Beijing, September 9 -- Entering China's 17th World Heritage Site: Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape

Reporter Ying Ni

On September 9, the 17th session of UNESCO's World Heritage Conference in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, adopted a resolution to inscribe China's "Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" on the World Heritage List, bringing the number of World Heritage Sites in China to 45. "Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" has become the world's first tea-themed world cultural heritage.

Located in Lancang County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province, the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape includes 5 ancient tea forests, 9 traditional villages and 3 separate shelter forests. The Shi residents creatively adopt the "tea under the forest" planting method that adapts to nature and makes appropriate use to form a tea culture landscape of "forest tea symbiosis and harmony between people and land".

Aerial photograph of the ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain. Photo by Jia Xiang

People in the grass and trees: the ancient tea forest of wisdom and ecology

Man among the grass and trees - the ancient Chinese people elucidated their understanding of "tea" when creating words.

This is a long ancient tea forest.

Historians have found in the Book of Manshu of the Tang Dynasty and the temple scriptures of Jingmai Mountain that tea gardens had been planted on a large scale here for more than a thousand years before the 10th century AD. Around the 10th to 14th centuries AD, the ancestors of the Brown and Dai ethnic groups migrated to Jingmai Mountain. Legend has it that the ancestor leader of the Brown tribe, Pa Ai Leng encountered a plague when migrating to Jingmai Mountain, and was accidentally saved by a leaf here, and thanks to the gift of God, he led the tribe to settle here. Nan Kang, a 61-year-old tea farmer of the Brown tribe in Mangjing Village, said that the Brown people still abide by the legacy of their ancestors: when the gold and silver treasures left behind will eventually run out, and when the cattle, horses and livestock are left behind, only by leaving this tea garden and tea trees for you can future generations have food and clothing. "We Brown love the tea tree as much as we love our own eyes."

This is an ancient tea forest of wisdom.

The tea planting method under the forest adopted by the ancestors has been passed down to this day: the tea forest is developed in a limited sheet between the forests, and the forest is retained between the tea forests as a separation protection, so that the tea forest is protected by the forest. At the same time, people selectively cut down plants that are not conducive to the growth of tea trees, retaining shade trees to provide the tea tree's favorite diffuse light; In the ancient tea forest, there are many osmanthus trees, duoyi trees, camphor trees, and their unique aromas will be transmitted to the tea leaves, so that the tea leaves have a natural aroma, and also inhibit some diseases and pests. The top layer of the tea forest is made of tall trees, the middle is a layer of small trees and shrubs dominated by tea trees, and the ground is herbaceous. The herbaceous layer, together with dead branches and leaves, conserves the soil and provides the natural nutrients that tea plants need; Insects and birds that live in the forest help protect tea plants from pests. Natural farming allows ancient tea forests to maintain ecological balance – this understory tea cultivation method allows tea plants to grow vibrantly in a three-dimensional forest ecosystem.

Jingmai Mountain Cloud Sea. Photo by Shao Hongyan

This is an ecological ancient tea forest.

The Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has conducted a detailed survey of plant diversity here. Fourteen species of wild plants under key protection in China, such as long-tailed single-chamber dogwood, grate-tooth cycad and Chinese alderwood, grow on the same land as tea plants. A total of 14 families, 125 genera, 489 species and varieties of seed plants, 943 species of ornamental insects, 16 species of terrestrial vertebrates, 187 species of mammals, 22 species of birds and 134 species of economic insects were recorded in the ancient tea forest. On the one hand, good plant and animal diversity can form a mutually restricting relationship between species, which can effectively inhibit the occurrence of diseases and pests. The leaf litter of the upper trees provides rich organic nutrients for the growth of tea plants, which in turn effectively maintains the stability of the ancient tea forest ecosystem.

Chen Yaohua, chief expert of the application text of the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Pu'er Jingmai Mountain and director of the World Heritage Research Center of Peking University, pointed out that the cultural landscape of the ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain is a typical example of the tea planting tradition under the forest that has continued by the secular people in southwest China. This cultivation method is unique in the context of today's world-scale tea plantation dominance, showing ecological ethics and wisdom that are important for the sustainable development of today's society.

Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest. Photo by Yi Haifei

Man in heaven and earth: harmonious and symbiotic tea culture

In Jingmai Mountain, there are forests first, and then villages.

People make rational use of the mountain environment: the water source is on the top of the mountain, the ancient tea forest and the village are in the middle of the mountain, the outer shelter forest can prevent the low temperature and the spread of diseases and pests in winter, and the cultivated land is in the low altitude area with sufficient water source to avoid the interference of the ancient tea forest during the planting process.

Xiong Dengkui, associate researcher of the Lancang County Museum, pointed out that such a "vertical altitude land use" allows forests to be used, tea forests to be protected, and villages to continue, demonstrating the wisdom of the ancestors in following nature and protecting ancient tea forests.

Village planning also adheres to the principle of intensive land use: villagers will set up a village center at the beginning of the village. The people of Jingmai Mountain believe that every village has a guardian deity, and the residence of the village god is in the heart of the village. In order to get the protection of the god of the village, the houses are arranged around the heart of the village. Villagers built houses using bamboo and wood from local materials. In order to adapt to the local rainy and humid climate, the ground floor overhead residential form was formed, this type is called "dry column building", where people are engaged in tea drying and kneading.

Zou Yiqing, director of Beijing Tsinghua Tongheng Planning and Design Institute, is responsible for the repair and internal applicability of the traditional residential buildings in Jingmai Mountain, starting from the most basic waterproofing, sound insulation and other issues, so that the old houses can be reborn, and the overall coordination between the settlement space and the heritage site is realized in the landscape style.

Jingmai Mountain Wongji Village. Photo by Ying Ni

In Jingmai Mountain, there were tea trees first, and then there were residents.

Every year in March and April, "making spring tea" is the top priority of Jingmai Mountain people, and it is also the busiest time of the year. The most exquisite picking and production techniques are still done by hand, and the tea leaves are spread on the terrace specially placed for drying tea, waiting for the sun to carve.

When the tea seeds are ripe in autumn, villagers replant them in the forest clearing. The ancient tea forest is an ancient tea forest where ancient trees, new trees, large trees and small trees coexist, and organically renewed, and the construction of ancestors and generations of Jingmai mountain people has gradually formed a cultural landscape of "mountain forest, forest tea, tea around the village".

Zhang Pisheng, deputy secretary of the Lancang County Party Committee and director of the Pu'er Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Protection Administration, revealed that in order to realize the protection and sustainable development of the ancient tea forest cultural landscape of Jingmai Mountain, Pu'er City promulgated and implemented 3 special laws and 7 rules and regulations, completed the collection and sorting of 177 relevant laws and regulations, and compiled the Jingmai Mountain Village Plan, providing a basis for the protection and utilization of 15 natural villages within the heritage area.

In Jingmai Mountain, all things have spirit, and tea trees have souls.

The Chashan people see tea as a part of life, derived from ecological ethics.

Animism is the simple concept held by the people of Jingmai Mountain. Reverence for nature and protection of life have become the conscious ecological ethics of the local people. On important festivals, villagers go to the Buddhist temple to worship. Southern Buddhism is a common belief of the Jingmai Mountain Dai and Brown peoples.

Tea ancestor worship is the folk belief of the tea people in Jingmai Mountain. They enshrined the tribal leaders who had migrated here with their leading people and opened up tea forests as tea ancestors. The tea soul tree of the Brown tribe and the tea god tree of the Dai ethnic group represent the tea ancestor guarding the tea forest and witnessing the ancient tea forest for thousands of years.

The local people of Pu'er Jingmai Mountain worship tea ancestors. Self-Peiping

Every April, the Brown tribe welcomes the most important festival "Sankang Tea Ancestral Festival". The Brown people offer the best spring tea of the year to Chazu Pa Jieleng, calling for tea souls at the tea soul platform and praying for the tea ancestor to bless the tea forest and village. At the same time, the Dai people ushered in the Dai New Year Songkran Festival. Everyone offered the newly made spring tea to the Burmese temple, and yellow rice and beeswax to the tea god tree to express their gratitude.

