Chinese tea culture

Chinese tea culture
Traditional Chinese	中國茶文化
Simplified Chinese	中国茶文化
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó chá wénhuà
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	茶藝
Simplified Chinese	茶艺
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cháyì

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōngguó chá wénhuà

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Cháyì

Chinese tea culture refers to how tea is prepared as well as the occasions when people consume tea in China. Tea culture in China differs from that in European countries like Britain and other Asian countries like Japan in preparation, taste, and occasion when it is consumed. Tea is still consumed regularly, both on casual and formal occasions. In addition to being a popular beverage, it is used in traditional Chinese medicine as well as in Chinese cuisine.

The concept of tea culture is referred to in Chinese as chayi ("the art of drinking tea"), or cha wenhua ("tea culture"). The word cha () denotes the beverage that is derived from Camellia sinensis, the tea plant. Prior to the 8th century BCE, tea was known collectively under the term (pinyin: tú) along with a great number of other bitter plants. These two Chinese characters are identical, with the exception of an additional horizontal stroke in the Chinese lettering 荼, which translates to tea. The older character is made up of the radical (pinyin: cǎo) in its reduced form of and the character (pinyun: yú), which gives the phonetic cue.

There are several special circumstances in which tea is prepared and consumed in Chinese culture.

Light finger tapping is a customary way to thanking the tea master or tea server for tea. After one's cup is filled, the bent index and middle fingers (or some similar combination) are knocked on the table to express gratitude to the person who served the tea. This custom is common in southern Chinese cultures, like the Cantonese. In other parts of China, it is only acceptable if the person wishing to express gratitude is preoccupied with conversation or cannot actually say "thank you" when the cup is filled.

This custom is said to have originated in the Qing dynasty when the Qianlong Emperor traveled in disguise throughout the empire and his accompanying servants were instructed not to reveal their master's identity. One day in a restaurant, after pouring himself a cup of tea the emperor filled a servant's cup as well. To that servant it was a huge honor to have the emperor pour him a cup of tea. Out of habit, he wanted to kneel and express his thanks to the emperor, but he could not do this since that would reveal the emperor's identity. Instead, he bent his fingers and knocked the table to express his gratitude and respect. In this sense, the bent fingers supposedly signify a bowing servant, one finger representing the head and the others the arms.

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Wikipedia