Currently, Taiwan’s original tea culture is spreading around the world, particularly in Asia, as a unique style of serving Chinese tea. This style was created in the 1970s, when the export and production of Taiwanese tea were on the verge of a crisis. The new style also reflects changes in Taiwanese society.
In Taiwan, tea production began during the period of the Qing dynasty and continued to develop basically as an important article of export, together with sugar. In the 1970s, however, tea production resumed in Mainland China, which used to be a major destination of export. Furthermore, Taiwan’s withdrawal from the United Nations in 1971 led to the breakup of its diplomatic relations with the United States and Japan, both having been destinations of tea exports. As a result, exports of Taiwanese tea sharply declined. In this critical situation, tea producers and the government sought to expand the domestic market. They were urged,
therefore, to create a refined style of serving tea to satisfy the Taiwanese people,who became increasingly affluent thanks to rapid economic growth.
To create a new tea culture, they studied the Gongfu tea ceremony, a style of tea ceremony to serve oolong tea in Mainland China. The Gongfu tea ceremony was popular among upper-class Chinese people, particularly intellectuals, in the periods from the Ming to the Qing dynasties. The creation of Taiwan’s tea culture took the form of revival and rebuilding of old traditions since it was backed by the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement, which was initiated by Chiang Kai-shek in 1966 in opposition to the Cultural Revolution in Mainland China.
The outstanding features of Taiwanese tea culture, however, include the adoption of two types of tea utensils that were not used in the Gongfu tea ceremony.They are chahai, a kind of pitcher designed to serve tea of equal strength, and wen-xiang-bei, a cylindrical cup designed to appreciate the unique aroma of Taiwanese tea. In addition, a small teapot and cups are used to extract tea multiple times and appreciate its changing aroma, color, and flavor. Today, Taiwanese ceramic artists produce tea utensils suitable for the development of such an elegant tea ceremony culture.