Zhang Tianfu | |
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| Born | 21 September 1910 |
| Died | 4 June 2017 (aged 106) |
| Nationality | China |
| Alma mater | Fukien Christian University University of Nanking |
| Occupation | agronomist |
Zhang Tianfu (Chinese :張天福; pinyin :Zhāng Tiānfú; Wade–Giles :Chang T'ien-fu, 21 September 1910 – 4 June 2017) [1] was a Chinese agronomist and expert in tea processing, known for promoting processing of oolong. [2] He was also a tea connoisseur. [3]
Zhang was born to a Christian family on 21 September (the 18th day of the 8th lunar month), 1910. Both of his parents were doctors who worked at a mission hospital in Shanghai. In 1911, the family moved to Fuzhou, Fujian. He was sent to a local private primary school at the age of 7, then he attended then Ko-Chih High School at the age of 13. Despite his father's objections, Zhang sought to transfer to Shanghai, spending the last year of high school in there. Soon afterwards he was admitted to Fukien Christian University. After completing his first year, he transferred to Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nanking. [4]
Upon graduation Zhang returned to Fukien Christian University as a lecturer. Supported by the university, he surveyed tea cultivation and processing in Japan and then Taiwan under Japanese rule between 1934 and 1935. Later, he established and headed a vocational college of agriculture along with a tea intensive breeding base in Fu'an. In 1936, he introduced the tea processing machines from Japan, facilitating the automation of the domestic tea industry. From 1942 to 1944, he resumed teaching at Fukien Christian University. Then he took over the leadership of the National Tea Research Institute in Chong'an county. [5]
In the 1950s, Zhang was transferred to Fuzhou. He was targeted at the start of the Anti-Rightist Movement and subsequently was exiled to Chong'an until 1962. The Cultural Revolution followed, and Zhang was exiled to Shouning. Despite his exile, Zhang continued scientific research. He was rehabilitated in 1980. He finished a monograph on oolong by the 1990s. [5]
Zhang's first wife died in the early 1990s. He married an acrobat, Zhang Xiaohong, in February 2010. [5]
Oolong is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea produced through a process that includes withering the leaves under strong sun and allowing some oxidation to occur before curling and twisting. Most oolong teas, especially those of fine quality, involve unique tea plant cultivars that are exclusively used for particular varieties. The degree of oxidation, which is controlled by the length of time between picking and final drying, can range from 8% to 85% depending on the variety and production style. Oolong is especially popular in southeastern China and among ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia, as is the Fujian preparation process known as the gongfu tea ceremony.
Fujian is a province located in South China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Quanzhou, other notable cities include the port city of Xiamen and Zhangzhou. Fujian is located on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait as the closest geographically and culturally to Taiwan. Certain islands such as Kinmen are only approximately 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Xiamen in Fujian.
Chinese tea culture includes all facets of tea found in Chinese culture throughout history. Physically, it consists of tea cultivation, brewing, serving, consumption, arts, and ceremonial aspects. Tea culture is an integral part of traditional Chinese material culture and spiritual culture. Tea culture emerged in the Tang dynasty, and flourished in the succeeding eras as a major cultural practice and as a major export good.
Pu'er or pu-erh is a variety of fermented tea traditionally produced in Yunnan Province, China. In the context of traditional Chinese tea production terminology, fermentation refers to microbial fermentation, and is typically applied after the tea leaves have been sufficiently dried and rolled. As the tea undergoes controlled microbial fermentation, it also continues to oxidize, which is also controlled, until the desired flavors are reached. This process produces tea known as hēichá (黑茶), literally "black tea", though the term is commonly translated to English as "dark tea" to distinguish it from the English-language black tea, for which it is not.
Tieguanyin is a variety of Chinese oolong tea that originated in the 19th century in Anxi in Fujian province. Tieguanyin produced in different areas of Anxi have different gastronomic characteristics.
