Exposure of Tea Stored in the Forbidden City: What Happened to Those "Sky-High Priced Tribute Teas" Abandoned by Emperors?

📌 TL;DR Version

⏳ Timeline of the Evolution of the Cultural Value of Tribute Tea

The development of tribute tea can be regarded as a history of the alternation of famous teas from various dynasties:

🏮Review of Representative Tribute Teas from Different Dynasties

Let's turn our attention to those legendary famous teas that once stood at the pinnacle of China's tea industry. Some of them have long been lost in the dust of history, while others remain the white moonlight in the hearts of tea lovers to this day. Now, let's follow the thread of dynasties to catch a glimpse of the true charm of the representative works of tribute teas from various dynasties.

🏯 1. Tang Dynasty

🍵 Guzhu Zisun (顾渚紫笋)
In the Tang Dynasty tribute tea system, if all tribute teas are stars, then Guzhu purple bamboo shoots are the most dazzling one. This tea, produced from Guzhu Mountain in Changxing, Zhejiang, is named after Tea Saint Lu Yu's sentence "Purple is on top, bamboo shoots are on top". Purple bamboo shoot tea was steamed and crushed cake tea in the Tang Dynasty; steamed, cultivated, and molded dragon tea in the Song Dynasty; and loose tea in the Ming Dynasty.

• 🏛️ The pioneer of the tribute tea courtyard system: In 770 AD, Tang Daizong established the first royal tribute tea courtyard in Chinese history on Guzhu Mountain. It was personally supervised by the governors of Huzhou and Changzhou, opening the prelude to China's official tribute tea for 876 years. At its peak, there were "30,000 laborers", "more than 1,000 craftsmen", and "more than 100 baking stoves" - its large scale and complete system can be regarded as a model in the entire history of tribute tea.

• ⚡ "Jicheng Tea" rivals "A Galloping Horse in the Red Dust": Every year before the Tomb-Sweeping Festival, after the first batch of Guzhu Zisun tea is made, it is rushed straight to Chang'an on horseback, named "Jicheng Tea". The Tang Dynasty poet Zhang Wengui's line "The peony flowers smile as the gold hairpins move, announcing the arrival of Wuxing Zisun tea" truly depicts the grand occasion of palace maids competing to announce the arrival of tribute tea in the capital. Moreover, Guzhu Zisun tea must be brewed with the local Jinsha Spring water - "Brewing Zisun tea with Jinsha Spring water achieves full effect", and neither can be missing.
• 📉 The Decline of Fate: Although the Tang Dynasty was the peak of purple bamboo shoot tea, its decline was also regrettable. With the southward movement of tea drinking fashion in the Song Dynasty and the rise of new flavors of tea, Guzhu purple bamboo shoots gradually faded out of the court's view. By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it had become an old tea in the local area. It was not until 1979 that production resumed, and now it exists as a national intangible cultural heritage.

🏔️ Mengding Tea (蒙顶茶)
If we were to award a "Most Enduring Award" in the history of tribute tea, it would surely go to Mengding Tea from Sichuan. Mengding Tea, produced in Mengding Mountain, Ya'an, Sichuan, belongs to the green tea category. It has a rich sweet aroma and a yellowish-green, bright soup. Starting from the first year of Tianbao (742 AD) of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty when it was officially listed as tribute tea, it continued until the third year of Xuantong (1911 AD) of the Qing Dynasty, spanning five dynasties and lasting over 1,100 years, being offered as tribute year after year without interruption. This is an unparalleled miracle in the history of Chinese tribute tea.

• ✨ Legend and Top Specifications of Immortal Tea: The top tea products in Mengding are picked from the seven immortal tea plants planted by the tea ancestor Wu Lizhen. By the Qing Dynasty, the five peaks of Mengding where these seven immortal tea plants are located were turned into a forbidden area, surrounded by stone railings and dedicated to the "Royal Tea Garden". According to records, the essence harvested was "only worth a few coins", and in the Ming Dynasty, it was "only worth a few coins" when it was paid tribute to the capital, which shows its rarity.

