“Yibin Early Tea” and “Sichuan Red Congou” are two prominent brands of Yibin tea. Let's delve into the history of Yibin's “Sichuan Red Congou” Black Tea.

“Sichuan Red Congou” Black Tea

The topography of Yibin City is generally higher in the southwest and lower in the northeast, with mountains and hills dominating and scattered plains. The city is crisscrossed by numerous rivers and streams, all belonging to the Yangtze River system, providing abundant water resources. Yibin is located in the East Asian monsoon climate zone and in a transitional area from the Sichuan Basin to the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Its climate has regional characteristics and also features a vertical climate ranging from subtropical to warm temperate, making it highly suitable for tea cultivation. Except for mountainous areas above 1,500 meters in altitude, the entire city of Yibin is suitable for tea planting, truly demonstrating that “good mountains and good waters produce fine tea!”

To talk about the history of Yibin's “Sichuan Red Congou” black tea, we must first discuss the history of tea production in Yibin. Yibin has a long history of tea production spanning over three thousand years.

The Book of Huayang

Yibin was known as Bo Dao in ancient times. According to the world's first specialized work on tea, Lu Yu's “The Classic of Tea,” “Tea as a beverage originated with the divine farmer…and spread westward to Bo Dao.” In 1046 BC, King Wu of Zhou gathered troops from the states of Yong, Lu, Peng, Pu, Shu, Qiang, Wei, and Mao to attack the Shang dynasty. The Bo people fought bravely. After the establishment of the Zhou dynasty, the leader of the Bo tribe was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Bo, founding the state of Bo Hou, which included the current regions of Yibin, Luzhou, Zhaotong, and Bijie. As one of the vassal states, the Marquis of Bo needed to offer local specialties to King Wu of Zhou. The Book of Huayang, in its section on Ba, records: “The land produces five grains and livestock includes six types…silkworms, ramie, fish, salt, copper, iron, cinnabar, lacquer, tea, honey, sacred tortoises, giant rhinos, pheasants, white pheasants, yellow jade, and fresh powder were all tribute items.” Among these tribute items, “tea” (referred to as “cha”) indicates that tea from the region inhabited by the Bo people was offered as tribute. This reflects that Yibin has had a history of tea production for over three thousand years.

During the Qin Dynasty, Chang E was dispatched to construct the Five-Foot Road, which started in Yibin and passed through Yanjin, Daguan, and Ludian in Zhaotong, extending south to Qujing, Kunming, Chuxiong, and Dali, and then out to Myanmar and India. After the Han dynasty was established, Sichuanese tea was transported along the Yangtze River to the Chu region, thus opening up the Yangtze River waterway for Yibin tea (including Sichuanese tea). The “Five-Foot Road,” “Southern Barbarian Road,” and the “Min River Water and Footpath” opened during the Warring States period by Li Bing, the “Yangtze River Waterway” developed during the Qin and Han dynasties, and the “Malujiang Road” built during the Song dynasty are collectively known as Yibin's five “Tea Horse Ancient Roads.” These roads played a significant role in the gathering and distribution of goods between Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, radiating out transportation routes for the tea-horse trade, and greatly contributed to the development of western China in ancient times.

In the Tang Dynasty, it was a period of epoch-making development for tea. The world's earliest and most comprehensive work on tea, Lu Yu's “The Classic of Tea,” was published. In “The Classic of Tea – Chapter Eight: Origins,” when discussing tea production in the Jian'nan Circuit, it mentions the “tribute tea” produced in Luzhou. At that time, the territory of Luzhou overlapped with today's Yibin region, and the tea-producing areas of Luzhou mainly referred to Junlian, Gao County, Gong County, Guyun, Xuyong, and Hejiang. The Tang Dynasty's “The Manual of a Kitchen Steward” records: “Only Sichuanese tea travels south to Baiyue and north to the Five Lakes…after Guyu, millions of catties are collected each year and distributed downstream,” describing the situation of tea production in the region of present-day Yibin.

Tea-Horse Trade Market

Tea-horse trading began in the Tang Dynasty and became a regular practice in the Song Dynasty. In the early Song Dynasty, a special institution, the Tea and Horse Bureau, was established, responsible for “monopolizing the profits from tea to support the state; horses traded with the Four Barbarians were generally exchanged for tea.” During the Southern Song Dynasty, eight “tea-horse trading markets” were set up across the country, with two of them located in Yibin. These two markets were situated in the current Qingcaoban on the southern bank of the Jinsha River at the confluence of the three rivers in today's Xuyu District and Shuanghe Field in Changning County. The tea-horse trade further promoted the development of Yibin's tea industry. The Song History's “Annals of Food and Goods” records that in 1059 AD, during Emperor Renzong's Jiayou reign, the tea production in the southeast region was 11.53 million kilograms, while Sichuan's tea production reached 15 million kilograms. Throughout the Song Dynasty, Sichuan's tea production consistently accounted for over 50% of the national output, primarily due to the promotion of Sichuanese tea through the tea-horse trade.

A Thousand-Year-Old Tea Tree Located in Jianwan Village, Jianshui Town, Xuyu District

After the Yuan Dynasty was established, a monopoly on tea policy was implemented, prohibiting private tea trade, with violators being punished according to the “Salt Law.” However, trade between Han and Tibetan ethnic groups continued among the people, and private tea cultivation persisted. In today's Jianwan Village, Jianshui Town, Xuyu District, there still exists a thousand-year-old ancient tea tree, standing as a witness to Yibin's long history of tea.

Entering the Ming Dynasty, historical records of Yibin's tea become even richer. We will continue this discussion in the next installment!

The History of Yibin's “Sichuan Red Congou” Black Tea:

Part Two – The History of Yibin Tea Recorded in the “Ming Records”

Part Three – The Emergence of the Prototype of “Sichuan Red Congou” Black Tea

Part Four – The Establishment of Three Yibin Black Tea Promotion Stations

Part Seven – The Founding of the Yibin Tea Factory

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