CAI GUO-QIANG
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Tea Pavilion
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Tie Guan Yin tea is named after Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy. In Chinese culture, Guan Yin is
considered the most charitable deity and her name is short for Guanshiyin, meaning ‘observing the
cries of the world’. There are many tales exploring the origins of Tie Guan Yin tea. Two well-known
tales — The Tea Grower’s Tale and The Emperor’s Tale — recount the story of Guan Yin’s charity to
the people of the Fujian province.
The tea grower’s tale
Every day on his way to work, a tea grower from the Fujian province would walk past an iron statue
of the Goddess Guan Yin. The statue stood in front of a decaying temple and, although he could not
afford to repair the temple, the tea grower decided to take care of it as best he could. He cleaned
the temple and lit incense inside. One night while the tea grower was sleeping, Guan Yin appeared
to him in a dream. She told the tea grower to look in a cave behind the temple for a special treasure
hidden there. The next day, he discovered a single tea shoot, which he nurtured and cultivated, and
named Tie Guan Yin.
From Jane Pettigrew,
The Connoisseur’s Guide to Tea: Discover the World’s Most Exquisite Tea Leaves
,
Apple Press, Sussex, 2004, p.128.
The Emperor’s tale
The Qing Emperor Kangxi, when suffering from smallpox, prayed to Guan Yin for healing. Hearing
his prayers, Guan Yin appeared to the Emperor in a dream. She brought him to a place where the
farmers were poor, but a few tea bushes grew on the mountainside. Guan Yin requested that to
repay her kindness for healing, the Emperor must help the people of the region to cultivate the tea
bushes and prosper from it in her name. From that time on, the Tie Guan Yin tea industry in the
Fujian province thrived.
From Mary Lou Heiss and Robert J Heiss,
The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide
,
Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, California, 2007, p.149.
Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy /
Image courtesy: Getty Images/
iStockphoto / Photograph: ©
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The legends of Tie Guan Yin
