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Tea Exhibition
| The Tools of Tea |
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THE BASKET
There are several kinds of baskets, there being one called ying and another called Lan. There are also the lung and the chu. All of them are made of bamboo. Pickers carry those with a capacity of one to four gallons, or of five, ten, twenty or even thirty pints, on their backs while harvesting the tea. THE FURNACE AND CAULDRON
Do not use a furnace with a chimney and always select a cauldron with a wide-flaring lip. THE BOILER
The boiler, such as one used for steaming rice, and called a tseng is made of wood or earthenware. There is no waist to it but there is also a receptacle made of clay meant to catch droppings from the holes at the bottom of the boiler. The two are joined with bamboo. To begin the steaming, first put the tea in the receptacle. Then pour it into the steamer. Continue stirring it with a three-forked branch in order to spread out the shoots and buds and allow the juices to flow. THE PESTLE
There is one called tui, such as is used in hulling rice, which is perfect, especially if it has known long use. THE SHAPER
The shaper can be one of two kinds called a mo or mould or a ch'uan which is bent in the shape of a basin. They are made of iron and some are round, some, square. Occasionally they are also ornamented. THE HOLDER
One type is called the t'ai or stage. Another is the chap or block. They are made of stone but if that is not possible, then from the wood of the pagoda or the mulberry tree. Half of the holder should be buried in the ground so that it will be completely stable during the manufacturing process. THE COVER
The cover is called I and is made of oiled silk or of a single piece of rain gear that has been worn out. To make the tea, place the cover over the holder and then place the shaper over the cover. After the tea has set, it can be moved by lifting up the cloth cover. THE SCREEN
The screen, called either a ying-tzu or a p'ang-lang is made from two pieces of young bamboo about three feet long. The body of the implement is two feet, five inches and the handle is five inches. With bamboo strips weave square eyes something like those in a gardener's earth sifter. The screen should be about two feet across. It is used for grading the tea. THE AWL
Called a ch'i, it has a knife and handle made of tough wood. It is used to bore holes in the tea for stringing. THE BEATER
It is named pien and is made of bamboo. It may also be used to insert into the tea in order to loosen it. THE DRYING HOLE
To dry the tea, make a hole in the ground about two feet deep, two feet five inches wide and ten feet long. Around the top of it construct a wall two feet high and seal it with wet clay. STRINGERS
The stringers are named kuan. To make them, use strips of bamboo about two and one-half feet long. Stringers are used to thread through the tea before drying it. THE DRYING SHED
The p'eng or chan is a wooden structure built over the drying hole. The wood should be plaited and joined so there will be two stages each a foot high, each in its turn being used in the drying process. When the tea is half dry, it is raised to the lower stage and as it becomes thoroughly dry, it is raised to the upper one. TIES
The residents of the land east of the Yangtze and south of the Huai rivers used split bamboo to tie the tea. In the Szechwan mountains, the people make their ties by stringing bark together. In Kiangsu, the largest amount tied together is one catty; a half-catty is the medium size package. A package of four or five ounces is the third size. In the valleys and mountains, the largest load is 120 catties, a medium load is 80 catties and a 50-catty load is the smallest. In the old days, the character for the tie was the ch'uan, meaning bracelet. Sometimes the ch'uan of the expression kuan-ch'uan, meaning "to string together," was used, but such is no longer the case. The character used now to designate the tie for the tea is ch'uan, meaning "to bore through." When it is written, one thinks of the even tone, but it is spoken with a falling tone. STORAGE CONTAINERS
Storage containers are called yu. Their frames are manufactured of roots tied together by bamboo with paper pasted over them. Inside there are horizontal partitions and there is a cover over the top. Below there is a receiving unit at the side of which is a door. Inside one of the door panels is a utensil meant to hold a light fire to keep it warm and dry. In Chiang Nan, in the times of the heavy rains, tea in these containers is specially treated with fire. |
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