and East Asian Buddhists since the early Tang Dynasty, as it is home to the Old Ancestor Temple built by the ancient Indian monk Baizhang. Surrounded by towering peaks, lush pines and bamboo, clear waters, and fresh air, all the tea gardens are located at an altitude of 800 to over 1,200 meters in the misty mountains, making them significant sources of tribute tea and Chan tea throughout history. In 747 AD, Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea during the mid-Tang Dynasty, visited the birthplace of Huangmei Chan Tea, examined local tea customs, and included his findings in his famous work, “The Classic of Tea: Chapter Eight – Origins,” stating, “Tea from Huangmei grows in the mountain valleys of Qi Prefecture.” The tea from Huangmei is of superior quality, with a rich and fragrant flavor, and has been a staple drink for Chan masters while meditating and entertaining guests. Therefore, it is named “Huangmei Chan Tea” as it originated from the mountain tea gathered and prepared by Chan practitioners in the ancient Old Ancestor, Fourth Patriarch, and Fifth Patriarch Temples.
Product Features
This tea is characterized by its fine, uniform, and slender shape, prominent white downy tips, tender green and glossy color, rich and lasting aroma, fresh and refreshing taste, bright infusion color, soft leaf base, and high brewing capacity, leaving a lingering aftertaste. It is a popular brand of green tea loved and praised by customers both domestically and internationally. With the revitalization of the ancient landmarks of the Old Ancestor Temple, Huangmei Chan Tea will have even greater potential for development.
Historical Folklore
(Hongzhi)
In my childhood, I heard my grandfather tell the legend of the purple cloud mountain monks learning about tea. Long ago, the founder of Purple Cloud Mountain was a thousand-year-old monk who learned the local art of picking and processing mountain tea from the villagers, which became a tradition among the temple monks, spreading the name of Purple Cloud tea far and wide. My grandfather, Xiong Zhusheng, a late Qing dynasty scholar, once taught the Four Books and Five Classics at the Old Ancestor Temple, where he heard this story from the elderly abbot. Although it's an old legend, it reflects the deep connection between Huangmei tea and Buddhist temples through colloquial language. Located at the intersection of Wu and Chu, straddling the Yangtze River and the Dabie Mountains, Huangmei County gradually rises towards the north. Hills and mountains occupy the northern half of the county, with many peaks over a thousand meters high acting as natural barriers. Due to its location across the 30th parallel north, every peak is verdant, and every stream is clear, with tea growing on every mountain. This area has been a significant source of tribute tea for the ancient Qi Prefecture and gave birth to the mother of Huangmei Opera, the Huangmei Tea-Picking Opera. During the middle Tang Dynasty, from 756 to 759, the Sage of Tea, Lu Yu, made several trips to the Qi and Huang regions to investigate tea customs and techniques. He spent time in the winter and spring months at the Old Ancestor Temple, drinking various kinds of mountain tea brewed with local rock spring water. He recorded in “The Classic of Tea: Chapter Eight – Origins” that “Tea from Huangmei grows in the mountain valleys of Qi Prefecture.” The Purple Cloud Mountain range, with its highest peak, Lotus Peak, reaching over 1,240 meters in elevation, is characterized by its dense vegetation and perpetual fog and clouds. Wild mountain tea, locally known as “Old Ancestor Forest Tea,” grows naturally in crevices and can be easily picked. Locals often pick and process it themselves during the spring and summer. The best quality tea is picked around Qingming and Grain Rain, when the leaves are just beginning to unfurl, resembling the tongue of a mountain bird, and is known as “fine tea,” reserved for guests. Tea picked later, with larger leaves, is used for trading or personal consumption. Monks at the Old Ancestor Temple also use it for offerings, meditation, welcoming guests, and communal consumption. The 1686 edition of the “Old Ancestor Temple Annals: Literary Works Volume” contains several poems about tea drinking, such as “Visiting the Silent Master Jiarhua”: “On the peak