Group Portrait of All Members of the Shun-ning Experimental Tea Manufacturing facility, November 1940
The county of Feng-qing was known as Shun-ning in the mean time. The individual inside the heart, with a child standing in entrance, is Mr Feng Shao Qiu, the director of the manufacturing unit. People attribute the making of the first Yunnan black tea to him, basing on his private memoir.
Currently, with the general awareness-building of gongfu black tea inside the burgeoning market in China, additional producers have entered the game to make completely completely different sorts of the subcategory, and that embrace Yunnan’s very private Dianhong. Opponents is raring. Quite a few the leaves that was provided off for producing the pricier pu’er shengcha have now entered the workflow. Loads improved residence transportation has allowed tea masters even in beforehand additional isolated areas to realize out to commerce experience to reinforce on their merchandise. What was largely a commodity aiming on the export market beforehand 30 years has come to life, possibly additional akin to what it was like when first created in 1939.
Though the distinctive intent was for export earnings, there had been twists and turns inside the enchancment of Dianhong.
Japanese Invasion
After the Rape of Nanjing in Winter 1937, Chiang Kai Shek’s authorities had misplaced a whole lot of the Chinese language language territories on the east to the Japanese invaders. They established a resistance base further away from the invasion — Sichuan. It was proper right here that many of the “stylish” trades and industries established and re-established for the financial system and provisions of the resistance authorities. Tea was one in every of many export trades that KMT hope to be operable shortly to generate earnings as soon as extra. The additional established tea areas, paying homage to Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong have been all inside the East, now beneath Japanese occupation.
Then once more, Yunnan, the cradle of the tea plant, was solely the next province away, west of Sichuan. Burma Freeway — which was strategically constructed as a once more freeway for present when Japan began invading inside the East — started in Kunming ( province seat of Yunnan ). The raw supplies was there, so was the transport. A crew wanted to affix the two dots — turning the greens to product for export product sales.
A small job energy shortly established the Yunnan Chinese language language Tea Commerce Agency in 1938 and experiments of black tea manufacturing began in diverse locations inside the large tea nation inside the subtropical mountains of the province. Historic previous hereon has been obscured and clearly adulterated, as with many alternative documentation as a result of the Communists took over China. Nonetheless, it could be verified that one small crew was despatched to the deep mountains in Shun-ning ( recognized now as Feng-qing ) inside the county of Lincang to experiment with black tea manufacturing using native leaves from tree type tea crops. The tea grasp was Mr Feng Shao-qiu, extensively propagated in Mainland China instantly as a result of the “Father of Dianhong”.
Burma Freeway: a decisive concern
On nearer analysis of current texts and information from accessible sources, Shun-ning would possibly hardly be the manufacturing centre by means of the battle. Feng himself wrote that many sections of the “roads” ( footpaths ) weren’t match even for donkeys. They wanted to make “machines” on website using picket, however as well as talked about that they wanted to make do with fully handbook labour. The all members images we now have found merely tells how small the labour energy was. The 30 tons of black tea that Feng said they produced and exported by way of Hong Kong the first yr was each pure fiction or from completely different manufacturing centres. One new manufacturing unit of scale in the mean time was in Yiliang, 50 km away from the Kunming terminal of Burma Freeway. Shun-ning was over 500 km away.
Graduation of Yunnan Technical Teaching Centre for Tea Manufacturing, 1939 at Yiliang Tea Manufacturing facility
Yiliang Tea Manufacturing facility was prepare appropriately with tea manufacturing facilities, full with a evaluation tea yard and a training centre. The director was Mr Tong Yi-yun ( most definitely fourth from left, entrance row ) who beforehand managed the Tea Manufacturing Evaluation and Enchancment Centre for Keemun. Like many alternative professionals, entrepreneurs and enterprise owners, Mr Tong’s future is buried in historic previous as a result of the communist takeover in 1949
Tong or Feng?
It is additional seemingly that the manufacturing unit director and tea grasp Mr Tong Yi-yun of the Yiliang Tea Manufacturing facility carried out a key place inside the principle manufacturing of Dianhong, if not the precise creator of it. Tong had beforehand labored in a tea manufacturing evaluation facility for bettering Keemun black tea in Anhui. We now haven’t been able to find completely different trace about Tong’s subsequent future or related paperwork. Many additional needed people in diverse completely different trades and professions had withered inside the turmoil years thereafter. Or someone has bent historic previous for a fable to the advantage of their very personal commerce.
Victory mannequin Black Tea
The Victory mannequin was one in every of many two black tea producers operated by Yunnan Chinese language language Tea Agency Restricted by means of the battle years. The other mannequin was Golden Horse. The humorous attempting defend type on the lower tip of the fat V is the registered emblem of the tea agency.
It seems to me that the experimental manufacturing unit that Feng ran was each a plan B, a plant helpful useful resource centre, or a administration modal. Based mostly on one different contradictory account by Feng, his first batch was one jin ( about 600 grams in today ) nonetheless was most beautiful, fat and highly effective, and laden with gold colour. That has on a regular basis been the appears to be like of Dianhong as everyone knows it. Phrases alone have under no circumstances been appropriate. The small batch was despatched to a severe tea service supplier in Hong Kong for evaluation, and in response to the outdated tea grasp’s autobiography, judged as the perfect black tea ever.
The Second World Battle launched a lot much less interruption to tea manufacturing than the Communists. College students contemplate that the famine by means of the so-called Good Leap Forward alone killed 30 million. Fields have been left to weeds whereas people soften the entire metal they could uncover to make “metallic” of their backyards. There have been quite a few mass prosecutions of people being labelled as bourgeoise the final decade earlier that, after which the subsequent apocalyptic Cultural Revolution the place primarily thugs took over almost all options of humanly actions and ruined most. Tea was no exception.
Product itemizing, Yunnan China Tea Agency, circa 1942 ~ 45
Of the twelve teas listed, there are 5 inexperienced teas, two black teas, 4 pu’ers and one jasmine. The flyer moreover lists the names and addresses of the tea factories, 5 of them.
Definitely one in every of my tea farmer buddies as quickly as suggested me that in Cultural Revolution when she was a child, the entire brothers and sisters have been trying to develop some veggies and yams on the edges of the tea terraces, on which the tea bushes have been left to develop wild. There have been hardly enough labour to produce staple meals. Definitely, tea have been solely productions for exports and a few most important varieties and grades for residence consumption for the luckier people.
The entrepreneur spirit of the Chinese language language people survived. Given that 1980’s when the Communist authorities loosened the grip on what the farmers should or mustn’t do, tea has come once more to the place it was left off sooner than the battle. It is this example that has pushed the revival of tea manufacturing all by means of China and permit us to learn from the top quality as everyone knows it instantly. « Study Half 2 »
A family being despatched once more to Mainland China in an attempt to cross the border to Hong Kong in February 1962, by means of the aftermath of the Good Leap Forward and the beginning of Cultural Revolution