There are nuances to culture that escape the detection of those not entrenched within it. Accessing this intimate knowledge relies upon deep immersion in that culture over time. It’s not something that can be analyzed in a lab.
“You cannot bring culture — this thing that we are mired in and that we live inside of — and put it into some kind of test tube and conduct experiments with it,” said anthropology Ph.D. candidate . “So how do you study cultural phenomena?”
The answer: ethnography, a research method used by anthropologists to gain firsthand perspectives of a culture by existing within it and talking with those who live it.
For nearly nine years, Braga has traveled across China and Taiwan to understand the relatively recent revival of traditional Chinese tea culture.
“Often during my fieldwork, I’ve heard that there is a sense that traditional tea culture is being revived, that this is a process that is in its early stages to a certain degree and that there is an enormous potential for growth,” Braga said. “And the question that is most important from the perspective of anthropology is, what were the main social, cultural, economic and political factors driving this revival?”
From deep archival research and interviews with cultural curators and government officials to studying tea art and learning brewing techniques from tea masters, Braga, through his research, is unraveling the geopolitical history underlying the traditional tea revival across China and Taiwan.
“In order to make sense of the sociological significance of this revival, we must consider its emergence and development against the backdrop of China-Taiwan political relations,” he said. “It is China-Taiwan tensions that provide a kind of bed of meaning upon which the revival of traditional tea culture across China and Taiwan is being developed.”
From cultural symbol to global commodity
According to Braga, while tea drinking originated and was practiced in China for thousands of years, it developed as an art form and cultural aesthetic during the Tang dynasty, between the year 618 and 907. Tea drinking, Braga said, was an elegant and refined pastime enjoyed by courtly elites, the aesthetics of it infused with ideals from Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian traditions.
“For about 1,000 years, really, tea was this very important cultural and quasi-religious symbol for dynastic life in China,” Braga said. “But that changed with growing globalization, particularly as contact with colonial powers increased.”
Alongside silk and porcelain, tea became an important and lucrative commodity, shedding its previous status as a purely cultural and quasi-religious symbol. It became particularly popular in the British Empire. However, Braga said, at the time, western powers could only purchase tea from a specific trading port in Canton, located in the coastal province of Guangdong. Outside of China, little was known about tea’s source plant and the production of the beverage.
“Because the British Empire was buying more and more tea and porcelain and silk, and China didn’t really want anything in exchange besides silver, the British Empire started smuggling opium and selling opium,” Braga said.
This led to the , or as Braga called it the ‘first Sino-British tea war.’ It ended with China’s defeat, ushering in a period known as the “,” which was characterized by colonial encroachment over the Chinese empire by western powers.
This included the espionage work of , who stole knowledge and plant material from China to establish the tea plantation system in India, which eventually took over the Chinese market for global tea.
A few decades later, in 1895, China ceded control of Taiwan to Japan, and Japan began transforming Taiwan’s tea industry into an export-oriented business.
“This highly lucrative enterprise was violently wrested from China by colonial powers, symbolizing subjugation during the century of humiliation,” Braga said. “That’s the historical context that must be put in place if we are to understand why traditional, or traditionalized, tea culture started being revived.”
The start of the tea culture revival
Following World War II, China regained control of Taiwan after a 50-year occupation by Japan. Four years later, the Republic of China government was overthrown by the People’s Republic of China, with the former retreating to Taiwan.
In 1971, the United Nations adopted a resolution that recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole representative of China internationally. This resolution left Taiwan without statehood on the international stage.
“It turns out that when you’re not a country, it’s really difficult to export things,” said Braga, noting that the export-oriented tea industry developed during Japan’s rule of Taiwan became domestic.
Around the same time, a Cultural Revolution occurred in the People’s Republic of China that sought to erase traditional influences from Chinese society. Braga said the confluence of these events led to Taiwan being the birthplace of the tea culture revival.
“In order to maintain its precarious sovereignty, Taiwan bets heavily on being the protector of traditional Chinese culture,” Braga said.
In 1982, Taiwan established the Republic of China Tea Art Association to help preserve this heritage. The People’s Republic of China also walked back its Cultural Revolution stance, reestablishing the country’s ties to its historical tea culture.
Steeping in tea culture
For close to nine years, Braga has learned about the history of tea culture and its influences on modern China-Taiwan relations directly from those within it. He’s learned how to brew tea from tea masters, who are experts on the beverage and its myriad nuances.
“You’re going to brew it over and over and over again until you really feel like you got it,” Braga said. “It’s not only a ritual, it’s a way to train your body and your sense, your sensibility, to produce the best kind of tea possible.”
But the tea’s artistic quality is in more than just its taste. It’s embedded in the brewing process, the way the tea brewer conducts themself. What’s more, the brewer’s and taster’s relationship with tea becomes a platform for nationalistic identity.
Today, the Taiwanese political landscape is divided between two major parties. The Democratic Progressive Party advocates for Taiwan being a separate cultural, political and economic entity from China. The party Kuomintang advocates for a close relationship with China.
For some of the people who Braga has interviewed, the diversity of tea art is just like the diversity of political opinion, becoming symbolic for Taiwanese democracy. For others, it’s a historical tie that emphasizes a deep connection to mainland China.
“You enter these tea spaces thinking that you’re just going to talk about tea and then you’re quickly talking about geopolitics,” Braga said. “Tea art demonstrates how the human capacity to be affected by taste is an arena of geopolitics today.”