Deng Da Yan - Time-honored Brands and Intangible Inheritors
In the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, Narcissus tea was introduced from Shuiji, Jianzhou (now in Jianyang District) to Ningyang Conference, and after being made into the only compressed Narcissus tea cake in the world among oolong teas, it was developed in the main production areas of Shuangyang and Nanyang in the Jiupeng River Basin.
Today, the production skills of Zhangping Narcissus tea have been listed in the Representative List of the World Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO, and Narcissus tea is planted all over the city.
In the century-old history of the development of Zhangping Narcissus tea, there is a family that adheres to the ancestral motto of "making good tea and passing on skills", gathers the ingenuity of four generations of tea people, innovates in inheritance, develops in innovation, and becomes a representative brand of Zhangping Narcissus tea - it is the old brand "Deng Dayan" Narcissus tea in Fujian.
"Deng Dayan" is a time-honored brand named after its founder, Deng Dayan. His ancestor Qianshan moved from Sha County to Jiupeng Society Yangshandou (now Nanyang) in Jiulong Township, Longyan County in the Yuan Dynasty. After the family was established, it flourished and had many talents. Deng Zihui, the former Vice Premier of the State Council and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was a descendant of this family.
Deng Dayan's father, Deng Shuisheng, was the 20th generation grandson of Qian Sangong. In his early years, he went to Zhangping City to do business, mainly purchasing agricultural and sideline products such as timber, tea, dried bamboo shoots, and fragrant powder, and transported them to Longxi, Zhangzhou, for sale via the Jiulong River. After accumulating a certain amount of wealth, he built a house in the county and opened a business on Zhongshan Road (today's Bayi Road), which became famous in the late Qing Dynasty. While doing business in the city, Deng Shuisheng did not give up his rural industry. He bought mountains and land in Beiliao, reclaimed wasteland, planted tea and farmed. When Narcissus tea was introduced to Beiliao from the neighboring Ningyang County, Deng Shuisheng began to plant and make Narcissus tea, but he did not create his own brand. This is the first germination of Fujian's time-honored brand "Deng Dayan" Narcissus Tea, and Deng Shuisheng is the first generation heir.
In August 1929, Zhu De led the Fourth Red Army to attack central Fujian and passed through Beiliao. According to the recollections of some old people at that time, when the Red Army passed through Chalinyu from the ancient provincial post road, Deng Dayan's mother and other women who lived on the main road boiled some water, added tea leaves to make tea for the Red Army to drink, and the Red Army gave them two cents as wages for boiling tea. When the masses learned about such things, they praised in unison: "I have never seen such a good army." This sowed the seeds of revolution. The following year, the Soviet government was established in Beiliao and the Red Guards were formed. Deng Dayan, who was only 18 years old at the time, took the initiative to sign up and became a member of the Red Guard. He actively participated in the revolutionary armed struggle and made due contributions to defending the Beiliao red regime.
Since the 1940s, he has been working on tea garden management and tea making techniques, and has been committed to innovating the production process of Narcissus tea and improving its quality. In 1948, he stamped his own tea with the seal of "Deng Dayan Ji", and engraved "Living in Dianzaiping Narcissus, Jiupeng Society, Zhangping, growing tea for sale" below, and officially created the "Deng Dayan" Narcissus tea brand. This seal has a name and address, which shows his confidence in the quality of his own tea, and also facilitates merchants and tea lovers to contact him. Dianzaiping is the tea forest bowl, which was named after the tea trees in ancient times and the terrain resembled a bowl. It is also a must-pass place on the provincial post road from Zhangping to Ningyang, Yong'an, and Fuzhou. There are shops and it was very prosperous at that time, so it is also called "Dianzaiping". This is a good place with unique advantages for growing tea and doing tea business. The Zhangping Narcissus tea made by Deng Dayan is of superior quality and famous. It is sold far and wide in Beijing and Tianjin, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian regions.
