Tujia Tea

Tujia Tea

　　Tea is an essential part of life for the Tujia people. As recorded in *Sun Yunmeng's Jiu Ji, Yong Customs*: “People drink tea porridge and wear mountain clogs.” There is a variety of teas, such as cold water sweet liquor tea, cold water honey tea, rice paste tea, ginger soup tea, rice crust tea, green tea, winter melon berry tea, old leaf tea, tea fruit tea, as well as fried rice tea, egg tea, and more. Whenever guests arrive, the hostess will prepare tea according to the visitor’s status, with distinct levels and customs. Regular guests are served ordinary tea, while honored guests are offered egg tea or sweet liquor tea. In summer, when it’s hot and people are thirsty, mountain folk carry cool, clear spring water in gourds or bamboo tubes to brew sweet liquors made from glutinous rice or sorghum, which they drink along with the dregs. The Tujia people are fond of beekeeping, and honey is a treasured household item; adding honey to tea for guests is considered a real treat. In winter, they prefer brewed tea. The tea is simmered in large earthenware jars near the hearth year-round, making it the “untoppable” staple of the Tujia hearth. Brewed tea often uses old tea leaves or tea fruits, resulting in a deep red broth with a rich aroma. Rice paste tea is made by roasting rice until it forms burnt chunks, wrapping them in cloth, and steeping them in boiling water until cooled before drinking—this helps quench thirst and relieve summer heat. “Living by the mountain, relying on the mountain, eating from the mountain”—this is the Tujia people’s philosophy of life. Qing Dynasty Tujia poet Peng Yongxing once wrote a “Bamboo Branch Song”:

　　In March, bracken sprouts begin to show,

　　In September, mushrooms grow on pine boughs,

　　In autumn hills, red fruits hang in clusters,

　　And the flesh of the jade deer grows richer and tastier.