The Ancient Chinese Tea Etiquette of Finger Tapping
Posted by Guest Author on October 14th, 2009 filed in Reader Articles
Chinese Tea Etiquette: Finger Tapping
Tea has been around in China for over 5,000 years. And ancient Chinese tea customs are still often followed.
Even to those new to the tea world, one aspect of Chinese tea etiquette is quite simple –finger tapping. The gesture is how the Chinese show respect to their host.
As the Chinese tea customs go, when tea is served, the guests should thank their host for the tea. However, many find it interesting that rather than say it, the Chinese simply tap the table with three of their fingers (the middle, index, and ring fingers). Each time the cup is refilled, they repeat the gesture.
The gesture isn’t superstitious at all. A popular story of finger tapping accredits the invention of the gesture to a Qing dynasty emperor about 200 years.
The Qing emperor was fond of travelling throughout the country in disguise, secretly finding out how his subjects were doing. Wherever the emperor went, he would never miss his favorite place: the local teahouse.
One day, in a teahouse he stopped by, the emperor was attracted to the way how the waiters poured their tea without spilling a single drop while tossing around the teapot. So he decided to try it out and pour Chinese tea for his companions.
Custom demanded that people bow before their emperor, not to mention the emperor just poured you a cup of tea! So they had to thank the emperor for the tea. However, bowing to the emperor would ruin his disguise.
One of the companions had a brainwave, and he tapped three of his fingers on the table as a symbol of bow to his emperor.
Thus, the gesture of finger tapping was invented! Soon the story spread from one Chinese tea lover to another. Without long, the gesture became popular in tea drinking, as both commoners and officials alike all tried to copy their emperor.
Next time you visit a Chinese tea house, try to observe the interesting finger tapping technique to quietly thank your host for their delicious Chinese tea!
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