Jasmine tea is tea scented with the aroma of jasmine blossoms. Typically, jasmine tea has green tea as the tea base; however, white tea and black tea are also used. The resulting flavour of jasmine tea is subtly sweet and highly fragrant. It is the most famous scented tea in China.
Tea as a drink was first consumed in China and the earliest extant mention of tea in literature is the Classic of Poetry, although the ideogram used (荼) in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle and thrush.
Chinese teas can be classified into six distinctive categories: white, green, yellow, oolong, black and post-fermented. Others add categories for scented and compressed teas. All of these come from varieties of the Camellia sinensis plant. Most Chinese teas are cultivated and consumed in China. It is commonly available in Chinese restaurants and grocery shops worldwide. Green tea is the most common type of tea consumed in China.
Dongfang meiren(Chinese: 東方美人; lit. 'eastern beauty') or Oriental Beauty, or baihao(白毫), among other Chinese names, is a heavily oxidized, non-roasted, tip-type oolong tea originating in Hsinchu County, Taiwan. It is a tea produced from leaves bitten by the tea jassid, an insect that feeds on the tea plant. Terpenes are released in the bitten leaves, which creates a honey-like taste. Oriental beauty, white-tip oolong, and champagne oolong are other names under which dongfang meiren is marketed in the West.
Fermented tea is a class of tea that has undergone microbial fermentation, from several months to many years. The exposure of the tea leaves to humidity and oxygen during the process also causes endo-oxidation and exo-oxidation. The tea leaves and the liquor made from them become darker with oxidation. Thus, the various kinds of fermented teas produced across China are also referred to as dark tea, not be confused with black tea, which is actually referred to as "red tea" in Chinese. The most famous fermented tea is pu'er produced in Yunnan province.
Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea.
High-mountain tea or gaoshan tea refers to several varieties of Oolong tea grown in the mountains of central Taiwan. It is grown at altitudes higher than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level, and includes varieties such as Alishan, Dayuling, Yu Shan, Wushe, and Lishan. The high humidity and natural precipitation in the high mountain ranges of Nantou and Chiayi Counties make the region a suitable environment for growing tea plants. High Mountain Oolong is a tea that holds all of its original nutrients that are within the unfermented green tea. It does not hold the usual grass-like taste, hints of chestnut flavor paired with nutty aromas are often described. The fermentation process that removes the harsh ingredients allows the tea to taste flavorful.
Taiwanese tea includes four main types: oolong tea, black tea, green tea and white tea. The earliest record of tea trees found in Taiwan is from 1717 in Shui Sha Lian (水沙連), present-day Yuchi and Puli, Nantou County. Some of the teas retain the island country's former name, Formosa.
Empoasca onukii, the tea jassid, is an insect species belonging to the subfamily Typhlocybinae of the family Cicadellidae. Plant hosts include Gossypium (cotton) species and, notably, Camellia sinensis. The species is distributed throughout East, Southeast, and South Asia.
Hwa Nan College, or Women's College of South China, was a Christian institution of higher education founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is located on the mountainside of Cangqian Mountain, now Cangshan District, Fuzhou City, Fujian Province, China. From 1938 to 1946, the college was temporarily relocated to Nanping City, due to Second Sino-Japanese War. Now the college belongs to the Cangshan Campus of Fujian Normal University.
Fuzhou Foreign Language School (福建省福州外国语学校) is a municipal public secondary school in Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
The Church Missionary Society in China was a branch organisation established by the Church Missionary Society (CMS), which was founded in Britain in 1799 under the name the Society for Missions to Africa and the East; as a mission society working with the Anglican Communion, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians around the world. In 1812, the organization was renamed the Church Missionary Society. The missions were financed by the CMS with the local organisation of a mission usually being under the oversight of the Bishop of the Anglican diocese in which the CMS mission operated.
Zhang Changshou was a Chinese archaeologist who served as vice director of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). He was a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute and an honorary member of the CASS.
Zhang Xingqian was a Chinese metal physicist who was a professor at the China Academy of Engineering Physics, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zhang Jinzhe was a Chinese pediatrician, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
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