Unveiling the Origins of West Lake Longjing: Could Its "Hometown" Actually Be Taizhou? A "Cross-Regional Introduction" 1600 Years Ago!

🌱 Have you ever wondered where the ancestors of this cup of fragrant “queen of green tea” in your hand come from?

Many people don’t know that in the history of tea culture at Hangzhou‘s West Lake, there lies a shocking secret:
The earliest tea variety of West Lake Longjing tea was not “native” to Hangzhou, but came from Tiantai Mountain in Taizhou, over 200 kilometers away!

🔍Ironclad Evidence: “West Lake Tea Trees Originated from Tiantai”

Regarding the origin of Longjing tea, in West Lake Series compiled by the Hangzhou government, West Lake Longjing Tea states in its opening sentence:

“The tea trees of West Lake come from Tiantai.”

This is not unfounded speculation, but rather the well‑founded result of a “search for relatives”.

📜 1. The “Cross‑Disciplinary” Contribution of the Poet: Xie Lingyun and the Tea Seeds of Tiantai

The story dates back more than 1,600 years ago to the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. At that time, a significant figure made his appearance – Xie Lingyun. He was the grandson of Xie Xuan, a famous general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and even more, the pioneer of Chinese landscape poetry. Xie Lingyun had a profound connection with both Hangzhou and Tiantai Mountain. He translated Buddhist scriptures in the Lingyin and Tianzhu areas of Hangzhou, and at the same time, he was extremely fond of exploration. He once led hundreds of servants, cutting through mountains and opening roads, and set off in grand style for Tiantai Mountain.

Portrait of Xie Lingyun with Inscription

At that time, tea culture had already thrived on Tiantai Mountain. It is said that Ge Xuan, a renowned Taoist master during the Three Kingdoms period, had already established the “Ge Xian Tea Garden” on Huading Mountain. After Xie Lingyun experienced the excellent tea on Tiantai Mountain, a bold idea was born: to bring the tea tree seeds from Tiantai Mountain back to Hangzhou!

According to the research of Su Shi (Su Dongpo), a great literary figure of the Song Dynasty, when he served as the prefect of Hangzhou, the earliest tea plants in Hangzhou were brought by Xie Lingyun from Tiantai Mountain to Tianzhu Mountain, where he translated Buddhist scriptures, and planted in places such as Lingyin Baiyun Peak and Xianglin Cave. This is the beginning of the history of tea in the West Lake, dating back about 1,600 years. Su Dongpo once said in “Sending Master Qian of Nanping” this poem: “The Tiantai milk flower is unseen in the world; where is Yuchuan's fragrant armpit now?” Later tea connoisseurs have verified that this “Tiantai milk flower” refers to the “Tiantai white milk tea” that Xie Lingyun often drank at Lingyin back then.

📖 2. The Authoritative Certification of the “Tea Sage” of the Tang Dynasty

As time passed to the Tang Dynasty, the Tea Sage Lu Yu (733–804) wrote the world‘s first monograph on tea The Classic of Tea. This is the earliest documented record in the history of tea cultivation in Hangzhou. Lu Yu clearly wrote in the book:

“In Qiantang, there are Tianzhu and Lingyin Temples.”

Please note that the two places he named, Tianzhu and Lingyin, are precisely the places where Xie Lingyun translated Buddhist scriptures and introduced tea plants back then. Tianzhu Temple was built around 1600 years ago, perfectly coinciding with the era when Xie Lingyun lived. It can be said that the “Tianzhu Tea” and “Lingyin Tea” described by Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty are the oldest “former names” and the most direct “predecessors” of today‘s West Lake Longjing Tea.

🔬Scientific “Solid Evidence”: “Genetic Relationship” in DNA

If historical records are merely textual clues, then modern science provides “irrefutable evidence”.

In recent years, a Korean doctoral student in tea science studying at the College of Agriculture of Zhejiang University Lee Eun‑kyung, through the application of biological genetics and comparative morphology, conducted a rigorous comparative study on Korean Ssanggyesa tea, Chinese Zhejiang Tiantai Mountain tea, and West Lake Longjing tea. The research results are surprising: whether from the external morphology of tea plants (such as leaf structure, number of opposite leaves), or from the more stable and reliable microscopic structure and genetic traits of tea seeds and pollen, these three types of tea all show a high degree of consistency and similarity.

This research result not only confirms the historical record that Korean tea originated from Tiantai Mountain in China, but also provides strong scientific evidence for the claim that “West Lake Longjing Tea in Hangzhou has a direct genetic relationship with Tiantai Mountain Tea”.

📅 Timeline: Key Figures and Events

🚀 From “Hidden in the Temple” to “Famous Worldwide”: The Road to Fame of Longjing Tea

The tea variety “immigrated” from Tiantai Mountain silently grew among the landscapes of West Lake for hundreds of years before finally reaching its peak moment.

🏯 1. Northern Song Dynasty: Small‑scale “break into other demographic”

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the high‑quality teas produced around West Lake began to have their own names, such as “Baiyun Tea” from Shangtiangzhu, “Xianglin Tea” from Xiatianzhu, and “Baoyun Tea” from Geling, and were already listed as tribute items. However, these teas were not yet the “Longjing Tea” we refer to today.

The real turning point occurred to the eminent monk Master Biancai of the Northern Song Dynasty. In his later years, he retired from Shangtiangzhu to Shousheng Courtyard in Longjing Village, Nanshan. To facilitate entertaining guests, he opened tea gardens around the temple and made friends through tea. He had a deep friendship with Su Dongpo, the then prefect of Hangzhou, who visited Longjing to enjoy tea on multiple occasions and left an inscribed calligraphy of “coming to offer fragrant tea”. Although the tea they drank at that time might still have been compressed tea similar to “dragon ball and phoenix cake”, the status of Longjing as a center for tea affairs was thus established.

🍃 2. Yuan and Ming Dynasties: Technological Transformation, Loose Tea Emerges

During the Yuan Dynasty, there was a tea lover Yu Bosheng who wrote in “Visiting Longjing” poem: “When brewing the golden buds, do not pick after Grain Rain”, which indicates that Longjing tea at that time had already begun to emphasize the picking season, and the concepts of “before Qingming” and “before Grain Rain” were initially formed.

It was the Ming Dynasty that truly transformed Longjing tea. The way of tea consumption completely shifted from “boiling” to “steeping”, and loose tea became the mainstream. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the production process of Longjing tea became increasingly mature, pursuing “clear color and sweet taste”, and even had the unique charm of “bean flower fragrance”. By this time, Longjing tea had gained widespread fame and was listed among the national famous teas.

👑 3. Qing Dynasty: Reaching the Pinnacle and Becoming Legendary, the Saga of Imperial Tea

The “deification path” of Longjing tea reached its peak during the Qing Dynasty. In particular, Emperor Qianlong, who made six southern tours and visited the Longjing tea region four times in person, watched tea‑picking, tasted tea and composed poems, and conferred the title of “Imperial Tea” on the eighteen tea trees in front of Hugong Temple. The emperor‘s personal “endorsement” propelled Longjing tea to the top, making it the well‑deserved “Queen of Green Tea”.

🌟 Conclusion

From a wisp of poetic soul and a handful of tea seeds of Xie Lingyun, to Lu Yu’s enduring records, then to the tea bond between Su Dongpo and Biancai, and finally to Emperor Qianlong‘s imperial seal.

Looking back on this history, the Longjing tea in our hands seems to taste even more mellow. It is not only a gift from the West Lake landscape, but also a millennium‑spanning “cultural migration” and “life relay”.