Author(s)

Yuchi Tairan ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Junior College Hwa Chong Institution, 661 Bukit Timah Rd, Singapore, 269734

Corresponding Author

Yuchi Tairan

ABSTRACT

Tea-tasting competition refers to assessing tea quality and tea-tasting skills through competitive means, involving steps such as boiling water, warming bowls, preparing tea paste, and pouring water. Centered on tea-tasting competition, the relevant literature not only reflects the social conditions and social interactions of the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties but also adopts rhetorical devices like exaggeration and metaphor, presenting distinct styles in literary genres such as poetry and prose. Through the use of imagery and discursive, prose-like expressions, these works create unique aesthetic experiences, embodying the Song people's perceptions of social life and pursuit of aesthetic artistic conception. Tea-tasting competition literature emerged during the Renzong reign of the Northern Song Dynasty, reached its peak in the Huizong reign, declined rapidly in the Southern Song Dynasty, and ultimately perished in the Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty. This paper first sorts out the phased development and era characteristics of tea competition in the Song Dynasty. Secondly, it analyzes the writing objects and spiritual reflections of Song Dynasty tea competition literature: tea science research and leisure tastes, network images of literati gatherings, and pictures of economic customs. Finally, it explores the artistic perspective through diction, imagery, and the aesthetic implications contained in tea competition literature, depicting the life patterns and social perceptions of Song Dynasty literati. Literati gathered in tea competitions, forming friendships and mutual understanding.

KEYWORDS

Song Dynasty; Tea-Tasting Competition Literature; Literati Gatherings

CITE THIS PAPER

Yuchi Tairan, Literati Gatherings and Tea-Tasting Competitions Literature in the Song Dynasty. Lecture Notes on History (2025) Vol. 7: 104-110. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/history.2025.070116.

REFERENCES

[1] Xie Weiduan, Du Bingying, Zhang Yihan, et al. The 'Data Battle' in Tea Competition Drives Scientific Tea Garden Cultivation [N]. Quanzhou Evening News, 2025-06-27 (024).
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[4] Chen Manyu, Deng Liwen. A Study of Tea Ceremony Utensils in Song Dynasty Scholar Gatherings [J]. Furniture and Interior Decoration, 2020, (10):22-25.
[5] Liu Jun. The Development of Tea Culture in the Song Dynasty as Seen in Literary Works [J]. Fujian Tea, 2017,39(05):391-392.

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