A quintessential invention

[MarshalN]

A paper I co-wrote on the adoption of gongfucha as a national tea practice in China in the past forty years, and what it means. Slightly academic, so I hope most of you don't mind.

http://tinyurl.com/735xb75

[TwoDog2]

Great Paper, really enjoyed the read. Your paper has some really interesting commentary on how gongfucha was taken from a regional to national level, and has become the "way" to experience tea in China.

...they tend to reify the historical narrative already evident in Chinese books on tea, and present the history of tea as a lineal progression from Lu Yu to the present time.

This has been my experience with many things in Chinese culture, that once something is purported to be a Chinese cultural ( 中国文化 ) or traditional ( 传统 ) thing, that it is accepted as a "this is, always was, and forever will be, CHINESE!"

I like that you re-examined the roots of gongfucha. The history of tea is vast and varied, and ought not be confined to nationalism and ownership. The most interesting things about culture are their evolution and development, which are rarely as linear as those who claim to be their founders would have you believe.

[TIM]

Superb! Now that's modern history!! Congrats Professor

[debunix]

Very informative, and quite accessible--not intimidatingly academic. And so interesting to see how an "ancient" practice could be also quite "new".