The legend of Longjing tea
Longjing tea, which is famous for its "green color, rich aroma, sweet taste and beautiful shape", has left many magical legends in history. Among them, the legends about "Longjing" and "Eighteen Imperial Teas" can reflect the historical origin of Longjing tea.
It is said that a long time ago, the Queen Mother held a grand peach party in the heaven. Gods and fairies from all over the country were invited to attend the party. Prodigies and fairies played, played and sang, and served tea and fruits. Just as he was holding the tea tray to serve tea, he suddenly heard Shancai boy shouting: "Sister-in-law Dixian is seriously ill. She is rolling and screaming on the bed. Go quickly!" Inadvertently, the tea tray tilted, and a teacup tumbled over. Gone to earth. The Earth Immortal was so frightened that he was out of his body, his face turned pale, and he walked towards the palace in three steps and two steps at a time.
At this time, Lu Dongbin figured it out and understood what was going on. He hurriedly took the tea tray from the Earthly Immortal and distributed the only seven cups of tea to the Seven-Dong Immortal. He took out a magic pill and said to the Earth Immortal: "Take it quickly and save your wife. Then go down to earth to find the tea cup. I will take care of you here for the time being." The Earth Immortal was very grateful and left after thanking him.
"One day in the sky, several years in the world." The Earth Immortal somersaulted down to the mortal world, landed in Hangzhou, became a monk, and went to the west mountain to look for a teacup. On this day, he saw a mountain like a lion squatting, with beautiful rocks and green ravines. There was a thatched house next to the bamboo forest in the mountain, and an 80-year-old woman was sitting at the door. The Earth Immortal stepped forward and saluted and asked: "Old donor, what is this place?" The old lady replied: "It's called Huiluowu. I heard from our ancestors that one night, thousands of golden lights suddenly fell from the sky. From then on this place was called Huiluowu." The Earth Immortal was surprised and happy after hearing this. He quickly looked around and looked around. Suddenly his eyes lit up. Isn't that my tea cup? It turned out that there was an old stone mortar filled with garbage next to the aunt's room, and it was filled with green grass. There is a shiny spider silk hanging straight from the eaves into the stone mortar. The Earth Fairy understood that this spider spirit was secretly sucking the fairy tea, and said quickly: "Old donor, can I exchange a gold ribbon for your stone mortar?" The aunt said: "Do you want this stone mortar? Anyway, I will keep it. It's useless to hold it, you can just take it." The Earth Immortal thought, I have to go find verbena and weave a nine-foot-long rope to tie it up so that I can carry it away.
As soon as the earth fairy left, the aunt thought to herself, this stone mortar is dirty, how can I get my hands on it! So he found a spoon, took out all the garbage, poured it into the field with eighteen tea trees in front of the house, and found a rag to wipe it clean with his fingers. Unexpectedly, the spider spirit was disturbed, and the spider spirit said that someone was coming to steal his tea! With a cast of magic, there was a loud "Ka La La" sound, driving Shi Ri deep into the ground. The Earth Immortal took the rope and turned around to see that Shi Ri was no longer there, so he had to return to heaven empty-handed.
Later, the "tea cup" of the Heavenly Palace that was driven underground became a well. A dragon once came to drink the immortal tea, but the dragon went away, leaving behind a well of water. This is the legendary Longjing. With the vicissitudes of life and historical changes, the hut where the aunt originally lived was converted into the old Longjing Temple, and later renamed to the Hu Gong Temple in Longjing Village that remains today. The eighteen tea trees in front of the temple have been nourished by the fairy dew and have become more and more lush and of outstanding quality.
When Emperor Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River, he went incognito to the foot of Shifeng Mountain in Longjing Village, Hangzhou. When the old monk Hugong Temple accompanied Emperor Qianlong on a tour of the mountains and sightseeing, he suddenly saw several village girls walking happily from the front of the temple. Picking new buds from the eighteen tea trees, I suddenly felt happy. I quickly walked into the tea garden and learned to pick tea. After picking for a while, the eunuch suddenly came to report: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother is ill. Please return to Beijing as soon as possible." When Qianlong heard that the Queen Mother was ill, he felt anxious. He put the tea buds in his hand into the bag, returned to Beijing day and night, and returned to the palace to pay his respects to the Queen Mother. In fact, the Queen Mother was not seriously ill, but her anger increased temporarily, her eyes were red and swollen, and her stomach was uncomfortable. Suddenly I saw the emperor's arrival, my mood improved, and I felt a fresh fragrance blowing against my face. I hurriedly asked: "The emperor came back from Hangzhou, what good things did he bring with such a fragrance?" Emperor Qianlong also felt strange, so I hurried back. , I didn’t bring anything, where did the fragrance come from? Smell carefully, there is indeed a fragrant fragrance, and it comes from the bag. He touched it casually and found out that it was a handful of tea leaves that came from Hu Gong Temple in Longjing Village, Hangzhou. After a few days, they had dried and emitted a rich aroma.
The Queen Mother wanted to taste the taste of this tea, so the palace maid brewed the tea and served it. As expected, it was fragrant and fragrant. After drinking, her mouth was filled with saliva, and the aftertaste was sweet and refreshing. After 3 cups, the swelling in my eyes dissipated and my stomach felt comfortable. The Queen Mother was so happy at that time that she called Hangzhou Longjing tea a panacea.
Emperor Qianlong laughed out loud when he saw the Queen Mother being so happy, and hurriedly passed on the decree, naming the eighteen tea trees in front of Hu Gong Temple at the foot of Shifeng Mountain in Longjing, Hangzhou, as imperial tea. They would be specially collected and prepared every year to pay tribute to the Queen Mother. . Since then, Longjing tea has become more and more famous. Although the eighteen imperial tea trees have been replanted many times, this "imperial tea garden" has been preserved to this day and has become a tourist attraction.