of Purple Cloud Mountain, there is a small hut, inside of which a wise man sleeps among the clouds. An old villager visits him, mending his tattered robe under the sun. Upon seeing the guest, he speaks casually, sitting without formalities. Before the hall, a small stove is heating up the tea. The guest fans the fire, and the master cleans the kettle. The water bubbles vigorously, and the tea leaves, as delicate as magpie tongues, release a fragrant scent. One cup after another, they sip their tea, gazing at the blossoming flowers. The flowers, in shades of yellow and white, are as vibrant as crimson, with green bamboo reflecting off them…” This poem describes an old monk boiling tea to entertain a visiting poet. They dispense with formalities, each busy with their own tasks. The phrases “bubbling sea eyes,” “magpie tongues,” and “finely sprinkled” describe the process of brewing the tea with delicate leaves. The master uses the point tea method to produce a fragrant infusion, which is then poured into small cups, one after another, for them to savor, while admiring the blooming flowers outside. In the forty-eight poems of “Random Verses” by Niu Shan, lines like “New tea offered in secluded places,” “This household offers meals, that household offers tea,” and “Bamboo baskets carrying tea from Northern Source” appear. These verses depict how monks used tea to aid in meditation during their travels or how villagers warmly entertained the mountain monks with tea, indicating that Purple Cloud tea was a common beverage enjoyed by both monks and laypeople alike. Imagining seventeen hundred years ago, when Baizhang built his hermitage beneath Lotus Peak, the simple villagers would often offer fine tea as an offering. Though not recorded, the legend that the old monk cultivated tea himself is plausible. When Baizhang stayed in Purple Cloud Mountain for the fourth time, during the early Tang Dynasty, it coincided with the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin and Hongren settling in Broken Forehead Mountain, emphasizing farming and Chan practice. The distance between Purple Cloud Mountain and Broken Forehead Mountain is only about thirty miles. Baizhang, who had encountered his mentor (Damo) in Liang City (Nanjing) and understood Chan, despite being over a thousand years old, would have visited Broken Forehead Mountain to pay homage to the Fourth Patriarch and invite him to become the abbot of the Old Ancestor Temple. Fine tea from Purple Cloud Mountain and tea seeds would have been among the items he carried with him. Later, teas like “Guanyin Jade Leaves” from Broken Forehead Mountain, “Zhangxue Tea” from Fengmao Mountain, the residence of Master Hongren, and “Snow Mountain Tea” from the North and South Mountains, where Masters Pu'an and Yanbin resided, would have shared a familial relationship with Purple Cloud tea. Even earlier, in the plains and hills of the county, ancient temples established by great monks like Huiyuan, Zhi Dun, Lang Gong, and Bodhiruci in the Eastern Jin Dynasty would have sought offerings of tea or picked and processed it themselves from the tea-producing temples on Purple Cloud Mountain. It can be said that during the Tang and Song dynasties, represented by the tea from the Old Ancestor Temple on Purple Cloud Mountain, a network formed around the Fourth Patriarch Temple and the Fifth Patriarch Temple, promoting the development of Huangmei Chan Tea and Chan tea culture. During the half-century when the “East Mountain Dharma Gate,” a fresh and vigorous Chinese Chan movement, developed in the mountains east of Qi Prefecture, thousands of people came to Huangmei every month. Drinking tea to aid in meditation and Huangmei Chan Tea spread alongside the profound teachings of the “East Mountain Dharma Gate” across China and even to Japan, eventually becoming a means of transmitting the Dharma and forming the concept of “Chan and tea as one.” The “Five Patriarch Temple Annals” mentions the “Four Virtues of Tea”: “When meditating, tea keeps you awake all night; after a full meal, tea aids digestion; tea suppresses desires; tea is a treasure against killing.” These refer to practical aspects of tea drinking for monks. Since there are few extant teachings from Patriarchs Daoxin and Hongren, we cannot speculate whether they elevated tea drinking