Historic Guangdong Herbal Tea Culture

There is a folk saying: "Guangdong three treasures: roast goose, lychee and herbal tea store". Herbal tea is the common name of Han Chinese herbal and plant-based drinks. Guangdong herbal tea is a representative of the traditional Han Chinese herbal tea culture. The term "herbal tea" refers to the tonics composed of cold medicines, which have the functions of clearing heat and removing toxins, nourishing yin and reducing fire, and are used to treat the symptoms of solid poison and deficiency heat. Let's walk into the Guangdong culture in detail to understand the culture of herbal tea.

Guangdong is located in the south of the mountains, people in the south of the mountains drinking herbal tea has a long history, passed down from generation to generation, customary, and Cantonese opera, Cantonese cuisine, Cantonese, etc., together with the unique characteristics of the Lingnan culture.

The prevalence of herbal tea in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has a lot to do with the climate and soil of Lingnan. In ancient times, Lingnan was the land of the Hundred Yue, and also the land of the "Southern Barbarians", which the Central Plains people called barbarians and Rongdi. The so-called Lingnan refers to the south of the Five Ridges, Five Ridges by the Yuecheng Ridge, Dupang Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, riding the field ridge and Dayu Ridge five ridge, distributed in the eastern Guangxi to the eastern Guangdong and Hunan, Jiangxi region at the junction.

It is the largest horizontal mountain range in Jiangnan, China, and the watershed of the Yangtze River and Pearl River. A closer look at the historical origins, Lingnan place (mainly in Guangdong and Guangxi), "wet water temperature", the water is hot and dry, the body is easy to "gather fire", Lingnan people from childhood, know when to drink which kind of herbal tea, used to go to the mountains to pick medicines to remove dampness and detoxification, prevention and treatment of The first time I saw this is when I was in the mountains.

Liu An, the king of Huainan, reminded Emperor Wu of his expedition to Lingnan, saying, "The southern summer humidity, miasma and heat in recent summers, exposed to the water to live, vipers and moths, diseases; soldiers are not bloodied, and the death of the disease of two or three of the ten." In 306 AD, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Taoist medicine Ge Hong came south to Lingnan, due to the miasma epidemic at that time, he was able to attentively study Lingnan a variety of warm disease medicine.

Lingnan people through the continuous struggle with the natural environment, has accumulated valuable experience in conditioning health care, prevention and treatment of disease. In order to get rid of dampness and heat, and adapt to the environment, they collected some herbs in the mountains and valleys rich in vegetation to clear heat and remove toxins, eliminate heat and dampness, and created various kinds of herbal teas through the long-term practice of some people with the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine.

Ge Hong's medical monographs and later Lingnan Wenpai doctors summarized the rich experience of the working people in the process of long-term prevention and treatment of diseases, forming a Lingnan culture of herbal tea, its formula, terminology passed from generation to generation. As the herbal tea has the function of cooling and dissipating heat, relieving summer heat and removing dampness, and can be taken at any time of the year regardless of summer and winter, it was well received by the public. Later, with the development of business, some people in the roadside of the busy bazaar to sell boiled a variety of health care, disease prevention herbal decoction, the formation of Lingnan herbal tea.

Herbal tea has a unique cultural heritage of the Han people. "Po Chi Lam" has long been famous at home and abroad because of Huang Fei Hung; "Wang Lao Ji" founder Wang Zebang is known as "medicine man", and Empress Dowager Cixi, Hong Xiuquan, Taiping Army, Lin Zexu and other historical figures and events are closely linked; "Wang Lao Ji" founder Wang Zebang is known as "medicine man". Lingnan Medicine Valley" is located at the foot of Luofu Mountain, the immortal mountain in Lingnan, and has its own herb plantation base, which is famous for its authentic formula inherited from Ge Hong, the founder of Taoist herbal tea. The famous products of "Li Zongshengtang" pharmacy are exported to Southeast Asia, the United States and Canada.

The art of herbal tea preparation has been passed down through family lineage for hundreds of years. "During the Cultural Revolution, the culture of herbal tea was severely damaged, not only the herbal tea stores were closed, but also the production equipment, sites, relics, historical materials, photos and other cultural relics, but it still endures in Hong Kong and Macao.

The 54 formulas of 21 herbal tea brands, including Lingnan Medicine Valley, Gadobao, Guangbei, Wanglaoji, Shangqing Drink, Anfang, Jianshengtang, Denglao, Baiyunshan, Huang Zhenlong, Jinxai, Xu Qixiu, Chunhetang, Golden Gourd, Xingqun, Runxintang, Shaxi, Li, Qingxintang, Xinglinchun, Baoqingtang, Fukingtang, and Huang Fuxing, and the culture of the herbal teas that they constitute, have been widely recognized by the public.

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