Relationship Between Chinese Herb Tea and Chinese Identity
Needless to say, Chinese herb tea is described as wisdom crystal of China because of its multi-curative functions. It is also viewed as an intangible cultural heritage which is supposed to be preserved and promoted actively.In Chinese traditional culture, harmonious relationship between human being and nature is highly pursued. Integrating human being into nature (tianrenheyi) is deemed as the ultimate goal in traditional philosophy so human being is part of nature indeed. Such concept can be applied to understand how Chinese herb tea refers to Chinese identity.
All the ingredients of Chinese herb tea can be directly found from nature and used without purification or any complex chemical reactions so Chinese herb tea is symbolized as nature. Natural characteristic of Chinese herb tea implies that Chinese people is advocator of nature in the traditional belief. It is believed that they can merge with nature and thus utilize the powerful impact of nature for defense against disease and maintenance of health by intake of Chinese herb tea.This way of thinking demonstrates what Gabaccia (1998) call we are what we eat. Chinese herb tea not only represents Chinese understanding of medical science and nature but also reflects their collective identity which is aspiration for natural integration and oneness.
Besides, traditional Chinese herb tea shops are family-run business and have been passed down from generation to generation. This business model signifies the significant of family in Chinese philosophy. In this regards, family plays an essential role in preservation and accumulation of Chinese herb tea culture before modernization of Chinese herb tea. For these reasons, its contribution towards Chinese herb tea cannot be neglected.
Read more about this topic: Chinese Herb Tea
Famous quotes containing the words relationship between, relationship, chinese, herb, tea and/or identity:
“There is a relationship between cartooning and people like Miró and Picasso which may not be understood by the cartoonist, but it definitely is related even in the early Disney.”
—Roy Lichtenstein (b. 1923)
“We think of religion as the symbolic expression of our highest moral ideals; we think of magic as a crude aggregate of superstitions. Religious belief seems to become mere superstitious credulity if we admit any relationship with magic. On the other hand our anthropological and ethnographical material makes it extremely difficult to separate the two fields.”
—Ernst Cassirer (1874–1945)
“Elsa Bannister: The Chinese say “It is difficult for love to last long; therefore one who loves passionately is cured of love, in the end.”
Michael O’Hara: That’s a hard way of thinking.
Elsa: There’s more to the proverb: “Human nature is eternal; therefore one who follows his nature keeps his original nature, in the end.””
—Orson Welles (1915–1985)
“Find out the peaceful hermitage,
The hairy gown and mossy cell,
Where I may sit and rightly spell
Of every star that heaven doth show,
And every herb that sips the dew;
Till old experience do attain
To something like prophetic strain.
These pleasures Melancholy give,
And I with thee will choose to live.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)
“My tea is nearly ready and the sun has left the sky;
It’s time to take the window to see Leerie going by;
For every night at tea-time and before you take your seat,
With lantern and with ladder he comes posting up the street.”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
“Personal change, growth, development, identity formation—these tasks that once were thought to belong to childhood and adolescence alone now are recognized as part of adult life as well. Gone is the belief that adulthood is, or ought to be, a time of internal peace and comfort, that growing pains belong only to the young; gone the belief that these are marker events—a job, a mate, a child—through which we will pass into a life of relative ease.”
—Lillian Breslow Rubin (20th century)