| dc.description.abstract | Taiwan is an island whose population is primarily composed of immigrants from different
places and ethnics in different eras. These immigrants had merged with the indigenous
peoples and formed a society with diverse culture. Also, due to the habit of tea-drinking on
the island, I can look into the trace of history and development during these 400 years. This
is a display of the tea industry and tea culture in Taiwan.
In this dissertation, I take “Study on the Inheritance and Evolution of Tea Industry
and Tea Culture in Taiwan” as the subject with a diachronic approach, starting from Dutch
and Spanish Formosa, thru Kingdom of Tungning, Qing Rule, Japanese Occupation, Restoration
to ROC, and finally to the contemporary era. On the other hand, I also adopted a
synchronic approach to explore the influence of political, economic, social, and cultural
backgrounds upon the tea industry and tea culture in Taiwan. In terms of the study on tea
industry, the scope covers the origin of Taiwan tea, as well as the production, consumption,
and policies regarding tea leaves. For the tea culture, it includes the various kinds of teabrewing
techniques, drinking, ceremonies, tea houses, drinking space design, snacks for tea,
and the philosophies and practices of contemporary tea experts.
The introduction covers the background, goal, literature review and comments, methodology
and scope, and structure of the dissertation. In the second chapter “Evolution and
Features of Tea Production and Sale in Taiwan,” I want to explore the origin of the tea
industry in Taiwan; the spread of tea by our ancestors, who introduced the tea planting and
production of their homeland to Taiwan which then became their new home; and the production
and features of contemporary teas in Taiwan. During the period of Dutch Formosa, Taiwan was on the transportation route in the Age of Sail, and it became a trade hub for tea
between China and Europe. This was the root of the policy of exporting Taiwan tea in the
following centuries. During the Japanese Occupation Era, under the government’s banner
of “Industry in Japan and Agriculture in Taiwan,” the research, breeding, plantation, and
mechanized production of tea set a good and stable basis for the development of tea industry
in Taiwan in the next century. After WW2, the government continued to take the production
& sale system since Japanese Occupation Era and export of black tea as the primary policy
direction. It’s not until the 1970s when the tea industry turned from export to domestic
sales due to the two occurrences of global energy crisis.
In the third chapter “Split and Convergence of Tea Industry and Tea Culture in Taiwan,”
I found that the shaping, forming, and development of tea culture in Taiwan are
inseparable with the immigration of our ancestors. In addition to the Period of Tungning
Kingdom and the Qing Rule when our ancestors introduced the “Gongfu Tea Practice”
to Taiwan, the immigrants from different provinces in China also brought their customs of
tea to the island in 1949. The tea became a symbol of nostalgia, which also reflected the fact
that Taiwan’s tea drinking customs are the results of immigration. After 1980, as the government
stressed on domestic sale of Taiwan tea and adopted the “separation of production
and sale” model, with which it promoted tea industry with the tea culture. In that way, the
tea industry and tea culture, which used to develop on their own individually, could now
converge and thrive together. I looked deeper to see the context of the development of tea
culture. In the 1980s, the revitalization of tea art started from the Gongfu Tea Practice, which
led to different kinds of scenes of tea brewing and tea drinking at the time. In the 1990s, a
tea culture centering around Taiwan itself began to emerge. After 2000, the contemporary
tea culture is mixed with the cultures of other countries. The tea in Taiwan then undergoes
a change in its essence, forming the borderless and post-modern tea culture that is rich and diverse.
In the past 20 years, the tea drinking pattern and tea ceremony activities in contemporary
Taiwan have become mature. Discussing the philosophy in tea has been leading to a
new trend. In the fourth chapter “Theories and Practices of Tea Philosophy in Contemporary
Taiwan,” I investigated the forming of tea philosophies of contemporary tea experts,
who basically start from the perspectives of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and propose
their different theories regarding the tea. By hosting different kinds of tea ceremonies,
they realize and fulfill the philosophies they’re holding; such ceremonies include “Lotus
Tea Ceremony” by Lin, Yi-Shan and “Wu-W Tea Ceremony” by Tsai, Jung-Chang.
Tsai, Jung-Chang further advocates the idea of “Tea Artist’s Pure Tea Ceremony,” in
which tea brewing, tasting, and serving shall be the focus.
Teahouses are the products of the Revitalization of Tea in Taiwan. They became popular
thanks to the promotion of tea ceremony. Teahouses are definitely the MVP for driving
the trending of tea drinking in Taiwan. In the fifth chapter “Evolution of Tea Drinking and
Tasting Space,” I stressed on the style of teahouses, operation strategies, rise and fall of
teahouses, and the diverse development of current tea spaces. Through interviews and field
investigation, I shall dig deeper and see the evolution of tea drinking and the tea space.
In sum, the development of tea industry and tea culture in Taiwan was based on the
plantation, production, connotation, and spirits that are derived from China. After Japanese
Occupation and the transition to the ROC government, along with the changes of society,
economy, culture, and globalization, the tea is now heading towards further evolution and
innovation. Combined with design, packaging, and marketing, the Taiwan tea has made its
own unique brands of products. The theater-like ceremonies has also become another trend
of aesthetic economy in terms of contemporary tea industry and tea culture. | en_US |