SONG
AND THE 'TEA EMPEROR'
Greater farm productivity in the subsequent Song
dynasty (960-1279) allowed for more subsidiary crops.
Thus it was possible for tea to move from the role
of luxury to that of necessity, even among the poorest
households. A contemporary writer describes night
markets in the Northern Song capital, Kaifeng, running
through the third watch (3:00-5:00 a.m.) with vendors
bringing in their jars of tea all the while.
The Southern Song capital, Hangzhou, the world's
greatest city of its time, had numerous teahouses
also serving soups and seasonal snacks. They featured
flower arrangements according to season and displayed
works of prominent painters on the walls. In some,
young men of wealthy families gathered, in others,
domestic servants, laborers and artisans of different
trades. The reason for going to a teahouse, says one
account, had nothing to do wdth tea, which was only
an excuse. Young men gathered to play instruments
or sing, and enjoy the performances or the company.
Among the wealthy, tea drinking as an art rose to
new heights, and a small teahouse was included in
many of the beautiful gardens that officials built.
The first Song emperor received brick tea in gold
boxes as tribute, and Hui Zong (r. 1100-1125), its
last to function fully, wrote an exhaustive treatise
on Song tea. He was patron of a search that found
several new7 varieties.
Hui Zong was noted for his extravagance in pleasing
Li Shishi, one of the famous courtesans of Chinese
history, who became his concubine. Meanwhile extortions
and high taxes from his officials wrecked the economy
and led to two of China's greatest peasant revolts.
Yet Hui Zong, himself a poet, was a patron of literature
and painting. It appears that he even made tea himself,
certainly unusual for an emperor. His descriptions
in his Treatise on Tea (Da Guan Cha Lun, 1107) show
a remarkable mastery of the details of tea production.
These, along with the Song gentleman's feeling for
tea, he recorded for posterity.
He finally abdicated in favor of his son, but the
Nuzhen Tartars, who had set up thejin dynasty in the
north, invaded the capital Kaifeng and carried both
to captivity beyond the Great W'all. The prisoners
re-mained there for the rest of their lives.
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