The Unknown or Contradictory Origins of Shui Xian

[Herb_Master]

I had not considered Shui Xian in these forms
they are tempting

The Tea Gallery have

1950's Shui Xian
http://www.theteagallery.com/1950_Shui_ ... a-50sx.htm
New taste sensations for Shui Xian as far as I am concerned
and

We were delighted with notes of licorice, anise, and green bean cake.

Shui Xian Bricks
http://www.theteagallery.com/1997_Shui_ ... -97sxb.htm

We tasted bold plummy flavor with a lot of red date and a sour note that laced the sides of the tongue.

I have never thought of Plums and dates in Shui Xian - sounds interesting
and there are also Shui Xian Cakes

http://www.imperialtea.com/Old-Bush-Shu ... -P804.aspx

Carefully compressed, the leaf was harvested from selected 100 year old bush harvests and after manufacture was wrapped in cotton paper to allow continued aging.

[gingkoseto]

Herb_Master, you did a lot of good research!

About the virgin tea, don't take it too seriously I've heard the same description for some tea from Shandong, and some puerh tea from Yunnan. Maybe people from different places got the same idea of having tea picked up by young girls. But maybe it's just some romance

I saw some Zhang Ping Shui Xian info. on web the other day. That's a kind of shui xian brick. It looks very interesting and pretty.

I like your very detailed review on the tea. Now I am more tempted by shui xian

I read your da hong pao review for a few times, got so tempted about it and I called the factory number in your package showed in your photo I will post the info. in your da hong pao thread

[ABx]

Just about every tea vendor has a Shui Xian - all of the plain "Wuyi Oolong" you see out there are also Shui Xian, so I would be a little selective, if I were you, because it would be very easy to go overboard. You might look at TeaCuppa's others, if you haven't already. Besides the Lao Cong, they also have a regular one, and then the yellow box under the "Aged Wuyi Oolong" is currently just Shui Xian (they used to have a Rou Gui in the same listing and basically the same box).

In other words - you might want to slow down a bit and take a step back. You can probably find better perspective without necessarily trying them all Also watch out for myths and legends, like the virgins thing

Of course if you want to go with all the varieties of teas from Shui Xian plants then you will have a lifetime's worth of teas to go through Lao Cong is almost different enough to treat as a different tea, just like Dancongs will be. There are also the Taiwanese teas - the ones that you see that talk about using a 'Wuyi' strain are most likely Shui Xian. You might check out Floating Leaves' "Wuyi Baozhong," for example.

[Salsero]

I bet Salsero has got some of these for a prop to photo when drinking his Narcissus Tea
http://www.chineseshuixianhua.com/

I haven't but it would be a great idea!

[Herb_Master]

Still can't find the source that said She people took Shui Xian back to Guangdong from Wuyi

But I think this supports the fact that Oolong method of production started in Wuyi


Many legends suggest that a man named Wu Long was returning home with his daily plucking when he found a deer to kill for the pot, dropped his sack of tea and forgot about it. I think they are the romaticised ones. Others like here, tell that Wuyi Tea was already called Wu Long because the leaves resembled an outline of a Black Dragon - and when they discovered the technique of making partially oxidised tea they applied it to their teas and the technique which spread to Anxi and Guangdong was named after the colloquial name for Wuyi Teas.

http://www.wulongforlife.com/oolong-tea-history.html

Oolong tea history began within the lands of China, mainly the vicinity of Mount Wu Yi from the Fujian Province sometime during the Qing Dynasty.

The Story of Tea by Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss also suggests that Oolong is named after the original name bestowed on "the large, bulky dark leaves of Wuyi Shan"

But their Guangdong pages do suggest that the original Fenghuang trees are considerably older than the process of Oolong so maybe it was only the Oolong production techniques that the She people took back to Fenghuang - and the dao prefecture discovery and Wuyi Shan transplanting MUST be accidentally similar strains now given a common name.

[xuancheng]

But I think this supports the fact that Oolong method of production started in Wuyi

I read in Harvesting Mountains pretty near the front of the book that Oolong production techniques were invented in Anxi.

I don't have the book with me, so I can't cite his source.

My source:
Robert Gardella, Harvesting Mountains: Fujian and the China Tea Trade, 1757-1937 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994), xiv, 259 pp.

[Herb_Master]

My source:
Robert Gardella, Harvesting Mountains: Fujian and the China Tea Trade, 1757-1937 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994), xiv, 259 pp.