The reporter saw at the Mangjingshan Tea Soul Platform that each group of sacrificial pillars had five sacrificial pillars, representing the five ethnic groups living in the Jingmai Mountain area, such as the Brown people, the Dai people, the Hani people, the Lahu people, and the Wa people. Jingmai camellia culture with "harmony" as the core emphasizes heaven and earth, people and people, body and body, heart and mind, reflecting the spiritual connotation of health preservation, cultivation, pleasantness and respect, and shaping the peaceful and friendly national character of the local residents, not only did there be no war between various ethnic groups under the condition of limited natural resources, but also helped each other and coexisted harmoniously.

The application awakens the people's sense of ownership

Su Guowen, 77, is the inheritor of Yunnan's provincial intangible cultural heritage project "Pu'er Tea Ancestor Custom". After retiring from the Lancang County Education Bureau in 2004, he returned to Mangjing Village in Jingmai Mountain, where he devoted himself to the protection and inheritance of the traditional culture of the Brown people. With the joint efforts of him and the villagers, in 2006, Mangjing Village resumed the traditional festivals of the Brown people "Sankang Tea Ancestral Festival", "Open Door Festival" and "Close Door Festival"... The "tea soul" concept of the Brown people is gradually recovering.

When interviewed by reporters, Su Guowen always believed that to keep the heritage, we must rely on people, one is to do a good job in national education, and the other is to increase the inheritance and promotion of national traditional culture, which is also the reason why he personally wrote books.

Dai tea farmer Xiangong, born in 1984, is now a well-known tea person, not only shortlisted for the 2019th "National Rural Youth Prosperity Leader" in 2021, but also commended by the All-China Women's Federation as a "National Pacesetter for Women's Achievements" in <>.

For Xiangong and many residents of Jingmai Mountain, they still have a heavy memory. The tea leaves painstakingly picked from ancient trees in the early years do not seem to have more economic value. With the help of the local government, Xiangong established the Jingmai Tea Farmers Professional Cooperative in 2010, adopting the model of "brand + base + cooperative + farmer", so that tea farmers can not only get dividends through the cooperative, but also work in their own tea gardens. Farmers are responsible for planting and ensuring the quality of tea, and cooperatives are responsible for purchasing and selling. In this way, the brand influence of Pu'er tea has been expanded and revenue has been increased. By the end of 2022, the number of members of the Jingmai Tea Farmers Professional Cooperative has increased from the initial 27 to 229, the tea garden area has reached more than 9000,200 mu, the annual output of tea is more than 500 tons, and the radiation has driven nearly <> surrounding farmers to increase their income.

Local people in Pu'er Jingmai Mountain pick tea. Photo by Tan Chun

The 29-year-old graduated from Minzu University of China and spent four years in Beijing for another two years, feeling homesick when he learned that Jingmai Mountain's application had entered the sprint stage, he returned to his hometown in 4, opened a homestay, restaurant and café in Wongji Village, and tried to shoot videos with the team to promote local ethnic culture; Ye Xiang, who had just finished university in Kunming, returned to her hometown for only half a year, and as the youngest daughter of the head of the Jingmai Brown Princess Tea Factory, she plans to let more people know about Jingmai Mountain through the Internet, such as live broadcasts or short videos.

"The people are the real masters of cultural heritage," Shan Jixiang, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and director of the Academic Committee of the Palace Museum, expressed this view in an interview with China News Agency. "Conservation and utilization are not the ultimate goal, inheritance is, and it must be a living inheritance. To make cultural heritage beautiful and alive, this is not the patent of the government and the cultural relics department, but the common cause of hundreds of millions of people, and everyone has the right to know, participate, supervise and enjoy the protection of cultural heritage. ”

As the world's first tea cultural landscape themed world heritage project, Chen Yaohua looks forward to Jingmai Mountain's cutting-edge exploration in the field of tea cultural landscape heritage protection, contributing "Chinese experience" and "Chinese wisdom" to the protection of world heritage, and jointly safeguarding world heritage with all mankind. (End)