History of Yellow Tea

19. 07. 2024

Yellow tea is a type of tea that is slightly fermented. Its processing is similar to that of green tea, except that a "yellowing (Men Huang 邶黄)" process is added before or after the drying process. Yellow tea has a long history, and the history of its production can be traced back to before the Tang Dynasty (618-907). There are several important stages in its development.

Western Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD)

From the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-8 AD) to the Tang Dynasty, the name Huangya tea appeared on a regular basis. At that time, they were mainly Mengding Huangya tea and Huoshan Huangya tea. Yueyang Yellow Tea and Huoshan Yellow Tea appeared in Tang Dynasty history books. However, yellow tea at this time referred to those tea leaves whose buds naturally turn yellow.

Tang and Song dynasties (960–1279)

Records of yellow tea production can be found in the books of the Tang and Song dynasties (960-1279). Mengding yellow tea and Huoshan yellow tea are yellow teas with a described history during the Tang Dynasty.

Ming Dynasty (1368–1644)

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the technology of "yellowing (Men Huang 邶黄)" of yellow tea was used in the tea production process. At that time, Mengding Huang Ya tea was born.

Qing Dynasty (1636 - 1912)

The Qing Dynasty was the peak of yellow tea development in China.

During this period, yellow tea production technology spread widely, and in many places, independently developed yellow tea technology also began to mature. Tea growers in many places in China produced different types of yellow tea.

1920s - 1950s

During the Republic of China, black tea and green tea were the main tea export varieties to support the foreign exchange economy. In relation with the frequent wars in China, many yellow teas disappeared from the public eye.

1950 - present

From the 1950s, under the influence of the planned economy policy of the time, people in many tea-growing areas began to produce black tea, and the production of yellow tea was further reduced. At the same time, many related yellow tea production techniques also began to be lost. In the 1970s, only Junshan Yinzhen, Weishan Maojian and Huoshan Huangcha were produced. Since the 80s of the 20th century, with the development of the tea industry, the variety and scale of production of yellow tea has been gradually renewed, production has increased year by year, and the market has gradually expanded. However, in general, the production scale of yellow tea is still significantly lower than that of other teas.