Birthplace of Tieguanyin Mother Tree

Tea trees were cultivated in Anxi in the late Tang Dynasty, with a history of more than 1,000 years. The ruins are well preserved and provide important physical information for exploring the origin and development of Anxi Tieguanyin.

Anxi Tieguanyin, one of the top oolong teas and one of the top ten famous teas in China, was first discovered in Anxi, and its birthplace was in Xiping Town, Anxi County. However, there are two versions of the original strain of Tieguanyin: "Wang Shuo" in Yaoyang Village and "Wei Shuo" in Songyan Village, both of which say that Tieguanyin originated from this.

In the words of Wang Wenli, the representative inheritor of the national "intangible cultural heritage" oolong tea Anxi Tieguanyin production skills and the head of the Bama tea industry, it was the scholars of their ancestors who dedicated the carefully roasted tea to the emperor, and passed the highest standards at that time. Authoritative people made the best publicity to make this tea tree known to the world. In a quiet bookstore at the top of Nanshan Mountain in Yaoyang, there is a portrait of Wang Shirang, the ancestor of the Wang family who discovered the "sacred tree". Beneath the portrait is a series of supporting items. On the side of the bookstore, the towering granite archway is square, surrounded by a tea tree in the middle. Groups of tourists follow along the winding mountain road, all for the sacred tea of this tree. According to legend, during the Qianlong period, there was a scholar Wang Shirang in Nanyang, Yaoyang, who was diligent and eager to learn. One day, I stumbled across a strange ecological tea tree next to the Shuxuan, and I couldn't put it down, so it was transplanted in the Shuxuan Garden, carefully cultivated, and picked and refined at the right time. Sure enough, the tea produced is extraordinary, with good color and fragrance. Later, when Wang Shirang went to Beijing, he specially brought this tea to Fang Bao, the servant of the gift department. Fang Bao presented it to the Inner Court, and Emperor Qianlong praised it after drinking it. "Its tea is black and strong, heavy like iron, with beautiful flavor and shape, just like Guanyin", so he gave it the name "Tieguanyin". The origin of this "Tieguanyin" is called "Wang Shuo".

Wang Wenli's cousin, Wei Rongnan, president of the Singapore Tea Importers and Exporters Association, is more willing to believe that his ancestors were full of piety, guided by immortals, and their dreams came true. Consistent with Wei Rongnan's opinion, Wei Yuede, the representative inheritor of the national "intangible cultural heritage" oolong tea Anxi Tieguanyin production skills and the ninth-generation grandson of Wei Yin, believes that this is a story of "gods leading the way" to obtain tea: Tieguanyin came from the Yongzheng period of Qing Dynasty In the hands of Wei Yin, the ancestor of the Wei family and Songyan tea farmer. Today's Songyan Pine Forest Head, where the mother tree of Tieguanyin was found, the Wei family replanted Tieguanyin, and carved a stone statue of Wei Yin drinking tea from the boulder on the side of the stream. Above the stone statue, there is a niche dedicated to the land master, and on the slope of the tea garden, a stone statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva stands tall. According to legend, during the Yongzheng period, Wei Yin, a tea farmer from Songlintou in Songyan Village, believed in Guanyin Bodhisattva and worshipped him with three cups of tea every morning and evening. For decades, his devotion has moved the compassionate and compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva. Suddenly one night, Guanyin Bodhisattva gave him a dream, in which he saw a lush and warm tea tree. The next morning, Wei Yin followed the guidance in his dream and finally found a tea tree different from his species on the cliff of Dashikeng. Wei Yin, as if he had obtained a treasure, transplanted it into a broken iron cauldron at home, and cared for it. He personally cultivated the soil, planted the grass, watered it, and picked and made the tea leaves. It is given by Guanyin, and it is tight and solid like iron, so it is called "Tie Guanyin". The origin of this "Tieguanyin" is called "Wei Shuo".

In the book "China Tieguanyin" written by Lin Rongxi and Chen Dejin, it is written that for more than 300 years, the two sides have held different opinions on the origin of Tieguanyin. The Wang family insisted that "the literati offered tea, and Qianlong gave the name", while the Wei family always believed that it was "Guanyin entrusts the dream, and Wei Yin passed the tea". With the fragrance of Tieguanyin, these two versions spread widely among the tea lovers' cups, becoming one of the "opening ways" for people to uncover the mystery of Tieguanyin.

In view of the extensive influence of the two rhetoric among tea people, "Chinese Tea Classic", "Fujian Oolong Tea" and "Anxi County Chronicle" published in 1994 have sorted out the origin of Tieguanyin, Wang Wei Liang's theory, and put them together. It is included for those who like to find the source and ask for the root.

In fact, the "dispute" mentioned by Wang and Wei did not cause any estrangement between the two families in the local area. The younger ones should get married, and the older ones would sit at a table of the Eight Immortals and make tea "Huaxian" together. Because they all understand that today people agree that the birthplace of the world famous tea Tieguanyin is in Anxi and Xiping.

But this Tieguanyin tree, in the name of the emperor and Guanyin, became famous in four townships and eight li, out of villages and towns, out of counties and cities, even at home and abroad, and finally spread all over the five continents. Today, there are quite a lot of people at home and abroad who will closely link Anxi and Tieguanyin. When it comes to Anxi, one thinks of a tea tree called Tieguanyin there, and when it comes to Tieguanyin, people naturally think of the beautiful landscape of "a small stream boils the mountain, and the four seasons are fragrant".