Seal of the Narcissus Tea Company of "Deng Dayanji" during the Republic of China period
On the eve of the founding of New China, Deng Dayan temporarily put aside production labor such as tea planting and tea making, joined the uprising militia, was responsible for intelligence liaison work, cooperated with the regular army to liberate Zhangping, and made further contributions to the victory of the revolution.
After the reform and opening up, Deng Dayan opened a shop "Changpingyan" at the foot of his own house in Chalinyu, where the agricultural and sideline products he sold were mainly homemade tea. His traditional tea-making techniques include tea-making at a constant temperature, natural sunlight withering, manual shaking, pile fermentation and charcoal roasting, etc. The tea he made has been recognized by many consumers. At that time, many units in Zhangping made purchases directly from him, and his tea was often sold out. Deng Dayan passed on his lifelong tea-making experience to his son Deng Yongzhou without reservation, and guided other young tea farmers. Today, several of the winners of the Tea King were taught by Deng Dayan, and many older tea makers respectfully call Deng Dayan "my master." Deng Dayan never forgot integrity, worked diligently, and studied hard throughout his life. He set an example for future generations and contributed to the development of Zhangping Narcissus Tea.
Deng Yongzhou, the son of Deng Dayan, was born in 1962. After the reform and opening up, he learned tea planting and tea making from his father at the age of 16. Deng Dayan passed on the traditional tea planting, tea making skills and business methods to his son Deng Yongzhou, allowing him to further inherit and improve. Deng Dayan passed on the traditional tea growing, tea making skills and business methods to his son Deng Yongzhou for further inheritance and improvement. In the management of tea gardens, he pays attention to ecology. There are trees distributed above and below each tea garden, forming a pattern of "wearing a hat, shoes, and a belt in the middle"; his tea garden uses manual weeding, the tea trees grow vigorously, and the quality of the green tea is first-class. In the process of making tea, he roasts the tea from wet tea to dry tea according to the traditional charcoal roasting, which is quite skillful.
In the early days, he went to the deep mountains and old forests to burn charcoal. In addition to his own use, he also supplied charcoal and instructed other tea farmers in roasting. In terms of methods, he tended to use ancient craftsmanship. From sun drying, cooling, making, frying, rolling, wooden mold shaping, baking, to the finished product, every process was very particular. The tea he made was well received by consumers and was often in short supply. At that time, the price of Narcissus tea was about 6 yuan per catty. Deng Yongzhou sold it to Yongding, Yong'an and other places, and the price doubled. The seal used by Deng Yongzhou is still "Deng Dayan Ji", and the bottom is engraved with "Zi Cai Zheng Narcissus Tea from the Tea Forest of Nanyang Commune, Zhangping County". Counting from the foundation of his grandfather Deng Shuisheng's tea planting and making, Deng Yongzhou became the third-generation inheritor of "Deng Dayan" Narcissus tea. He continued the "Deng Dayan" brand, inherited the past and the future, inherited it with ingenuity, and forged a rich family tradition of making tea in the right way.
During the tea-making process, Deng Yongzhou also encouraged his son Deng Changjie to learn from him. In the autumn of 2006, when it was difficult to hire a master, 16-year-old Deng Changjie came back from other places to help make autumn tea. Deng Yongzhou was surprised to find that his son was very talented, hardworking, and loved this job. From then on, Deng Changjie began to follow his father to learn in depth tea making techniques and sell and promote "Deng Dayan" narcissus tea.
In 2012, Deng Changjie became the fourth-generation inheritor of "Deng Dayan" Narcissus Tea. From his great-grandfather Deng Shuisheng who started to grow and make tea, to his grandfather Deng Dayan who founded the brand, to his father Deng Yongzhou who inherited the ancestral art, to Deng Changjie's generation who kept the tradition and innovated, this family of tea craftsmen has accompanied the century-long development of Zhangping Narcissus Tea. "Four directions of fairy charm, four generations for a hundred years", this is the true portrayal of the Fujian time-honored brand "Deng Dayan" Narcissus Tea.