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At present, white tea has gradually become popular all over the country and has entered thousands of households, but there are still many disagreements on the origin of the name of white tea.

An overview of white tea

Most of the white tea is produced in Fuding, Fujian and other places. The national standard divides white tea into four categories: Baihao Yinzhen, Bai Peony, Gongmei and Shoumei. Compared with other types of tea, white tea is more natural and simple to make. The fresh leaves that are picked are not killed or rolled, but are naturally withered and then dried over a slow fire. The tea leaves processed by this method have the characteristics of complete appearance and buds, which can retain the nutrients in the tea to the greatest extent, and also maintain the fragrance and fresh quality.

2. Comments on the names of white tea

Historically, the white tea produced in Fuding and other places was mainly self-produced and sold. According to Zhang Tianfu's "Investigation and Research on Fujian White Tea", white tea began to be exported in 1891, mainly to developed countries such as Europe and the United States. After 2010, Fuding white tea developed rapidly, and people began to pay attention and discuss about white tea, and there were many different theories about the origin of its name. The main opinions are as follows.

1. Appearance of finished tea products

A common saying is that Fuding white tea contains pekoe, which is a layer of fine fluff on the tea leaves, which is rich in nutrients and turns white after drying. In addition, the production process of white tea is the most natural. As long as the tea leaves are dried in the sun or simmered during processing, without kneading or frying, the delicate hairs on the back of the leaves can be completely preserved, so that the appearance of the tea leaves is covered with pekoe, such as snow-covered. The above is general, so it is called "white tea". In fact, this argument cannot stand scrutiny. Many tea leaves have tiny hairs, commonly called "tea hairs", which are rich in nutrients such as tea polyphenols and amino acids. Chahao can reflect the quality of tea in many cases, such as high-end famous teas such as Biluochun and Junshan Yinzhen, the taste of the tea soup is affected by the hair, and for some famous teas, the existence of the tea also determines their beauty. shape. It can be seen that it is far-fetched to say that white tea is named because it is covered with white tea cents. In addition, the old white tea has no obvious tea leaves, and the leaves are withered brown, which does not conform to the name of this white tea.

2. Tea tree varieties

This statement is mainly derived from Song Huizong's exposition: "White tea is a kind of itself, different from regular tea... It must be made delicately and transported properly, then the exterior and interior will be as clear as jade, and he is incomparable." The general idea is: white tea is different from other teas, its branches are soft and easy to spread, and its leaves look crystal clear. White tea grows in the mountains and forests, it is naturally grown, not artificially planted... White tea must be carefully crafted, which is unmatched by other varieties. In fact, the white tea mentioned here is not the white tea of ​​the six major tea types today, but the naturally whitened (mutated) tea.

Albino tea trees have existed since ancient times, and there are records of albino tea trees in the "Tea Classic" and "Daguan Tea Theory". The "white tea" mentioned in ancient books generally refers to a variety of tea tree or a product processed from the albino buds and leaves of the tea tree. This type of white tea mainly refers to the special green tea produced according to the green tea processing technology using the albino buds and leaves of special mutant tea trees such as Baiye No. 1 as raw materials.

3. Soup color

The way of drinking tea in the Song Dynasty is different from that in the Tang Dynasty. Most of the tea is popular. The tea cake is roasted and crushed into tea powder, and then placed in a tea cup to adjust the paste and brewed with hot water. The Song Dynasty people's requirements for tea soup are white as the best quality. Luo Lin's "Tea Solution" in the Ming Dynasty stated: "The color of tea is expensive and white. It is white, sweet and fresh in taste and fragrant. It is a fine product." Tea names with the words "white tea" and "white" are not "white tea" now. For example, in Song Dynasty Chao's "Giving Lei Seng", "If you stay in office, don't go and linger. There are twelve thunderbolts for white tea." In Song Dynasty Liu Xueji's "Drunken Song", "white tea is like ice and snow, and black tea is red with scarlet blood." Xu Yuexi in Song Dynasty "Camellia" in "white tea is also a number of products, jade chime is especially shrewd", all refer to the brown color of the tea.

In addition, there are also elegant names for white tea such as "ruya" and "white milk tea" in the poems of the Song Dynasty, but the "white tea" of the Song people actually refers to the color of the brewed tea. Therefore, it is a misunderstanding to think that "green and white" is "white tea".

