01. History of Korean tea
At the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century, Buddhism began to be introduced to Goguryeo from China. During the Silla era, a large number of monks went to China to study Buddhism and seek Dharma, and when they returned to China, they brought tea and tea seeds back to Silla.
During the Goryeo Dynasty, under the influence of Chinese tea culture, the tea culture and ceramic culture of the Korean peninsula rose, and tea was especially popular among princes and nobles.
The King of Goryeo was keen to reward his courtiers with tea. There was a tea room in the palace, which was responsible for tea preparation and event preparation in the palace. When there are festivals or major sacrificial activities, the "tea ceremony" of offering tea to gods and Buddhas is also essential.
After the middle period of the Li Dynasty in Korea, tea culture was oppressed by Buddhism and pro-Confucian policies, coupled with excessive tea taxation and frequent natural disasters, the development of tea declined for a time, and the status of tea drinking plummeted, and was gradually replaced by the later wine culture and coffee culture. . It was not until the late Li Dynasty, with the active maintenance of Ding Ruoyong Caoyi, Cui Yi and others, that tea culture gradually recovered from decline.
02. Korean tea ceremony
The Korean tea ceremony, like the Japanese tea ceremony, originated in China. The Korean tea ceremony was most influenced by Confucianism, and combined with the digestion and absorption of local culture, a set of etiquette standards belonging to Korean culture was gradually developed. ,real".
"Harmony" means a kind heart; "King" means respecting and treating each other with courtesy; "Frugal" means living a simple life; "True" means being sincere in heart and treating each other with sincerity. There are many kinds of Korean tea ceremony, including reception tea ceremony, Buddhist tea ceremony, gentleman tea ceremony, boudoir tea ceremony, etc.
The Goryeo Five Elements Tea Ceremony, which has been passed down to this day, is the highest level of tea ceremony in Korea.
03. What is the difference between Korean tea and Chinese tea?
South Korea mainly produces green tea. Baocheng, located in Jeollanam-do, is the largest tea producer in South Korea. It is also known as "the world's three major coastal green tea cities" along with Shizuoka, Japan and Rizhao, China.
In the "31 beautiful sights on this incredible planet" selected by CNN in the United States, South Korea's Bosung Green Tea Garden ranked 12th. The beautiful scenery of Chashan also often appears in Korean dramas.
Besides Bosung, Jeju Island and Hadong are also famous tea producing areas. Korean green tea is slightly different from Chinese green tea. It needs to be fried at high temperature several times. The tea taste is not as sweet as in Japan, nor as bitter as in China. The tea soup is thin, but the aroma is clear and sweet. This kind of green tea is called "clean" by Koreans, and it is also the highest goal of Korean tea making.
Koreans often use green tea to enhance the color when making cookies, cakes, ice water, ice cream and other desserts, and use it as an additive to remove odors when processing seafood and meat. In Korea, green tea is also used in cosmetics.
Although South Korea's tea culture developed earlier, it was interrupted for a period of time in history, so the popularity of tea drinking in South Korea is not high. In addition to green tea, some non-tea teas are also popular in Korea, such as Schisandra tea, barley tea and so on.