When does the history of tea cultivation in Mengding Mountain date back?
What are the tea-related remains here?
How will Mengdingshan play the tea culture card well?
On March 26th, the "Mengding Mountain in China, the Source of Tea in the World" - Academic Seminar on Tea History and Tea Industry Heritage was held in Mengding Mountain, a famous mountain area in Ya'an. Participating experts pointed out that Mengding Mountain has many remains of tea culture and tea horse ancient road, and the preservation status and display foundation are good. Experts called for the protection and utilization of these precious cultural heritages to lay a good foundation for Mengdingshan to be declared a world cultural heritage.
The seminar was jointly sponsored by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Ya'an Municipal People's Government, and co-hosted by the Sichuan Historical Society, the Sichuan Provincial Association for the Protection of Monuments and Sites, the Ya'an Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ya'an Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
What did the workshop do? Experts and scholars from all over the country in the fields of tea history and archaeology, protection and utilization of tea industry heritage, tea planting and circulation gathered together to conduct extensive exchanges and in-depth discussions on the origin of world tea, the study of Chinese tea history, the spread and development of tea, and the protection and utilization of tea heritage. On the same day, the participating experts jointly issued the Ya'an Initiative of the "China Mengding Mountain, the Source of World Tea" - an academic seminar on tea history and tea industry heritage.
It is recognized that Mengding Mountain is an important birthplace of tea culture in the world
Mengding Mountain, the earliest place on the mainland where artificial tea cultivation is recorded. In 53 BC, Wu Lizhen, a Ya'an man, pioneered the cultivation of tea in Mengding Mountain, which developed into the whole country and the world.
In the Song Dynasty, the government set up a special tea and horse department to be in charge of the affairs of tea and horses, and Mengshan tea always occupied a dominant position in the tea and horse market with Tibetan areas. Mengding Mountain is also one of the birthplaces of tea culture, from the earliest artificial tea plantation in the Western Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty being listed as a tribute tea until the Qing Dynasty.
It is precisely because of the important position of Mengding Mountain in the history of China's tea industry that many tea-related cultural heritages are still preserved here.
In 2013, the Tea Horse Ancient Road was listed by the State Council as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units, and the mengdingshan ancient building complex, a provincial cultural relics protection unit, is also an important part of the heritage of Ya'an tea industry. The remains of the ya'an section of the Tea Horse Ancient Road are clear and easy to follow, and some sections are still in use today, and there are many ancient buildings, ancient towns and ancient villages along the way. There are many stone inscription pavilions on the ancient road, and the inscriptions are rich in content, which records the history of tea road tea from different ages and different angles, which is of great scientific research and development and utilization value.
Initiative: Prepare for world cultural heritage
What insights did the participating experts put forward on the origin of tea in the world, the study of Chinese tea history, the spread and development of tea, and the protection and utilization of tea heritage?
Huo Wei, a Jiang scholar of the Ministry of Education, a distinguished professor of liberal arts at Sichuan University, and the president of the Sichuan Archaeological Society, said that combined with historical records and archaeological excavations, the origin of Chinese tea culture should have originated in Sichuan at least in the middle of the Warring States period, and the biggest possibility is the Mengdingshan area, because the climate environment and altitude here are particularly suitable for the growth of tea.
Tan Jihe, president of the Sichuan Historical Society, outstanding researcher of the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences, senior librarian of the Provincial Government Research Museum of Culture and History, and consultant of the Southwest International Tea Culture Research Center, believes that tea is a unique ancient civilization that originated in China and is Chinese noble aesthetic pursuit of a better life. When Sichuan creates images such as "comfortable Sichuan" and "poetic Sichuan", it can completely integrate the concept of Mengding Mountain as the source of tea in the world, bring the relics of the fire here, and bring the fire sichuan tea industry.
At the same time, the participating experts also issued a joint initiative -
China is the homeland of tea and the birthplace of tea, the tea industry and tea culture. It is proposed to strengthen the study of the history of Tea in China, sort out its development and evolution, and explore the status and role of the Bashu region in the origin and development of China's tea industry.
Mengding Mountain in Ya'an Mingshan District is the center of the early tea producing areas of Bashu and is recognized by the industry as an important birthplace of the world tea industry and tea culture. The initiative continues to carry out in-depth discussions on the history of Mengshan tea in Bashu, the mutual market between Mengshan and Tea and Horse, the relationship between the Ancient Tea Horse Road, and the value of mengding camellia cultural landscape, laying the foundation for the study of the world tea culture landscape and the declaration of tea culture landscapes including Mengding Mountain as world cultural heritage.
Mengding Mountain has many cultural relics of the tea industry, and the preservation status and display foundation are good. It is proposed to increase the protection of cultural heritage such as ancient tea gardens, ancient buildings, ancient stone carvings and ancient roads in Mengding mountain, nourish tourism with tea culture, and further promote the characteristic, high-quality and efficiency development of Ya'an and Sichuan tourism.
Source | Sichuan release client
Reporter 丨 Liu Qian Gong Xiaoyun