1. French tea culture before the outbreak of the Great Revolution
Before the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, French tea culture had taken shape. The French tea culture in this period has a typical court aristocracy. Tea is regarded as a noble drink, which is basically popular only in the upper classes of society such as the court and nobles. In the eyes of ordinary people, tea has even become a symbol of the French royal family.
(1) Early import of tea
In p>1636, the Dutch businessman known as the "sea coachman" transported China's tea to Paris, France, and the French began to come into contact with tea. In French, the word "tea" began to appear. As tea was first transported to France by the Dutch, the French word "the", like the Dutch word "the", originated from the pronunciation of "te" in Minnan dialect in Xiamen, Fujian. On August 3rd, 17, a French ship named Amphitrite returned silk, porcelain and tea from China, which started the direct trade of tea between China and France. Since then, the number of ships carrying tea and other goods between China and France has gradually increased. However, during this period, France's tea import trade was not independent, and most of it was imported into France together with other goods. In 1728 (the sixth year of Emperor Yongzheng of Qing Dynasty), the French first established a commercial base in Guangzhou [1](P.478), and it was more convenient and quick to buy tea and other goods from China.
(2) The upper class of society accepted tea drinking
At the beginning of the introduction of tea into France, the medical profession once opposed tea drinking. In 1648, Gui Patin, an academician of the French Academy of Sciences and a doctor in Paris, said that tea was a strange thing that was not suitable for this century, while some French doctors thought that tea contained some possible medicinal ingredients, so people in the medical field started a pen battle. In 1648, Dr. Monsieur Morisset wrote a paper, claiming that tea has the function of spiritual excitement. Unfortunately, this paper was burned by some fierce officials who opposed herbs before he submitted it to the University of Paris!
Soon, the idea that drinking tea is good for health won an overwhelming victory. From about 1653 to 1666, a French priest, Aiexander de khodes, said in his travels of missionaries, "China people owe their health and longevity to tea, which is a common drink in the East." Around 1657, educationist C.Seguier, medical scientist D this Nkuete and others also strongly recommended tea, praising it as an immortal grass comparable to sacred wine and fairy medicine. In 1685, Philippe Sylvestre Dufour published the novel treatise on coffee, tea and chocolate, which was one of the earliest books on tea in France. The book praises tea as a wonderful leaf to cure headaches and help digestion, and it can even be used as a prescription.
In France, the first people to accept tea were the royal aristocrats. When tea was just imported into France, it was regarded as a luxury because of its high price. The royal aristocrats who drink tea generally regard tea as a "panacea" and "elixir of life" to cure diseases. It is said that Cardinal Mazarin, the grandfather of French King Louis XIV, suffers from gout. He firmly believes that drinking tea often can alleviate his illness, and drinking tea often makes him enjoy the taste of tea more and more. Louis XIV, the "King of the Sun", began to drink tea in 1665. He also thought that drinking tea would help alleviate gout. More interestingly, he heard that China and Japanese never suffer from heart disease because of drinking tea.
Due to the advocacy of the royal family, drinking tea gradually became popular among the upper class in Paris, France. Madame de Sevigne, a historian of Louis XIV, often mentioned drinking tea in his works. She once wrote: "Look at Princess Tarente ... She drinks 12 cups of tea every day ... so all her illnesses are cured. She told me that Monsieur de Landgrave drinks 4 cups of tea every morning; But his wife may have had about 3 drinks. No, 4 cups. His wife was going to die, but she came back to life because of drinking tea, and now she is still alive in front of our eyes! " [2]
In the 18th century, the idea that drinking tea is beneficial to disease prevention and treatment still prevailed in the upper class of France. In 1713, Aucient Account of India and China, translated by French Far East scientist Eusè be Renaud Ot (1646-172), was published in Paris. In the book, Renaud said: "China people drink tea to prevent all diseases, and Hugh Te also believes that tea has curative effect. In 1718, he published his autobiography" Memorandum ",saying that tea cured his stomach disease and ophthalmia." [1](P.369) Tea has gradually won many enthusiastic supporters in Paris and Versailles. As Princess Palatine commented in 1714, the popularity of China's tea in Paris is just like the Spanish love chocolate. At that time, Mazarin, the head of the royal minister, Racine, the playwright and Madame de Genlis, the famous writer, all became lovers of tea ceremony.
