Why do Bai people like to use three teas when entertaining guests?

Sancha, a Bai nationality, is called "Shao Daozhao". This is a dramatic way of drinking tea, in which the host and guests express their feelings and wish happiness. Drinking three teas was originally the wish of the elders to the younger generation when Bai people were studying, learning arts, doing business and getting married. The application scope is expanding day by day, and it has become the custom of drinking tea when Bai people celebrate and welcome guests.

Nanzhao Dali, located in the southwest corner, is a paradise where one party advocates Buddhism. In the late Nanzhao period, Buddhism was regarded as the state religion, and there were many temples, so tea drinking was popular. Tea has become a necessary drink for daily drinking, Buddhist worship and entertaining pilgrims and tourists in temples. For a time, people rushed to follow suit, making drinking tea a fashionable thing in Dali.

Sancha, a unique tea ceremony, has been endowed with more cultural connotations. The first course of "three teas" is "bitter tea". When making, first boil the water, and the tea maker will bake the small casserole on a slow fire. After the pot is heated, put a proper amount of tea into the pot, and keep turning the sand pot to make the tea heated evenly. When the tea leaves in the pot turn yellow and the tea fragrance overflows, pour boiling water. After a while, the host poured the hot tea into the small cup and presented it to the guests with both hands.

So tea is baked and boiled, looks like amber, smells fragrant and fragrant, tastes bitter, usually only half a cup. The second kind of tea is called "sweet tea".

After the guests drink the first tea, the host puts tea, bakes tea and cooks tea in a small sand pot, and puts a little brown sugar, milk fan and cinnamon in a small handle, so that the brewed tea is sweet and delicious. The first three kinds of tea are "aftertaste tea", and the method of making tea is the same, except that the raw materials put in the small handle are replaced with appropriate amount of honey, a little fried rice flower, a little pepper and a pinch of walnut kernel, and the tea capacity is generally six or seven minutes full. This cup of tea is sweet, sour and bitter, with various flavors and endless aftertaste.

"Three teas" symbolizes the philosophy of "one bitter, two sweet and three aftertaste" in life, and has now become a tea ceremony for Bai folk weddings, festivals and hospitality. The "Three Teas" song and dance performance has also become a reserved program for Dali tourism. Throughout the inheritance and development of Baisan Tea, it is indispensable for the prosperity of Buddhist activities. The philosophy of life of "one bitter, two sweet and three aftertaste" also coincides with the realm of Buddhism's pursuit of perfect personality.