孔院微课堂 | 西湖龙井：绿茶中的“皇后”

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西

湖

龙

井

绿茶中的“皇后”

（本文转载自《孔子学院》中英文对照版2022年第5期/总第75期）

白居易有诗云：“江南忆，最忆是杭州。”杭州城地处江南，气候宜人、繁华富庶，自古以来就人杰地灵。杭州最有名的地方是西湖，最有名的饮品则是以“西湖”命名的龙井茶。如果说西湖的灵山秀水孕育了其特有的龙井茶文化，那么，西湖龙井自然也蕴含了杭州人的一种精神和气质。这种精神和气质是杭州的符号，更是杭州享誉海内外的金字名片。

The poet Bai Juyi once remarked in his poem: “My longing for Jiangnan is encapsulated in my longing for Hangzhou.” The city Hangzhou, with its pleasant climate and economic prosperity, has long been the pearl of the Jiangnan area of China. The most notable scenic site in Hangzhou is the West Lake, which gives name to the city’s most famous drink: the West Lake Longjing tea. Combining mountains with wetlands, the natural landscape of the West Lake provides an advantageous backdrop for the cultivation of Longjing tea, making the West Lake Longjing the embodiment of Hangzhou culture and a hallmark of Hangzhou globally.

西湖龙井，孕育于茶故乡的“绿茶皇后”

West Lake Longjing, the Queen of Green Tea

中国是产茶最早的国家，被称为“茶的故乡”。茶叶与咖啡、可可并称为“世界上流传最广的三大饮品”。从传说中的神农尝百草，到茶学开创者陆羽撰写的世界第一部茶学专著《茶经》，中国的茶叶发展经历了从药用到饮用、从野生到种植的漫长过程。通过茶马古道和丝绸之路，中国的茶叶被运到西北亚及阿拉伯国家，后来又被运往欧洲、美洲甚至世界各地。可以说，世界各国的饮茶风气都经过丝绸之路直接或间接地来自中国。因此，茶叶对于中国与西方国家的贸易往来起到了助推作用。

Being the first country in the world to cultivate tea, China is regarded as the birthplace of tea. Tea ranks among the three most popular beverages in the world, the other two being coffee and cocoa. Boasting pivotal figures like the legendary doctor Shennong who had tasted a hundred herbs and the scholar Lu Yu who penned the first book dedicated to tea, Classics of Tea, China’s tea culture has undergone a long evolution, emerging from the early stage when tea was collected from the wild for its medicinal uses to the more developed stage when it is cultivated to make a beverage. Via the Ancient Tea-Horse Road and the Silk Road, Chinese tea reached the northwestern part of Asia and the Arabic world and was later transported to Europe, the Americas and the rest of the world. It is safe to say that the tea-drinking culture in different parts of the world today can all trace their roots directly or indirectly along the Silk Road back to ancient China. Tea had played a key role in the trade between China and the Western world.

根据茶的品种、制作方式及产品外形，茶叶可以分为绿茶、红茶、黄茶、白茶、乌龙茶、黑茶六大类。其中，西湖龙井以其丰富的文化内涵、独特的加工工艺以及别具特色的品饮方式而声名远扬，是中国传统绿茶名品的代表，被称为“绿茶中的‘上品’”，素有“绿茶皇后”之美誉。

Tea can be classified into six types according to the species and appearance of the tea leaves and the process of their manufacturing: green tea, black tea, yellow tea, white tea, oolong tea and post-fermented dark tea. The West Lake Longjing, a first-grade green tea, stands out among others due to its long cultural history and its unique processing and drinking methods, enjoying the title “Queen of Green Tea”.

西湖龙井，天时地利人和的结晶

A Treasure of History, Nature and Human Ingenuity

西湖龙井因其产自杭州市西湖龙井村周围的群山而得名，已有1200多年的历史。其生长环境得天独厚，东濒西湖，南临钱塘江，北近西溪，三面群山环抱，地理位置处在中国绿茶黄金线的最佳点，这种独特的“天时”与“地利”，在茶树的生长及龙井茶质量提升方面起到了至关重要的作用。

The West Lake Longjing gets its name from the region where it was first cultivated one thousand and two hundred years ago: the mountainous region surrounding the Longjing village, West Lake. The birthplace of West Lake Longjing is adjacent to Xixi wetland on the north, the West Lake on the east, and the Qiantang river on the south and itself is surrounded by mountains from three sides. The tea farm also lies on the 30th parallel north, the “golden line” for green tea cultivation in China. This enviable combination of natural environment and humid climate makes the region an ideal place for growing tea and guarantees the superb quality of the West Lake Longjing tea.

西湖龙井以色泽翠绿、香气浓郁、形美味醇而闻名。如果说“天时”与“地利”是西湖龙井质量优良的基础，那么“人和”则将其质量推至极致。杭州茶文化积淀深厚，在其数千年的种茶、制茶、饮茶历史中，人茶相融，人工制茶技艺逐渐精湛。

The West Lake Longjing is renowned for its fresh green color, rich aroma, delicate tea leaves and mellow taste. If its long history and ideal natural habitat assure the high quality of the West Lake Longjing, then the ingenuity of Hangzhou tea masters is what crowns it as an art. Hangzhou boasts a millennium-long tradition of growing, making and drinking tea and has developed a superb workmanship in tea-making.

