◎ Qingsi
The National Museum once exhibited a silver wire cage of the Tang Dynasty unearthed from Famen Temple in Fufeng, Shaanxi Province. The cage body was decorated with 24 birds, with a sufficient bottom and a lifting beam on it. The lid was closely matched and the lifting beam was connected by a silver chain. The whole shape is extremely exquisite and has a strong artistic appeal. However, many people who visited the site did not know the name and purpose of the silver wire cage, and they all mistakenly thought it was a bird cage. In fact, this is a tea cage for baking tea, which is an intuitive presentation of the extravagant life in the Tang Dynasty. Because there are only a few handed down products, they are treasured in museums or private hands, which are rarely seen by ordinary people, so they are ignorant. In fact, from the use function of the tea roasting cage and the life concept derived from it, we can outline the ontology outline of people's tea drinking fashion in Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, tea leaves were directly steamed into cakes, dried in the air, and then crushed and cooked when they were drunk. In order to facilitate grinding into powder and make tea have a more fragrant and beautiful taste, there will be a process of baking tea before cooking. The tea roasting cage is an appliance for placing tea cakes and baking them on the fire. Its special wire weaving structure and the foot of the base can make the tea evenly heated and avoid external scorching. In the process of waiting for the natural cooling of tea leaves, the tea roasting cage also helps to emit excess water in tea leaves and form a rich aroma. Usually used as a storage appliance, it can also avoid the mildew and deterioration of tea cakes.
Due to the strong national strength and the prevalence of social extravagance in the Tang Dynasty, tea roasting cages used by nobles were all made of gold or silver wire. In the Song Dynasty, it was difficult to maintain such a high standard of living, and the material of tea roasting cages was changed to bamboo. Cai Xiang's "Tea Theory" in the Northern Song Dynasty: "Tea is baked, bamboo is woven for it, and it is wrapped in bamboo leaves ... Under the fire, the leaves are removed, and it is warm at room temperature, so it is brown and fragrant." This change in material also makes the tea roasting cage change from a "high-cold" aristocratic device to a more free vitality of the market.
Literati in Tang and Song Dynasties are fond of personifying objects and naming people for objects. In Song Dynasty, Dong Zhenqing's "Picture of Tea Set" named the tea roasting cage "Wei Hongtu", ranking first among the "Twelve Misters" of tea set. "Crack" is the title of civil servant in ancient times, and "Wei" refers to the texture of bamboo. In order to take tea cakes from the cages conveniently, some bamboo cages have movable windows around them, so they are also nicknamed "four-window leisure". Dong Zhenqing specifically pointed out in the "Tea Set Picture Zan" that the reason why the tea roasting cage is regarded as a noble official is that this kind of appliance can avoid the tea from being burnt and stale, is the most intimate companion of tea, and is also the basic point to maintain all the interests and beliefs of tea drinking life, so "it is powerful to keep the English in the valley from falling into charcoal." The functionality and reclusive personality of the tea roasting cage not only brought convenience to the life of the literati in Tang and Song Dynasties, but also provided spiritual enjoyment and endless fun.
After the Ming Dynasty, the tea was fried or fermented, which presented a richer taste, and the method of making tea became much simplified. The complicated cooking method of "ordering tea" in Song Dynasty was no longer popular, and the tea roasting cage lost its original meaning. In addition, bamboo cages are not handed down from generation to generation, and the only thing left today is a tea baking cage made of gold and silver in the Tang Dynasty. As a precious cultural relic bearing the ancient tea ceremony concept and aesthetic thought, the tea roasting cage provides a vivid evidence for modern people to restore their historical life.