Tea Web Journey(TM): MONKEY-PICKED TEA
Cnpeterson
Welcome to another Tea Web Journey(TM)!
This is a follow-up to Chris Otto's original post regarding this
subject, based on our own ongoing adventures into the exotic history of
tea. More and more ISP's seem to be shortening the time they keep newsgroup
articles, so occasionally we may post a prior Tea Web Journey(TM) for those who
don't read this newsgroup every day.
We were first introduced to this term by Devah Shah, the owner of Chado
and India Tea Importers, when he shared some "monkey-picked divine
oolong" with us at Chado Tea Room in Los Angeles.
>From "5000 Years of Tea" by Derek Maitland (Hong Kong: CFW Publications
Limited; 1982), we learn:
"In a light vein, there is a tale told by the renowned painter Ran
In-ting that certain Buddhist monks indulged heavily in both tea
drinking and opium smoking. Monkeys who lived in the hills surrounding
their monasteries and temples came down and smoked from the long wooden
opium tubes out of natural monkey curiosity, and soon found themselves
hooked. The monks took advantage of this situation by training the
monkeys to pick for them the best tea leaves from high and inaccessible
places before they were allowed the narcotic fix. Whatever the facts of
this unlikely story, there is evidence from ancient writings that the
Chinese believed that the best quality tea leaves came from the least
accessible places, and so trained monkeys to be lowered in baskets to
pluck leaves from sheer mountainsides. What is certain is that some tea
in Ming times was considered so rare that it was only for the emperor.
One of these teas, contemporary writers say, was harvested by tormenting
monkeys on steeps slopes so that they would tear branches off tea shrubs
and hurl them down in anger; the leaves would be stripped from the
branches, cured, and sent along to the Imperial Court." p. 17.
The book also includes several illustrations:
http://members.esslink.com/~gaspar/monkey1.htm
http://members.esslink.com/~gaspar/monkey2.htm
>From Helen Gustafson's book, "The Agony of the Leaves," we learn:
"Roy Fong's [the owner of Imperial Tea Court in San Francisco] favorite
tea, the exquisite Ti Kuan Yin, originated in the high Wuyi country, an
area so high and craggy that monkeys are supposed to have been trained
to pick the leaves. Hence its name, Monkey Picked." p. 161.
>From "The East India Company Book of Tea" by Antony Wild we learn:
"However no tea was stranger than that reserved for the Emperor and his
court, which came from wild tea bushes in Yunnan province. These grew
to such a height that it was impossible for the tips to be plucked
except by specially trained monkeys. About 200 pounds of Imperial
Monkey-Picked Tea were produced each season." p. 26
The book also comes with an illustration, credited to Jean-Loup Charmet:
http://members.esslink.com/~gaspar/monkey3.htm
And finally, from William Uker's "All About Tea," we learn:
"Early legends, thought to be inspired by Buddhist priests, relate that
monkeys were used to gather the tea leaves from inaccessible places.
Sometimes they were trained for the work; or, when seen amongst the
rocks where the tea bushes grew, the China men would throw stones at
them. The monkeys, becoming angry, would break off branches of the tea
bushes and throw them down at their tormentors." Vol. I, p. 7.
The book also offers an illustration with the caption:
"Monkeys Gathering Tea in China" (Fanciful picture illustrating an early
legend. After Marquis, 1820."
http://members.esslink.com/~gaspar/monkey4.htm
We hope you have enjoyed this Tea Web Journey(TM). See you next time.
Where, we're not sure, but we promise it will be an adventure.
Warm regards,
The Tea Bag Ladies(TM)
DISCLAIMER: We have no financial connection to any of the sites
provided here. If anyone knows of better sites to illustrate or add to
our points, please e-mail us the URL addresses. Also, please let us
know if any of the links go bad and we'll try to replace them. These
Journeys will be reposted from time to time for any newcomers to the
group. Copyright (c) 1997 Tea Spirit (TM). All Rights Reserved.
Tea Spirit, Tea Web Journey, and Tea Bag Ladies are registered trademarks.