• 🏯 A distinctive monastery management system: Mengding Tea has a complete set of systems - from planting to management and then to picking and manufacturing - entirely under the control of the temple monks on the mountain, with strict division of labor, including tea-weeding monks, tea-picking monks, tea-making monks, and tea-watching monks, each performing their own duties. In a sense, this is China's earliest "professional tea production institution". Tang Guo Shi Bu states that "in Jiannan, there is Mengding Shihua, known as the best", Yuan He Jun Xian Zhi records that "Mengshan is ten li south of the county, and now the annual tribute tea is the best in Shu". The first king of millennium tribute tea truly lives up to its reputation.

🐉 2. Song Dynasty

🐲 Longfeng Tuancha (龙凤团茶)
Longfeng Tuancha was a tribute tea exclusively for the royal family from the Northern Song Dynasty to the early Ming Dynasty. Named after the dragon and phoenix patterns printed on the tea cakes, it was produced in Jian'an Beiyuan (present-day Jian'ou City, Fujian Province). Longfeng Tuancha was harvested around the Awakening of Insects solar term and made through six processes: steaming, squeezing, grinding, molding, roasting, and sealing. Different grades were sorted into water buds and small buds.

• 👑 Imperial Special Supply Initiation: In 978 AD, Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty specially set up dragon and phoenix molds exclusively for the imperial family. Ding Wei, the Transport Commissioner of Fujian, created the "Great Dragon Cake", and Cai Xiang was not willing to lag behind. During the Qingli period, he reformed and upgraded it to the "Small Dragon Cake" - Ouyang Xiu recorded in Gui Tian Lu: "Among all tea varieties, none is more precious than the dragon and phoenix tea. The Small Dragon Cake tea, with twenty cakes weighing one jin, is worth two taels of gold. However, while gold can be obtained, the tea is not easily available."
• 🔨 Seven processes of ultimate luxury: The production process of Beiyuan Gong tea is amazing - tea picking must be done before dawn when there is no sunlight; tea picking should divide the tea buds into small buds, medium buds, purple buds, white buds, and black buds, and different buds and leaves correspond to different tea products; when steaming the buds, the heat should be accurately controlled. If it is too ripe, the color will be yellow and the taste will be light, and if it is not ripe, the color will be green and easy to sink; when squeezing the tea, the water should be repeatedly squeezed out and the tea paste should be pressed; when grinding the tea, it needs to be ground in a clay pot for thousands of times, so that the tea paste is as fine as rice flour; when making tea, it is pressed into shape with a dragon and phoenix pattern mold; finally,

• ❌ However, this extreme came to an end in the 24th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to stop making dragon cakes and instead pay tribute to loose tea, which brought an abrupt end to the dragon and phoenix cake system that had lasted for more than 300 years. The production process was lost and gradually revived in modern times with the efforts of intangible cultural heritage inheritors.

⛰️ 3. Ming Dynasty

🍂 Wuyi Tea (武夷茶)
Wuyi Tea is a traditional famous Chinese tea, produced in the area of Wuyi Mountain in northern Fujian, known as "the most beautiful in the Southeast", where tea trees grow in rock crevices.

• 🏛️ Yuan Dynasty began to pay tribute: Yuan Shizu Kublai Khan appreciated Wuyi tea "stone milk", and in 1279 Wuyi tea was officially paid tribute, with a yearly tribute of 20 catties. At this time, Wuyi tea was steamed green tea. In the sixth year of Dade (1302), a royal tea garden was set up in Wuyi Mountain to make dragon cake tea, and the yearly tribute increased to 180 kilograms, continuing the Song Dynasty cake tea technology.

