Lei Cha is only considered as a general drink. If it is used for medicinal purposes, such as dispelling wind and cold, relieving summer heat, clearing fire and detoxifying, it can be added such as fine leaf money, mugwort leaves, small leaf guest bowls (horseshoe gold), bamboo shoots (shepherd’s purse), yellow flowers, mint, etc., which are the same as tea leaves Let’s beat together. Various ingredients, easy-to-cook products, chopped, put into a bowl, and boiled with boiling water; those that are difficult to cook, put in a pot to cook, and washed with boiling water into the bowl.
The effects of Lei Cha are to relieve heat and heat, dispel cold and invigorate the spleen, protect the liver and regulate qi, promote digestion, relieve fatigue, moisten the lungs and quench thirst, supplement the dietary fiber needed by the body, regulate the stomach, relieve phlegm, moisturize the throat, refresh and eliminate food. effect.
The efficacy of Lei Cha is to prevent wind and cold, clear the liver and improve eyesight, moisten the lungs and strengthen the stomach, etc. Because Lei Cha is a mixture of tea leaves and some ingredients, it has diverse effects. Usually, drinking Lei Cha can prevent diseases and maintain health, prolong life, especially after eating a small amount of Lei Cha can remove the greasy feeling in food, make food digest well in the body, and help prevent and treat constipation. In clinical practice, Lei Cha can help treat chronic diseases, especially digestive tract diseases, such as chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, indigestion, and even respiratory diseases, such as colds and chronic bronchitis.
Lei Cha is a remnant of an ancient way of drinking tea. According to legend, it originated from the “medicinal drink” that the people of the Central Plains used to smash green herbs and drink it.
“Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs, encountered seventy-two poisons a day, and got tea to solve them.” At the earliest, people regarded “tea” as a medicine for curing diseases.
Later, it was found that it also has health benefits such as quenching thirst, digesting food, and refreshing, so the “Lei Cha” with the same origin of medicine and food was retained and developed.
Leicha in modern times is the inheritance and development of ancient tea cultures such as porridge tea in Han and Wei Dynasties and fried tea in Tang and Song Dynasties.
According to historical records, during the Qin, Han, and Three Kingdoms periods, it was popular to “cook” fresh tea leaves or mashed dry tea cakes with condiments such as onions, ginger, and oranges and grains to make tea soup or tea porridge for consumption. .
In the Tang Dynasty, the tea ceremony flourished, which promoted the development of Leibo and various tea grinding utensils. People in the Tang and Song dynasties drink tea by first grinding the green tea into fine powder, then adding salt, ginger, mint, orange peel, etc., and drinking the tea after three boils.
Porcelain kilns in the north and south of China at that time produced bowls, which were spread far and wide in Asia. Today, Japanese tea ceremonies still use bowls as tools for making tea. With the southward migration of the Han people, the Central Plains people brought this “salt tea” custom to the south, and brought the pottery craft with them. Many ancient kiln sites that have been firing drums since Tang and Song Dynasties have been found in Ninghua, Jiangle and other places in Fujian today.
Another scholar said that when the Song Dynasty traveled south, it also brought Leicha to Hangzhou. In the notes of Song people, we can often see records about Lei Cha.
For example, Naide Weng in the Southern Song Dynasty said in “Capital Jisheng Teahouse” that the teahouses in Hangzhou, like the old Beijing (Bianliang), “sell Leicha in winter, or sell salt and soy soup”; Wu Zimu in the Southern Song Dynasty also said in “Mengliang The book “Records of Tea Shops” mentioned that the tea shops at that time “sold exotic tea and soup in four seasons, and Dongyuetian sold Qibao Leicha, sanzi, green onion tea, or sold salt and black bean soup.”
Leicha, a simple custom, has been passed down from generation to generation in Fengxi and Xiafang, and has been integrated into the etiquette culture. Through the way of “eating lei tea”, entertaining guests and connecting with each other satisfies people’s etiquette needs to a certain extent. This is one of the reasons why it has survived for thousands of years.
