Ming-dynasty tea culture is the period in which the steeping method — brewing leaf tea in a pot, essentially the modern way of making sencha — was established. It is the direct ancestor of Japanese senchado.
Development
The early Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang prohibited the manufacture of compressed tea and encouraged loose leaf, and steeping in a pot became settled practice. This reached Japan in the Edo period, where Baisao and others founded Japanese senchado.
Why it matters
This is why matcha practice and senchado are separate traditions rather than variants: they descend from different Chinese periods and different methods. Matcha practice is Song; senchado is Ming, arriving in Japan some four centuries later.
Sources
- 煎茶道（デジタル大辞泉 / 改訂新版 世界大百科事典） / コトバンク
Supports: 江戸期に黄檗宗の僧・隠元が煎茶を始め売茶翁が広めたとされること（明代中国の喫茶が日本へ伝わった経路にあたる部分）
About this article
Edited by the operator of Chaen (a one-person operation) / Last updated:
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