• 📜 Ming Dynasty Abolished Tribute Tea: In 1391, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an imperial edict to abolish the tribute of compressed tea cakes and instead required the tribute of loose tea (tea buds). In the 36th year of the Jiajing reign (1557), Wuyi tea was officially removed from the tribute list, and the imperial tea garden was abandoned.
• 🌱 The Birth of the Originator of Oolong Tea: In the early Qing Dynasty, on the basis of stir-fried green tea and Congou black tea, tea makers in Wuyi pioneered a distinctively characteristic oolong tea production process, including processes such as "two sun-drying and two air-drying" withering and shaking to promote oxidation, which made Wuyi Rock Tea stand out. The "Four Famous Congou" led by Dahongpao gained fame both at home and abroad, and Wuyishan thus became the world's origin of oolong tea. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, Wuyi tea revived and resumed being offered as tribute, Emperor Qianlong in Tea Brewing on a Winter Night praised: "Among them, Wuyi tea is the best, with a clear and harmonious flavor and a firm texture" - this was the first time in history that the term "firm texture" was used to describe the "rock charm" of Wuyi Rock Tea.

👘 4. Qing Dynasty

🟢 Biluochun (碧螺春)
Biluochun tea is produced in Dongting Mountain (currently Dongshan Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou) and Xidongting Mountain (currently Jinting Town, Wuzhong District, on Xishan Island of Taihu Lake, Suzhou) in the Taihu Lake Basin of Suzhou. The production process of Dongting Biluochun tea has high requirements, and high-quality tea leaves need to be stir-fried entirely by hand. In 1699, when Emperor Kangxi made a southern inspection tour to Taihu Lake, Song Luo, the governor of Jiangsu, presented a type of wild tea from Dongting Mountain. As the tea soup went down his throat, a refreshing fragrance filled the air, and the emperor was greatly impressed. However, he felt that the local name "Xiasherenxiang" was too vulgar, and upon seeing the tea's green color, coiled shape like a snail, and spring-like appearance, he spontaneously bestowed the elegant name "Biluochun".

• 📅 The institutionalization of tribute: From then on, local officials purchased and offered tribute every year. At the two national-level "Thousand Old Men's Banquets" personally planned by him in the Kangxi Dynasty, Biluochun became a heavyweight imperial product rewarded to the old ministers, and can be said to be the spokesperson for "the emperor's tea". The Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Rites of the Qing Dynasty were responsible for the procurement of bud tea in each province. The tea warehouse of the Guangchu Department of the Internal Affairs Bureau collected more than 30 kinds of tribute tea about 13,900 catties every year, and Biluochun was among them all year round.
  Today, Biluochun is widely recognized as one of the top ten famous Chinese teas. Its history is not only an elegant encounter between tea and emperors, but also a vivid portrayal of the Qing Dynasty's aesthetic of "transforming the vulgar into the elegant" in tribute tea.

🍃 West Lake Longjing (西湖龙井)
West Lake Longjing belongs to green tea, which is produced in the mountains around Longjing Village, West Lake, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, and thus named. It has a history of over 1,200 years. Emperor Qianlong visited the southern regions of the Yangtze River six times, and on four occasions, he personally went to the Longjing tea area to inspect tea tasting, observe tea picking and processing, and compose poems on the spot.

• 🏯 Imperial Tea Garden and Modern Value: Once in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain in Longjing Village, Qianlong happily drank tea and composed poems, praised "Longjing New Tea Longjing Spring", and personally named the 18 tea trees in front of the temple "Imperial Tea". It can be said that it was Qianlong's personal efforts that helped Longjing sit on the supreme throne of "China's first tea" in later generations.

• 📊 The grading system of West Lake Longjing is also highly refined - arranged according to the five core production areas of "Shi (Feng), Long (Jing), Yun (Qi), Hu (Pao), and Mei (Jiawu)", integrating the landscape of West Lake with the tea culture, and has not been surpassed by any other tea products to date.

