Vicony Tea Directory

Tea Drinking in Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Entering the Qing dynasty, the traditional tea culture was falling year after year and the modern way of tea drinking rose gradually. However, the people who were bent on tea still persisted in the spirit of tea drinking and kept moving forward and innovating. On the other hand, tea drinking in the palace developed towards luxury, deviating from the frugal spirit.

	Tea Sets of Chinese Qing Dynasty

1) Modern Teahouse Led Tea Drinking Among the People

In the Qing dynasty, besides the men of letters and the royal family, drinking tea also began to be popularized as a kind of custom among the ordinary people, and became a part of conventions. An important symbol of the popularization of tea drinking among the people was that the modern teahouses mushroomed and became an important social place for all the classes, including the common people. The teahouses were just like the stages, on which various people performed their different lives and the various aspects of the society; the teahouses were the compressed societies as well, providing a fine stage for discussion for the common people and also reflecting
all kinds of phenomena among the people. At that time, most of the teahouses among the people kept to the frugal tradition of tea. The prevalence of teahouses also symbolized the popularization of tea culture and its developing into the everyday life of people.

	A Teapot of Qing Dynasty		Tea Bowls of Qing Dynasty

2) Luxurious Tea Feast in the Palace

	The "Sanqing Tea" drank on the tea feast was said to be created by Emperor Qianlong himself

Tea feast in the true sense must have originated in the Tang dynasty; however, in terms of scale and luxury, the palace tea feast in the Qing dynasty must be the utmost, with "Sanqing Tea Feast" set by Emperor Qianlong as the best representative. According to the historical records, Emperor Qianlong set up the "Sanqing Tea Feast" and decided to hold it in Chonghua Palace on a day among the second day to the tenth day in the first lunar month every year, Its aim was to show the favor of the royal family and to strengthen the ties among the officials. The tea feast took the form of creating poems on the current events in the palace. The participants were mostly the high ranking officials such as the Grand Academicians etc. The "Sanqing Tea" drank on the feast were prepared with plum blossom, fingered citron and pine nuts, which was created by Emperor Qianlong, and cook with snow water.

Besides the tea feast, tea was also an indispensable part in other palace feasts, a "must have" drink both before and after the meal. The teas used in the feasts were mostly same. According to the investigations, during Kangxi and Qianlong' reign, there were held four large-scale "Qian-sou Banquet"(Banquet for One Thousand Old Men) in the palace, and the one with the most attendance had more than 3,000 people joined. The procedures of every "Qian-sou Banquet" were all the same: first drank tea, then wine, and last, tea again. Every people that was able to join this kind of feast was either a prince or a high ranking official. Here, what tea drinking embodied was still glory.

See Also:

• Chinese Tea
• Chinese Tea Ceremony
• Chinese Top Ten Famous Teas
• Tea Drinking in Chinese Ming Dynasty
• Tea Drinking in Chinese Song Dynasty
• Tea Drinking in Chinese Tang Dynasty
• Chinese Tea Drinking History Before Tang Dynasty