4. The False Biography of Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea"

Looking back on history, the word "white tea" first appeared in the "Tea Classic" written by Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty, and the text quoted the sentence from the now lost Sui Dynasty "Yongjia Tujing" "There is a white tea mountain in the east of Yongjia County". . The White Tea Mountain mentioned in the "Yongjia Tujing" should be Yandang Mountain, which produces white Ming tea. "Yongjia Tujing" is a local county chronicle, which mainly records the local history, culture and customs. The content has nothing to do with Fuding, which was under the jurisdiction of Changxi County, Fuzhou, and Anji, which was under the jurisdiction of Huzhou. There was no doubt that it was within the jurisdiction of Yongjia County at that time. The six major tea categories are based on the classification method proposed by Mr. Chen Rong in 1979, and it has only been more than 40 years. Therefore, the white tea mentioned by the ancients refers to the varieties of tea trees with albino variation, not the white tea produced by the process of drying and withering.

3. The main reasons for the divergence in the origin of the name of white tea

1. Understanding the morpheme meaning of "white"

White, the original meaning is "white color". In the word sense system of "white", "white" is not only its original meaning, but also the starting point and common meaning of many later extended meanings of "white". Therefore, most people will stay at the inherent level, and according to the mindset, understand the "white" of "white tea" as "white".

2. Influenced by the category name of "white tea"

The appearance of Baihao Yinzhen is straight like a needle. It is the best white tea and has the title of the king of tea; White Peony is the top grade in white tea; Gongmei is generally considered to have the highest yield; Green and healthy drinks. In these names, Baihao Yinzhen and Bai Peony directly contain the word "white", and "shoumei" is also easily reminiscent of the white eyebrows of long-lived old people.

3. The meaning of the word "white tea" is mixed in different eras

The implicit meaning of the word varies with the times. The same word "white tea" has different meanings in different historical periods. For example, in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the "white tea" mentioned in ancient books is actually a variety of albino tea trees.

4. Research on the etymology of "white tea"

1. The meaning of the word "white"

"White" has the meaning of "without adding anything", which first appeared in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. According to "Shuowentongxundingsheng" records: "white, under the guise of silk." Silk, silk is also.缯, the general term for silk fabrics in ancient times. "White" is derived from the semantic element of "uncolored, plain silk fabrics", and the meaning of "blank, nothing is added". The common point between them is "uncolored", which is also the extended meaning of "white". In the Song Dynasty, the meaning of "white" with "nothing else added" has been widespread. For example, lychees that are only dried in the sun are called "white sun"; scriptures without annotations are called "white books". After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the usage of this "white + verb" was expanded, becoming a restriction on verbs, and expressing the meaning of "nothing added", which evolved into an adverb, such as Su Shi's poem "Light round white sun ly, Crispy Hongluo Sauce" and Su Zhe's verse "Beijing travels to Jingluo and falls into the red dust, and the white basket is called the most precious".

2. "White exposure" in Fujian dialect

In the Fujian dialect, "white sun" is read as "white exposure". The "white sun" in the Fujian dialect is the "white sun" often mentioned in ancient books. For example, simply dried lychees are called white sun, which is the current drying method. Many seaside fishing villages call dried fish "white sun", and "white sun oil" is the original juice of black bean soy sauce brewed after the soy sauce is brewed and exposed to the sun for a second time. White sun dried shrimp skin, that is, the fresh shrimp is directly exposed to the sun, not boiled. According to this, Fuding, which is located in the center of white tea production, retains the ancient Chinese word "white sun" in its dialect, but the Fuding dialect reads "sun" as "exposure". The "white tea" is abbreviated as "white tea".

To sum up, it is a misunderstanding to think that white tea is named because the finished tea is covered with pekoe, like silver like snow or because of the variety of tea trees. Its historical sense; or because of preconceived ideas, the meaning of "white" is "white", and then it is thought that white tea is "white tea", and it happens that the names of white tea such as Baihao Yinzhen also confirm this assumption. The naming theory cannot stand up to scrutiny.

By examining the development of the Chinese word "white" and the meaning of "white" in the Fuding dialect, and then thinking of the production process of white tea, it can be determined that the source of its name is "white tea". As the Ming Dynasty "Tea Specimen Collection" said: "Tea should be sun-dried, green, fragrant and clean, better than fire-frying", this production method is to a certain extent the same as the white tea production method.