🍂 Pu'er Tea (普洱茶)
Pu'er tea is mainly produced in Pu'er City, Lincang City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and other areas of Yunnan Province. Its position in the tribute tea system of the Qing Dynasty is exceptionally special - it is the only tea that can be enjoyed by all ages in the Qing Dynasty, from Emperor Yongzheng to the last emperor Puyi's abdication.

• 🎁 Tribute and the Golden Age: In the seventh year of Yongzheng (1729), E Ertai, the governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou, established an official tribute tea factory in Pu'er Prefecture. He selected high-quality Pu'er tea raw materials from areas such as Pu'er and Banna to make compressed tea, loose tea, and tea paste, which were presented to the imperial court. Pu'er tea was officially included in the tribute tea register.

• 👸 Empress Dowager Cixi's Health Pet: Pu'er tea has a warm and thick nature, which can warm the stomach, aid digestion, and lower blood lipids. It is especially suitable for the royal family with greasy eating habits. According to the Record of Palace Maids' Talks by the palace maid Rong'er, Empress Dowager Cixi must drink Pu'er tea after eating greasy food in winter. It can not only aid digestion and lower blood lipids, but also whiten the skin. The last emperor Puyi once recalled: "Pu'er tea is the pet of the royal family members. Owning Pu'er tea is a symbol of nobility for the royal family members."
• 🏺 Palace Museum Tribute Tea Living Fossil: In 1963, when the Palace Museum sorted out the Qing Palace Tribute Tea, it discovered the 2.5-ton well-preserved tea artifact "Wanshou Longtuan". Among them, Pu'er tea has not been moldy or spoiled after more than 200 years of baptism. Pu'er tribute tea is the most complete tea product in the Qing Dynasty tribute tea system with the most complete physical preservation, which can be called the "living fossil" of Palace Museum tribute tea.

• 🌳 In terms of inheritance, the raw materials used in Pu'er tribute tea come from the core production areas of the six ancient tea mountains - Yiwu, Yibang, Youle, Mangzhi, Gedeng, and Manzhan. Among them, Yibang Mansong tea is regarded as a precious treasure by Yongzheng. Although the ancient tea trees in the Pu'er production area have undergone procurement, exploitation, and burning, there are still world-class ancient tea garden cultural relics surviving deep in the ancient tea forest, which are revered by later Pu'er tea people as the "home of tea people".

💰Tribute tea does not mean "the more expensive, the better" - quality is just the entry threshold

Many people think that tribute tea must have been the most expensive and best-tasting tea on the market at that time, but this is not the case. The selection criteria for tribute tea prioritize "stability, safety, and distinctiveness" rather than "sky-high prices, scarcity, and luxury."

• 📐 The core of Gongcha is "standardization". During the Tang Dynasty, the tribute tea house was specially designated as an official tea house, which was made by tea farmers according to a unified process and evaluated and graded by officials after production. The appearance, aroma, and taste were required to remain basically the same every year and could not fluctuate greatly. This eliminated those tea products that relied on "wild release" and "strange shapes" to attract attention. If a place's tea is stunning this year and mediocre next year, it will never become a long-term tribute tea.
• 🚚 The "expensiveness" of tribute tea is sometimes caused by transportation costs. During the Tang Dynasty, transporting Guzhu Zisun tea from Changxing, Zhejiang and Yixing, Jiangsu to Chang'an (now Xi'an), a journey of approximately 2,000 kilometers, involved alternating between waterways and land routes, taking dozens of days or even two to three months. The costs of losses, preservation, and escort along the way were the major part of the "expensiveness" of tribute tea. The price of the tea itself was secondary. Tang Dynasty poet Li Ying wrote in Song of the Tribute Tea Roaster on the Tea Mountain: "The sound of the post-horse's whip is like a flash of lightning, driving laborers in the middle of the night, who can still see?" When transporting tribute tea, post-horses were used, and they even traveled at night. This logistics cost far exceeded the value of the tea raw materials.
• 👑 The personal taste of emperors is extremely unreliable. Emperor Huizong of Song Zhao Ji was a top tea connoisseur. He highly praised Beiyuan White Tea (a variety of albino mutant tea tree), believing that "its leaves are crystal clear and thin, like jade in its rough form, making it an absolute masterpiece." As a result, the entire tribute tea system of the Song Dynasty revolved around "white tea," with its picking and processing being extremely elaborate and luxurious. However, Emperor Huizong's taste preference does not necessarily mean that Beiyuan tribute tea is "better" than other teas; it only shows that "the emperor's preference" itself is the highest standard, which has no necessary connection with market prices.

