Yule, Yibang, Manyuan (Manzhuan), Gedeng, Mangzhi (Mangzhi), and Mansa (Mansha) have been known since ancient times as the “Six Great Tea Mountains,” and in today's Pu'er tea circles, they are akin to holy sites. Generally speaking, the initial names of these six mountains originated from the languages of local ethnic minorities and not, as legend has it, from relics such as copper gongs, wooden bindings, and stirrups left by Zhuge Liang. So we must ask: with so many tea mountains in the southern Yunnan region, the cradle of world tea, why were specifically these six mountains collectively known as the “Six Great Tea Mountains”?

First, it is important to note that most of the existing literature on the “Six Great Tea Mountains” can be traced back to a common source, the “Yongzheng Gazetteer of Yunnan.” This book explicitly mentions “Yule, Gedeng, Yibang, Mangzhi, Manyuan (Manzhuan), and Mansa (Mansa)” as the “Six Tea Mountains” when describing the “Geography,” “Historical Sites,” and “Local Products” of Pu'er Prefecture.

However, in the “Kangxi Gazetteer of Yunnan,” which was compiled about half a century before the “Yongzheng Gazetteer of Yunnan,” there is very little content regarding Pu'er tea, let alone any mention of the “Six Great Tea Mountains.” Therefore, the formal formation of the name “Six Great Tea Mountains” would not have occurred earlier than the Yongzheng period. Additionally, during the half-century between the publication of these two gazetteers, an event that changed the course of Pu'er tea history took place in the Six Great Tea Mountains region: the replacement of local rulers with officials appointed by the central government, which became a historical turning point for the formation of the name “Six Great Tea Mountains.”

The earliest record of the term “Six Great Tea Mountains” (or “Six Tea Mountains”) in historical documents appears in a memorial submitted by the Viceroy of Yunnan and Guizhou, Ertai, during the Yongzheng period. In the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), a Jiangxi tea merchant raped the wife of the Yi person Mabu Peng in Mangzhi (Mangzhi), leading to Mabu Peng inciting a rebellion. Ertai sent troops to suppress it, and the process of replacing local rulers with central government officials began in the Six Great Tea Mountains region. On the eighth day of the first lunar month in the sixth year of Yongzheng (1728), Viceroy Ertai reported to the emperor about the armed transformation in the Six Great Tea Mountains. According to the report from General Qiu Mingyang, who was commanding troops at the front: “The tea mountain area spans thousands of miles, and the Yi people number more than tens of thousands. Of the Six Tea Mountains, the largest is Yule Mountain, which oversees more than forty villages large and small.”

Based on this, we can conclude that the formation of the name “Six Great Tea Mountains” was based on at least the following two points: Firstly, the Six Great Tea Mountains region has produced tea since ancient times, with a thriving tea trade. The fact that Jiangxi tea merchants traveled thousands of miles to trade here is proof of its significance. During the development of the tea trade, trading centers emerged centered around the six mountains of Yule, Gedeng, Yibang, Mangzhi, Manyuan (Manzhuan), and Mansa. This was not just because these six mountains themselves produced large amounts of tea but also because they could control the surrounding tea mountains or villages (such as the then-largest Yule) and had significant influence or authority among the local people (as seen in the rebellion incited by Mabu Peng of the Yi people).

Secondly, although the Six Great Tea Mountains had already demonstrated their prominent position in tea production and trade before the replacement of local rulers with central government officials in the Yongzheng period, they had not yet been directly ruled by the Qing dynasty, and each mountain had often operated independently. Thus, they had not been regarded as a cohesive whole. It was only after the implementation of the replacement policy in this region that the Six Great Tea Mountains were presented as a whole by local officials, showcasing their significant political, economic, and geographical value. After suppressing Mabu Peng's rebellion, Ertai continued to require his generals to “investigate the areas belonging to the Six Tea Mountains, covering over a thousand miles.” He also heard that in the Six Great Tea Mountains, “grains are abundant, livestock plentiful, prices low, and salt brine is available.” He planned to establish prefectures here, laying the groundwork for the later establishment of Pu'er Prefecture.

The name “Six Great Tea Mountains” thus entered local gazetteers through official documents like memorials and spread widely, becoming an important symbol of Pu'er Tea culture in the eyes of later generations.

Originally published in Pu'er Magazine

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