Intrinsic Logic of Tujia’s History, Events, and Songs Relating to Tea

Being the world birthplace of tea, the southwest region of China was where Ba tribe resided in ancient time. As the descendants of Ba, Tujia people inherited and passed the long lineage of tea culture. They not only took tea as beverage for drinking, food, and medicine but also literally worshipped it like divinity. From that background, rich and colorful rituals around tea were generated throughout the history. In their daily work, leisure, and religious activities Tujia created brilliant songs for entertainment and religious purposes, which led researchers to believe there lies a logic intrinsic to the history, events, and songs around tea. For Tujia, the long history in cultivating, processing, and drinking tea provided the themes for numerous events, the celebration events formed the material basis for the songs they had created, and the resplendent songs became the venue to spread the stories and events of tea.