Chinese tea as an artform

Mark Lane

AAD 250

Food As art Research

Chinese tea drinking is art from focused on taste

            CNN news correspondent May Lee wrote an article in 1999 that describes a shop owners’ explanation of why Chinese tea is an art form.  The owner of this Hong Kong teashop, named Fook Ming Tong, argues that in Japan, the tea-drinking ceremony is more of an art form in Japan while the Japanese focus less on the actual taste of the tea. The article explains that China has over 500 different types of tea with a wide variety of tastes, which is the most important part of any kind of tea, according to Tong. Tong explains that certain types of tea must be brewed at specific temperatures, for a specific amount of time, and that this varies among the many different types of tea made in China.

            This article delves into the question of ceremonial art vs. food as art. Tong claim that Japanese tea is not art because it is more about ceremony without much focus on taste, while Chinese tradition is all about taking the time to get the taste right. In the same way that culinary artists prepare meals that are specifically designed to bring pleasure and enjoyment to the consumer, Chinese tea is an art form because taste is the most critical aspect of it. Nourishment is not the first priority in Chinese tea because it has evolved into an artistic avenue for tea-makers to design the best tasting tea that will bring the most pleasure to their customers. This art medium is all about pleasure for the consumer, and this pleasure is created through rigorous preparation of the tea by carefully monitoring the amount of tealeaves that are used, the temperature that the tea is made with, and the amount of time the tea leave is cooked in the water. This article is interesting because it makes a clear distinction of one type of tea as non-art, while the Chinese teas are in fact art, and the reason for this is the idea of pleasure through taste for the consumer.

Source:

Lee, M. (1999, November). Chinese tea drinking is an art form focused on taste. CNN News. Retrieved July 31,2009 from http://www.cnn.com/FOOD/news/9911/12/china.tea/