龙井茶的加工工序分为采摘、晾晒、揉捻和炒制四个步骤。其中采摘主要以早、以嫩为贵，龙井茶每年清明或谷雨前采摘最佳，而鲜叶嫩匀度则决定了龙井茶的质量。相比于夏秋季节采摘的茶叶，外形扁平光滑、苗锋尖削、芽长于叶、色泽嫩绿的春茶在质量上要好很多。因此，我们可以通过茶叶的外形色泽、叶片大小、茶条光滑程度来判断龙井茶的质量级别。西湖龙井的鲜叶在采摘完以后，需要放在竹筛上晾晒半天，这样既能减少茶叶中的青涩味道，又能使茶叶中的水分达到炒制时的要求，避免茶叶在炒制过程中出现结团的现象。经过晾晒的茶叶，通过外力揉成人们希望的形状，这一过程我们称为“揉捻”。由于西湖龙井要求适当保留一些茶叶青叶的原状，其揉捻工序就会相对弱化一些。西湖龙井的最后一道工序是手工炒制，整个炒制过程共分为青锅、回潮、辉锅三个阶段以及抖、带、挤、甩、挺、拓、扣、抓、压、磨十大手法，炒制时讲求“茶不离锅、手不离茶”，这种纯手工炒茶技艺已被列入国家级非物质文化遗产保护名录。

The production process of Longjing tea involves four steps: plucking, drying, rolling and wok-frying. To make Longjing tea, the tender the tea leaves are and the earlier they are plucked, the better; therefore Longjing tea leaves are picked early, often before qingming or guyu (solar terms according to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, happening on 4–5 April and 20–21 April respectively) each year and the quality of the tea is determined by the tenderness and smoothness of the freshly plucked leaves. The tea leaves plucked in spring have a flat and smooth surface, the blades are sharp, and the young shoots are long and tenderly green, so they are considered superior to tea leaves plucked in summer or autumn. The shape, color, size and smoothness of the tea leaves are important indicators of the grade of Longjing tea. After the fresh leaves are plucked, they are placed on meshed bamboo trays for half a day to dry. This process removes part of the bitter flavor of the fresh leaves and reduces their water content, so that they are less likely to clump when fried. The dried leaves are then hand rolled into desirable shapes. As the shape of the fresh tea leaf is a signature of the West Lake Longjing, its rolling process is therefore performed quickly and tenderly. The last step is frying the leaves by hand, involving three steps—first frying, re-moisturization off the wok, and second frying—and ten techniques: stirring, gliding, squeezing, tossing, straightening, spreading, tapping, grabbing, pressing, and rubbing. The perfect frying requires that “the leaves always touch the wok and the hands always touch the leaves”. This art of tea-frying has been included in China’s intangible cultural heritage list.

中国茶都，西湖龙井对杭州的馈赠

West Lake Longjing and Hangzhou, the City of Tea

2005年，杭州被授予“中国茶都”的称号；2011年，“中国杭州西湖文化景观”被列入《世界遗产名录》。西湖龙井茶园，作为杭州成功申报《世界遗产名录》的西湖文化遗产六大要素之一，是西湖文化景观中独特而重要的组成部分。这也是世界文化遗产申报首次将茶融入世界文化景观遗产。西湖龙井与其他元素一起构成了杭州这座国家级历史名城的文化底蕴。

In 2005, Hangzhou was bestowed the title “China’s City of Tea”; in 2011, the “West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou” was listed as a World Heritage by UNESCO. The Longjing tea garden is among the six key features of the West Lake, a unique and integral part of the West Lake cultural landscape. This is the first time that a World Cultural Heritage includes tea farms as part of the cultural landscape. Part of Hangzhou’s charm as a renowned cultural and historical city in China is built around the aroma of the West Lake Longjing tea.

西湖龙井在杭州的城市发展中具有重要的地位，是都市休闲农业的成功典范，是杭州绿色经济的重要支撑。“不游西湖不算到过杭州，不喝西湖龙井不算认识杭州”，生长在西湖山水之间的龙井茶园是杭州的天然美景，而坐落在茶园间的农家茶楼则是游客的休闲天堂。西湖龙井茶已发展为一项绿色产业，也给杭州带来了极大的经济利益。杭州的茶文化活动数以百计，内容丰富多样，同时中国国际茶叶博览会和中华茶奥会两大盛会也相继落户杭州，西湖龙井在杭州的绿色经济发展中功不可没。

The West Lake Longjing also plays a key role in Hangzhou’s urban development. It is a model of urban entertainment-oriented agriculture and a pillar of Hangzhou’s green economy. As the West Lake is a mustsee for any visitor of Hangzhou, drinking the West Lake Longjing is also an indispensable part of the visitor’s Hangzhou experience. Tourists visiting the Longjing tea farm can appreciate the beautiful scenery of the West Lake while relaxing themselves in the tea houses on the farm. The West Lake Longjing has developed into a successful green industry that brings sizable revenue for Hangzhou each year. Amongst a great number of diverse tea-related cultural events taking place in Hangzhou, the annual China International Tea Expo and the Chinese Tea Olympic Games are the highlights of recent years, and the West Lake Longjing shines out in this thriving green economy.

西湖龙井是中国茶文化的有机组成部分，它成长于“淡妆浓抹总相宜”的美丽西子湖畔，根植于博大精深的中国传统文化之中，无处不彰显着其独特的韵味、魅力和价值。闲暇之余，沏上一壶西湖龙井，慢慢品味，放松心情，感受茶水的香甜与自然之美，享受杭州这座“生态休闲之都”“生活品质之都”的精致慢生活，一切惬意又自在。

Born upon the beautiful West Lake and rooted in China’s long traditional culture, the West Lake Longjing is a valuable component of China’s tea culture, and its unique charm has fascinated people globally. If you are not in a hurry, why not sip a cup of West Lake Longjing tea? The relaxed and eco-friendly lifestyle of Hangzhou and the harmony between nature and culture are brewed just right in your cup of West Lake Longjing. 

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作者：李宁 Li Ning

翻译：符梦醒 Fu Mengxing

美术编辑：刘美洋（实习）

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