⚙️ The Truth Behind the Elimination of Tribute Tea: It's Not at All a "Quality Decline"

Throughout history, there have been many once-famous tribute teas that later disappeared from the tribute list, and even the entire production area declined. The reason is by no means "lazy tea farmers leading to quality decline," but the following hard truths:

• 💸 Truth 1: The transportation costs are too high, and even the emperor feels heartache. During the Tang Dynasty, the peak period of Guzhu purple bamboo shoots was only about 100 years. In the late Tang Dynasty, due to the separatist rule of the feudal lords and the obstruction of transportation routes, the tribute tea route from Huzhou to Chang'an became both dangerous and expensive. During the reign of Tang Dezong, there was a situation where "tribute tea was not available, and the monarch and ministers did not drink it", but later it was gradually replaced by Sichuan Mengding tea, which was closer due to the high maintenance cost.
  Key Logic: When the transportation cost exceeds the value of the tea itself by several times, even the best tea will be replaced.
• 🔧 Truth 2: Technological transformation brings "dimensionality reduction strike". During the Song Dynasty, the tea-making process was complicated: seven steps including picking, picking, steaming, pressing, grinding, making, and yellowing (roasting), which was time-consuming and laborious, and also required the addition of fragrances such as dragon brain. Emperor Taizu of Ming Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from a humble background, saw this excessively luxurious tea-making method and believed it was "a waste of time and money", so he directly ordered the abandonment of the tea-making process. It was not just Beiyuan that collapsed, but the entire tea-making system.
  Ironically, the discarded round tea craftsmanship was not bad; rather, it became the target of political reform precisely because it was "too refined, too expensive, and too unapproachable."
• 🏙️ Truth 3: Transfer of Political and Economic Centers. Although China's political center remained in the north after the Yuan Dynasty, the economic and cultural centers completely shifted southward. The Jiangnan region directly produced high-quality loose tea, with a short tribute route, low cost, and greater freshness. For example, Longjing tea became a tribute tea during the Qing Dynasty, largely because it was close to the Hangzhou Imperial Palace, making it convenient to meet the tea-drinking needs of Kangxi and Qianlong during their southern inspections.
  Geographical location determines destiny: Tea close to the emperor naturally has an advantage; tea far from the emperor is easily replaceable unless it is irreplaceable.
• 📉 Truth 4: "Consumption Downgrade" within the Royal Family. During the middle and late Qing Dynasty, as national strength declined and court expenditures were reduced, some overly luxurious tribute tea varieties were proactively simplified or cancelled. Meanwhile, Pu'er tea, due to its characteristics of "becoming more fragrant with age", ease of storage and transportation, and relatively affordable price, gradually replaced some tribute teas from Fujian with complex production processes.
  An interesting reversal: Pu'er tea, once regarded as "coarse and unrefined," has instead become the mainstay of tribute tea in the late Qing Dynasty due to its durability and hardiness.

🎋  Conclusion

The history of ancient tribute tea is essentially a history of "power, logistics, and local customs". It is both romantic and practical - the emperor wanted to drink a good cup of tea, but also had to calculate transportation costs, prevent fraud, and respond to political changes. Only when we let go of the stereotype that "tribute tea = the most expensive and the best" can we truly understand the helplessness and wisdom behind the tea names that were once glorious but quietly disappeared.