祁门红茶源流考

Origin and Flow of Qimen Black Tea

从18世纪中叶至19世纪上半叶,国际市场上红茶需求日趋旺盛,形成以红茶为主的贸易格局,极大地促进了中国红茶产业的发展,红茶制造技术从福建武夷山地区不断北传到江西、湖南、湖北、安徽等地,最终于19世纪六七十年代孕育出品质优异的祁门红茶。祁门红茶产区在地域上并非局限于祁门一县,而是涵盖祁门、建德和浮梁三县。祁门红茶的创制时间应该包括咸丰十一年前后的初期阶段、同治五年的第二阶段和光绪初年的最终定型三个阶段。晚清时期,作为高端红茶的祁门红茶从无到有,对外贸易发展迅速,逐渐成为国际市场上最有竞争力的畅销商品。

From the mid-18th to the first half of the 19th century,the demand for black tea in the international market gradually grew.This formed a trade pattern dominated by black tea,it greatly promoted the development of the black tea industry in China.The manufacturing techniques of black tea continuously spread from the Wuyi Mountain area in Fujian province to northern regions such as Jiangxi,Hunan,Hubei,Anhui and others.Qimen black tea with excellent quality was finally bred in the 1860s and 1870s.The producing area of Qimen black tea is not limited to one county,but covers three counties,namely Qimen,Jiande and Fuliang.The creation time of Qimen black tea should include three stages:the initial stage around the 1lth year of Xianfeng era,the second stage in the 5th year of Tongzhi era and the final stage in the early year of Guangxu era.In the late Qing Dynasty,Qimen black tea,as a highend black tea,grew from scratch and developed rapidly in foreign trade,it gradually became the most competitive best-selling goods in the international market.