Ancient Qiang tea art refers to the production and brewing techniques of ancient Qiang tea cans, which is a traditional art of the Qiang nationality. The ancient Qiang civilization has a long history. Shennong and Dayu were both Qiang people. It is said that Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and discovered tea. The can tea invented by Dayu's wife Tushan is the source of the ancient Qiang tea art. The earliest written record of Beichuan ancient Qiang tea was in the Tang Dynasty, which has a history of more than 1,300 years. The production techniques of ancient Qiang tea cans have gone through the primitive period of cooking with sun-dried green leaves and different ingredients, the Tang Dynasty stage of making round cakes or square bricks for drinking, and the modern stage of "Western Road Border Tea" being sold to Tibetan areas. Modern ancient Qiang tea is a kind of tea with brown leaves, yellow (red) soup, rich aging fragrance, and sweet taste, which has been inherited and innovatively developed on the basis of exploring the traditional tea making techniques of the Qiang people, with the Shenquan Xiaotuan in the Tang Dynasty as a reference, and the Beichuan moss tea, a national geographical indication protected variety. Sichuan Qiang Society proposed four pieces of evidence to identify the characteristics of ancient Qiang from the perspective of humanities, namely, jar tea, folk songs, dialects, and funerals. Jar tea is an important part of Qiang culture and the source of ancient Shu tea culture. 1. The production skills of ancient Qiang jar tea: 1. Tea making and preservation: In ancient times, the Qiang people made tea by taking tea branches about two feet long from the new shoots to the roots of the tea tree. After taking them back, they quickly rolled them several times in the red ash of the fire pit to remove some of the grass smell. After the tea leaves become slightly wilted, pick the leaves, wash and dry them, pick the tenderer leaves by hand and roll them to make the rolled tea leaves more flavorful, and then dry the rolled tea leaves. The branches with the leaves removed should be rolled back and forth in the red ash several times until there is a clear aroma, take them out and wash them, cut the branches into small pieces of an inch long with scissors or knives, and then dry them, and finally store them with the dried tea leaves. There are two ways to store tea leaves. One is to store the dried tea leaves and tea stems in earthenware jars and let them age. A layer of charcoal must be placed at the bottom of the jar to absorb moisture and prevent the tea leaves from getting damp and deteriorating. A layer of straw paper must be placed on the charcoal to separate the charcoal from the tea leaves and keep them clean. This is a common storage method. Another way is to press the tea leaves and tea stems into square bricks or round cakes, dry them and store them, which is called "ancient Qiang tea". 2. Boil and drink tea: Use a 5-inch high and 3-inch diameter earthenware jar, fill 2/3 of the container with water, place it by the fire and boil it. After the water boils, add grains: buckwheat noodles, cornmeal, crisp beans (fried soybeans), fermented glutinous rice, black peach kernels, chestnut kernels, highland barley, etc. Meat: mainly mutton, or add dried fish; after boiling, add salt, pepper, chili, honey and other seasonings. Because all the condiments represent the characteristics of the Qiang people through different eras, such as gathering (cancong), fishing (yufu), and duyu (farming). Therefore, except for the traditional food of mutton, dried small fish, dried bamboo shoots and crispy beans, the condiments added at other times are not fixed. The Qiang society respects the elders and capable people, and does not pay attention to the rich and the poor. There are two situations for serving tea. For the elders, the housewife dresses neatly and dignifiedly when serving tea, bends down and holds the bowl with both hands to the forehead, and says auspicious words: I wish you a long life and health... For the guests of the same age, smile and pay attention, and say: Thank you for coming, all the best, etc. For those who come often and are familiar with each other, they are more casual. 2. Ancient Qiang tea brewing skills: In ancient times, the Qiang people had the custom of "setting up tea tables" in grand and lively weddings. The ancient Qiang tea art uses grand etiquette to bless the newlyweds and entertain the wedding team in the "setting up tea tables". On the wedding day, in every village that the wedding procession must pass through, relatives and friends in the village must prepare tea, candies and cakes to set up "tea tables" to entertain the newlyweds and the wedding procession. Every time the wedding procession arrives at a village, three salutes are fired, and the people in the village go out to the border to welcome and guide the guests to the "tea table" with singing and dancing in the sound of ritual music. The girls in the village deliver cups of hot "Lao Zao Tea" to the guests. "Five-flavor tea" and "honey tea" are prepared for the bride and groom. "Ancient Qiang Tea Brewing Technique" reproduces the cooking and drinking methods of "Lao Zao Tea", "Five-flavor Tea" and "Honey Tea". 1. "Preparing Tea": The tea used in the "Ancient Qiang Tea Brewing Technique" is the traditional ancient Qiang tea. Ancient Qiang tea is a compressed tea in the shape of square bricks or round cakes. It needs to go through three procedures of roasting, squeezing and wrapping, squeezing the roasted tea into broken tea, and then divide it into small bags with paper, and then put it into Qiang embroidered bags for use. 2. "Boiled tea": In ancient times, the Qiang people drank tea by pouring tea into a pottery pot and boiling it. This was a method of brewing tea in the Tang Dynasty in my country. 3. "Clean utensils": Clean all tea utensils. 4. "Cooking tea": The girls hold the pottery pot for boiling tea and filter the boiled tea juice through a bamboo strainer and pour it into the tea soup bowl. 5. "Adding ingredients": The Qiang people add various condiments to the tea soup for drinking. 6. "Five-flavor tea": This tea is made by adding pepper, ginger, chili and other ingredients to the tea soup, and it has five flavors: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and numb. This tea is specially prepared for the bride and groom in the "tea table" of the Qiang wedding. It is the relatives who tell the bride and groom to remember the deep kindness of their parents who have experienced the hardships of life to raise their children; they must always have a grateful heart. 7. "Honey tea": "Honey tea" is made by adding honey to the tea soup. This tea is also specially prepared for the bride and groom in the "tea setting" of the Qiang wedding. This tea is fragrant and sweet, and is meant to bless the newlyweds. 8. "Lao Zao Tea": "Lao Zao Tea" is also called "tea for guests". Adding Lao Zao to tea soup for drinking is a tea drinking custom passed down from generation to generation by the Qiang people. 9. Serving tea: "Lao Zao Tea": Serving "tea for guests". A bowl of strong and fragrant tea is presented to the guests to express the Qiang people's deep respect. "Five-flavor tea": Take a sip of the "five-flavor life tea" with five flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and numb, let us always remember the grace of our parents' upbringing; always have a grateful heart. The last is "honey tea": it is meant to wish the days to be sweeter and sweeter. Information source: Mianyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center Information source: Mianyang Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center