Tea-fighting, a popular activity in ancient times, may be unfamiliar to modern people, but in ancient times, it was an extremely popular cultural entertainment for the rich and the literati. Tea fighting, also known as fighting tea or tea battle, originated in the Tang Dynasty, and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty.
The origin and popularity of tea-fighting
The Song Dynasty was the golden period of Chinese tea culture, and people at that time were extremely concerned about the way of tea tasting. Song Huizong Zhao Ji personally wrote "Daguan Tea Theory", Cai Xiang had "Tea Record", and Huang Ru had "Tea Tasting Essentials", and the appearance of these writings reflected the prevalence of the tea-fighting culture in the Song Dynasty. Every year at the time of Qingming, the new tea is on the market, which becomes the best time for tea fighting.
The place and manner of tea fighting
Tea fights are usually held in larger tea stores or elegant inner rooms, courtyards, and waterfront locations. Tea lovers will take out their own collection of good tea, take turns to cook, through the tasting to determine the winner. The form of tea fighting is diverse, can be more than one person to fight, can also be two people against each other, usually using the two out of three system.
The content of the tea fight
Tea fighting mainly includes tea product fighting, tea order fighting and tea drama. Tea fighting emphasizes the freshness of the tea leaves and the activity of the water. The judging criteria mainly depends on whether the color of the tea soup is fresh and white, as well as the duration of the soup. Tea fighting order is a kind of cheering activity during tea fighting, similar to wine order, while tea hundred theater is a display of skills injected into the tea bowl, which is regarded as a kind of elegant cultural activity.
The significance of tea-fighting
Tea-fighting is not only a game, it is also a cultural activity, reflecting the importance of the tea art and the pursuit of quality of life in the society at that time. Tea utensils used for tea fighting, such as Jian kiln lamp, was also a major feature at that time. The tea fighting culture was closely related to the tribute tea system at that time, the folk through the tea fighting to assess the grade of tea, in order to decide which tea can be used as tribute to the tribute.
The Modern Influence of Tea Fighting
Although the techniques of tea-fighting are difficult to see, the legacy of ancient tea-fighting can still be seen in some tea-producing regions of China. Although the modern tea-fighting activities have changed, they still reflect the deep heritage and historical legacy of Chinese tea culture. At that time, tea fighting was a competition between the rich and the literati, and the importance of culture far exceeded that of money. Today, although there are not many tea-fighting events left, its spirit is still reflected in some tea parties.
English 
Chinese 
