Jing Zhe - Tea Picking CEremony

Spring thunder rolls, all things comes to life again, growing excitedly. It was one of the twenty-four solar terms last Thursday - 惊蛰 (Jīngzhé: the awakening of the hibernating insects). It marks the beginning of annual bustles for tea farmers in the Wuyi Mountain.

Jingzhe is the time to 喊山 (calling the mountain). The ritual can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty, when Beiyuan Royal Tea Garden is located at the time of Jian'an (now called Jian’ou. As the apparent name given to the tea garden, it is only reserved for the imperial court. During every harvest of tribute tea, grand ceremony is carried out. The local officials and tea artisans champion by the calling the mountain, in celebration of the royal tea harvest.

Several hundreds of years past, calling of the mountain has become a yearly practice of the Wuyi tea farmers. With increasing likings paid to Wuyi rock tea amongst tea lovers, pilgrimage to the mountain gods as a form of cultural heritage has also gain a considerable attention.

The ceremony begins at dawn. Though prayers are already carved closed to heart, the special moment does not tolerate a slight sloppiness. Tea farmers will place sacrifice ritual (now replaced by meat dishes) before the Yang Taibei’s statue. Upon the command of the lead, everyone begins to shout in unison “tea buds grow, tea buds grow!" represents the tea is about to take on new buds, heralded a good harvest of the year has arrived. The climax of the brief mountain ceremony is then marked with the crackling sound of firecrackers. This is when tea farmers pick up the tea baskets and begins with tea picking!

The whole process is not complicated, and tea farmers of Wuyi Mountain has already incorporate this date into their living habits and is an indispensable event. ​

For those who loves Wuyi tea, we hope after the whole ceremony we will get to taste even more mellow delicacy.


春雷响，万物长，昨天是二十四节气之一的惊蛰，从某种程度来说就代表着万物的复苏与生长。对于武夷山的茶农，惊蛰也是一年中忙碌的开始。
到惊蛰，就要喊山。据说，喊山的起源可以追溯到元代，那时北苑御茶园位于当时的建安（现在叫建瓯，远近闻名，茶园中的茶都要上交给朝廷。每到二十四节气的惊蛰，御茶开采的时候都要举行一个盛大的仪式，这就是地方官员与御茶监制共同举办的喊山，庆祝皇家茶叶的开采。
时光荏苒，如今的喊山早已变成武夷山茶农的一项民俗，甚至成为一项节日庆典。随着武夷岩茶越来越受到人们喜爱，祈求神灵保佑岩茶丰收的喊山仪式作为文化传承也更加受到广泛关注。
在喊山仪式开始的当天，主持6点就要起床，仪式的流程，向神灵祈求保佑的台词其实早已烂熟于心。但这个特殊的时刻，还是容不得一点马虎。茶农们赶早在制茶租师杨太白塑像前静默行祭，然后在主持的带领下，大家齐声高喊“茶发芽，茶发芽！”代表着茶树即将抽出新芽，预示着一年的好收成即将到来。
齐声高呼之后，喊山仪式的高潮已经结束。接下来，在噼里啪啦的鞭炮声中，茶农们背起准备好的茶篓，开始采茶去！
整个喊山仪式虽说并不繁复，但对于武夷山的茶农来说，这已经是与茶息息相关的生活习惯。在每年惊蛰之日，都是不可或缺的重要事件，对于喜爱武夷山茶的人来说，我们希望2017年的喊山仪式之后，武夷山的茶也能更加甘醇。