Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation.
Dear old friends, today let me share with you the origin story of a tea family. Speaking of Yiwu Tea Mountain, many people know it as the sacred land of Pu-erh tea. But do you know that one of the earliest families to make a name there was surnamed Li?
During the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, there was a young man named Li Zupei, courtesy name Hongzong, the fourteenth-generation descendant of the Li clan. He came to Yiwu from afar, not to enjoy the scenery, but to do business. In those days, Yiwu was already an important distribution center on the Tea Horse Road, where merchants from north and south gathered. What Hongzong set his sights on was precisely the tea trade here. Yiwu’s large-leaf tea trees had thick, nutrient-rich leaves, and the tea made from them was sweet and mellow, already famous far and wide during the Qing Dynasty.
However, many came to do business, but few truly put down roots. Hongzong was different — he was not a passing trader looking for a quick deal. In the fourth year of Daoguang, 1824, he made a momentous decision — to move his entire family to Yiwu. Imagine: moving house in those days was not like calling a removal truck today. It meant leading the whole family, young and old, over mountains and through valleys, walking for days. The mountain paths were treacherous and difficult, even more so in the rainy season when they became slippery and dangerous. But Hongzong gritted his teeth and safely brought his entire family to Yiwu. Such determination and perseverance are not found in ordinary people.
There is another thing worth mentioning. When Hongzong arrived in Yiwu, he saw that the available land for development near Yiwu Street was already limited, surrounded as it was by other settlers. Rather than competing with others, he went further — five kilometers beyond Yiwu Street — and settled in a place that later became known as “Yibi.” How farsighted was that? No need to crowd together, and there was more space for growing tea and building the estate. Yibi, backed by green mountains and fronted by a flowing stream, with fertile soil and ample sunlight, was precisely the perfect land for growing tea.
Hongzong passed away in the thirtieth year of Daoguang. His son Li Kaiji took up the mantle and continued to develop the family tea business. A person’s starting point often determines their vision. Hongzong’s choice to leave the bustling Yiwu Street and pioneer in remote Yibi was because he understood a principle: something truly good does not need to be in the most conspicuous place. The tea from Yibi’s gardens proved to be no less excellent than that from Yiwu Street — indeed, because the environment was even more natural, the tea flavor was even richer and mellower.
In my decades in the tea business, I have seen too many people seeking quick riches in the tea industry. But those who truly succeed are often people like Hongzong — willing to take root, willing to endure hardship, and blessed with vision. This principle applies to our daily lives as well. Health cultivation is not a matter of days, but of accumulated persistence over time. Like drinking tea — a cup each day, and gradually you will notice the changes in your body. The tea polyphenols help with antioxidant defense, and catechins help eliminate free radicals. Long-term consumption greatly benefits cardiovascular health. I have some old friends who have persisted in drinking tea daily for decades, now in their seventies and still full of vitality, walking with a spring in their step.
Tea has grades; all may enjoy it regardless of status. Hongzong’s story tells us that a true tea person is not afraid of a difficult start — only of short-sightedness. What he planted in Yibi was not just tea trees, but the foundation for several generations of his family. Of those who came to Yiwu to do business alongside Hongzong, many returned to their hometowns long ago. Only Hongzong stayed, and his descendants became one of the most respected families on Yiwu Tea Mountain.
Make friends through tea, please enjoy a cup.
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Author: Old Tea Head · Lin Shen (LamSam)
Zen Tea Manor ZENTEA MANOR
Tianying Supply Chain Company
www.zentea-shop.com