What an interesting book, I have just read the first 25 pages onlinem they would not let me read any more

I have just ordered the only copy that I could find anywhere, it is used and cost me 115$ Ouch!

[chrl42]

Hmm...my source

1) Origin of Oolong
Wang Cong Ren, professor at Shanghai Normal uni., from Culture of Chinese tea says Oolong was invented as late as late-Ming, from Wuyi. Because Wang Cao Tang's Cha Shuo was written in early-Qing (I believe he believed Cha Shuo had been the first book that mentioned about modern Oolong)

2) Origin of Shuixian

中国轻工业出版社, China light industry publication's Wuyi Yancha (generalized book that is) notes,

"Shuixian tea plant was originated from Fujian ShuijiDahu of Jianyang area, story has it, late-Kangxi period (1722) Shuixian plant appeared and made into Oolong.........after made in Wuyi's own method becomes fresh orchid aroma"

3) Guangdong Fenghuang Shuixian (same book)

"Fenghuang Shuixian is from from Guangdong Fenghuang mt. of Shenghuan area. Legend says it has 900-year-history of plantation, method of manufactering was imported from Wuyi mt. about a hundred year ago".

[chrl42]

In addition, Korean Wuyi Yancha.

In Yuan dynasty, abolition of Han heritage led to an extermination of 'Long Feng Duan Cha - tribute Wuyi' so Wuyi tea heritage was about to collapse until farmers invented 'fermentation method' in late-Ming.

This book portraits 2 ways of seeing the origin of Oolong.
First, poor farmers grew none-Wuyi teas and made in Wuyi fashion. Leaves before brewing resembled 'black crow' so they called it Oolong.

Second, Zhang Tian Fu's Fujian Oolong Cha tells,
'after extermination of Long Feng Duan Cha, farmers changed it from cake to loose-leaf and practiced 'fermentation' that changed the color to black-brown, so they named it after taking Long of Long Feng Duan Cha to this 'black stem-shaped' tea(Wu).


Additional note,
"Method of fermentation went from Wuyi Shan via Shaxian to south of Fujian, and Anxi-produced Oolong was undiscernable from Wuyi that made a quote '安溪遂仿岩-Anxi tea imitated Yancha the same'. When China opened a trade to West, and sellers from West came to buy Yancha, the officials mixed Anxi and Yancha and sold. That is a birth story of TGY".

[Herb_Master]

This book portraits 2 ways of seeing the origin of Oolong.


Additional note,
"Method of fermentation went from Wuyi Shan via Shaxian to south of Fujian, and Anxi-produced Oolong was undiscernable from Wuyi that made a quote '安溪遂仿岩-Anxi tea imitated Yancha the same'. When China opened a trade to West, and sellers from West came to buy Yancha, the officials mixed Anxi and Yancha and sold. That is a birth story of TGY".

Some great info posted here, thanks, but I am a little confused as to which books your second post is referring to!

I doubt if there are English translations available for me to purchase!

But XuanChang may be able to get hold of them, I would like his observation on your additional note. I have ordered the book he referenced as claiming Guangdong creation of the Oolong process and will wait for it's delivery.

But then there are shades and nuances everywhere - If I recall correctly the authentic TGY process has 18 steps - the Usual Wuyi processes have between 9 and 12 steps.

All we are really talking about is partially oxidised leaves, maybe Guangdong led the way with leaves between Green and Red(black) but did not have many steps just pick, leave a while and roast!

I have also seen quoted that Wuyi or North Fujian at least was responsible for the creation of Black Tea - it certainly seems that for a period of time in history that North Fujian was leading the way in the refinement of non Green Teas.

[chrl42]

To herb master,

It's Korean book by 맹번정
http://book.naver.com/bookdb/book_detai ... id=2954960

Or I could cite Wang Cong Ren's 王從仁 book again.

"actually Fujian Oolong, the traditional is Wuyi Yancha. In 18C, when Wuyi Yancha was sold abroad, Anxi tea was substitue for Wuyi and sold to westerners. TGY at first, was just imitation of Wuyi Yancha. According to 泉州府志，Qianlong period's monk named 陈文錫 wrote '安溪茶歌' - "溪-Xi tea, more and more imitates a shape of Yancha, first fry and dry, there's no difference"................imitation can't be as good as the original so Anxi Oolong needed a way and there's no advertisment at that time. Buddha and Guanyin was a good advertisement, so at the end Tie Guan Yin earned a victory over Wuyi Yancha."

Not that I'm to diss any of TGY, there' actually good story about TGY behind that paragraph..about how they innovated and has a complex manufactering etc..