(3) Preliminary formation of French tea culture
Compared with other European countries, French tea culture was formed earlier. The reason is that "romantic French can experience the taste and emotional appeal of tea culture from the spiritual field while accepting China tea products" [3]. As early as the 17th century, French upper class regarded China tea as a noble drink. Educated people drank tea together, often discussed the brand and color of tea, and often conveyed tea information from China. They always tried to search for a mysterious cultural sign from the tea itself.
besides drinking tea soup, the French began to try other ways of drinking tea. De Madame de Sevigne, a historian in the 14th century of Louis, once reported that Marquise de la Sabliere began to try the method of adding milk to tea [2]. This new way of tasting tea soon spread to Britain and was greatly welcomed by British gentlemen.
In the process of drinking tea, the literati started literary creation activities with tea as the object. In 179, Pierre Daniel Huet published his Latin poems in Paris, singing tea with elegy poems. In 1712, the French writer Peter Antoine Mitteyx wrote Ode to Tea, in which he sang the praises of cha de: "The joy of heaven is only the fragrance of tea, and it is also natural to make real money. Cover the quick and appropriate treatment, and the quality of Kangning ... Tea will follow the wine, and the end of the war will be peace. Drinking tea in groups is the nectar of God. " [1](P.365-366)
Second, the French tea culture from the Great Revolution to the 196s
After the French Revolution, with the disappearance of the aristocratic class, tea was no longer regarded as an aristocratic drink, and the wind of drinking tea gradually spread among the general public. But until the 196s, the common people seldom drank tea. Tea drinkers are mostly bourgeois and expatriates from Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union. In the eyes of ordinary people, tea and health care drugs can be roughly equated. It is only suitable for drinking when you have a cold or indigestion, or a slimming drink that women drink to keep slim.
(I) tea importation and trial planting of tea trees
1. Tea importation and sale
The earliest tea imported in France was China's green tea, followed by oolong tea, black tea, scented tea and Tuocha (brick tea). After the 19th century, with the success of tea planting in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Vietnam and other countries, tea from these countries also entered the French market one after another.
in the mid-19th century, tea merchants specializing in tea import trade began to appear in France. On June 1st, 1854, Mariage Freres Tea Company was established in Paris. The founders of the company are Henri and Edouard Mariage of the Mariachi family, whose ancestors had a tradition of tea import trade. Jean-Francois Mariage, the grandfather of Henry and Edward, began to import tea, spices and other overseas goods in Lille, north of Paris, after about 17. After his death, his four sons, Louis, Aime, Charles and Auguste, continued to import tea and other overseas goods. The brothers Henry and Edward are Amy's sons. Under the management of Henry and Edward brothers, the company's business is booming. In the course of operation, Mary Archie Brothers Tea Company has established its own brand trademark: randomly mixing tea. In 186, the company successfully developed the secret recipe of mixing chocolate and mandarin tea, which is a kind of tea mixed with chocolate. It played a healthy brand to attract customers and achieved great success.
In domestic tea retailing, in the early days, tea was mostly run by pharmacies, grocery stores and food stores. Later, some tea-specialized or tea-oriented firms appeared in Paris and other places.
2. Trial planting of tea trees
After tea trees were successfully transplanted from China to Japanese, Indian, Bangladeshi and other countries, countries rushed to try planting. France has also joined the army of trial planting countries. Around 179, Gordon, a London florist, presented a tea tree to Le Chevalier in Paris, which was the first French tea tree. In 1938, Guillemin, a plant technician at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, received 3, tea plants donated by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, of which less than half survived, but the Botanical Garden paid great attention to protection. After that, it was planted on the coast of Saumur and Angers to test whether the soil and climate were suitable for growing tea. The results show that it is possible to grow, but the quality is poor, so it can't achieve commercial success [1](P.115). After that, France stopped the trial planting of tea trees.