Basic Characteristics and Development History of Zisun Tea
As the second hometown of Tea Sage Lu Yu, Changxing attracted many ancient scholars and poets to Guzhu Mountain, the origin of Zisun Tea, leaving numerous poems and cliff inscriptions that became precious Chinese tea culture heritage. The name "Zisun" derives from Lu Yu's "Tea Classic" statement "purple is superior, bamboo shoot shape is superior". With increasing tribute quantities, the first large-scale royal tea factory - Tribute Tea Institute - was built at Guzhu Mountain. Each year before Grain Rain, emperors ordered Huzhou and Changzhou governors to supervise tribute tea production, with banners and tents covering Guzhu Mountain and painted boats filling Taihu Lake, creating unprecedented grandeur.
Guzhu Mountain Zisun Tea's quality features include: purple buds, bamboo-shoot-shaped sprouts, plump clustered leaves in infusion, emerald green tea liquid, orchid-like fragrance, sweet refreshing taste, mild nature, and mind-clearing effects. Due to its exceptional quality, it was listed as premium tribute, with quantities increasing annually.
Using dragon-wrapped packages and silver-bottled water, tribute tea had to reach Chang'an before Qingming Festival. Hence poems like "Four thousand miles in ten days, must arrive for Qingming banquet" and "Peonies smile as gold hairpins move, reporting Zisun Tea's arrival from Wuxing". Approximately 30,000 tea pickers and over 1,000 artisans worked for months. Zisun Tea continued tribute for over 80 years during Tang Dynasty, reaching nearly 20,000 jin by 843 AD, with amounts recorded on stone tablets named "Guzhu Bake Tribute". From Tang through Song, Yuan to late Ming dynasties, it continued as tribute for 876 years. As tribute tea, Zisun Tea holds records for longest history, largest production scale, greatest quantity, finest quality, and longest duration - making it the ultimate Chinese tribute tea.
Guzhu Mountain features low hills with gentle slopes, rich vegetation, thick soil layers and high organic content, ideal for tea growth. Its excellent microclimate nurtured the millennium-renowned Zisun Tea, possessing excellent intrinsic qualities and unique aroma. With tender buds showing purple hue and bamboo-shoot shape, tightly rolled leaves release orchid fragrance when brewed, producing clear liquor; steeped leaves unfold into orchid shapes.
Zisun Tea resumed trial production in 1979, first participating in national tea selection in 1982 where it received unanimous expert praise, earning national famous tea certification. This Tang Dynasty tribute - Zisun Tea, praised by历代文人 as "ultimate tea treasure", originates from Changxing's Guzhu Mountain area. As early as Tang Daizong's Guangde era (764-765 AD), Tea Sage Lu Yu researched teas in Changxing and found this tea superior to others, recommending it to the emperor. Officially designated tribute tea in 770 AD.