Imperial Tribute Pu'er: The Wanshou Longtuan, Daughter Tea, and Pu'er at Court

Tribute was a crucial step in pu'er's transformation from an everyday frontier tea into a famous tea "known throughout the land." What the emperor drank and what was fashionable in the capital often decided a tea's standing. This post pieces together the story of Qing-dynasty tribute pu'er: how long it was sent, what shapes it took, how it reached Beijing, and how people at court drank it.

How Many Years Was Pu'er Sent as Tribute?

The founding of Pu'er Prefecture in 1729 (the seventh year of Yongzheng) is generally taken as the start of systematic pu'er tribute. Some research suggests there were trial tributes around the fourth year of Yongzheng, with the rules fully settled around the tenth year. Tribute continued until the end of the Qing, roughly 180 years in all.

The procurement method is spelled out clearly in the tribute tea records that Ruan Fu consulted in the Daoguang era: each year, 1,000 liang of silver were drawn from the copper-interest account of the provincial treasury and given to Simao Subprefecture for procurement, covering the cost of the tin jars, satin boxes, and wooden crates used to pack the tea. The Simao subprefect was responsible for the work.

What Shapes Did Tribute Tea Take?

Ruan Fu's Record of Pu'er Tea (Pu'er Cha Ji) lists the items prepared for tribute each year, 8 in all:

• 5 kinds of tuan (ball) tea: Round balls weighing 5 jin, 3 jin, 1 jin, 4 liang, and 1 liang 5 qian.
• Bud tea: Packed in jars.
• Pistil tea: Also packed in jars.
• Tea paste: Packed in boxes.

Tuan tea is a compressed tea steamed soft, then kneaded and pressed into a round ball; the large ones look like melons and the small ones like beads. The "golden melon" and "human head" shaped compressed teas common on the market today imitate this round ball shape.

One of the best-known names among tribute teas is daughter tea (nü'er cha). The Record of Pu'er Tea, citing the Simao Zhigao (Draft Gazetteer of Simao), says the small round tuan teas were called daughter tea; they were picked by women before the rains (generally meaning before Guyu, "Grain Rain") and were the 4-liang balls. There was also maojian: extremely fine, tender buds picked in the second lunar month, white in color. They were first sent as tribute, and only after the tribute period were ordinary people allowed to sell them.

Tea paste is made by boiling tea leaves for a long time, concentrating them into a paste, and drying it. You dissolve it in hot water to drink, which makes it easy to carry and store. See Pu'er Tea Paste for details.

What Is the Palace Museum's "Human-Head Tribute Tea"?

Among the Qing tribute pu'er in the Palace Museum's collection, the most famous piece is called the "Wanshou Longtuan" (Longevity Dragon Ball). It's a Guangxu-era pu'er tuan tea, listed as a national Grade 2 cultural relic. Because it's round and shaped like a human head, the tea world calls it the "human-head tribute tea," and it's also often called golden melon tribute tea. The tea world generally believes it corresponds to the largest 5-jin ball in the Record of Pu'er Tea, but that's an inference; the Palace Museum's public materials don't say so.

In March 2007, the Wanshou Longtuan left the Palace Museum for the first time. It was first exhibited for 4 days on Maliandao tea street in Beijing, then sent to Pu'er City for a 3-month exhibition. A tea that had sat in the palace for over 100 years "coming home" was big news in the tea world that year, and it let more people know that the palace really did preserve Qing-dynasty pu'er.

As for "can this tea still be drunk," it's a cultural relic now and no one will drink it. Its value lies in documenting the form and condition of Qing tribute tea.

How Tribute Tea Got to Beijing

The process went roughly like this:

1. Picking and making on the tea mountains: Tea was picked in spring on the Six Ancient Tea Mountains and steamed and pressed into balls to specification, or made into bud tea and tea paste.
2. Gathered in Simao: The tea was collected in Simao, where the subprefect drew silver to handle procurement and packed it into tin jars, satin boxes, and wooden crates.
3. Prefectural city and provincial capital: It went north through the prefectural city of Pu'er, then to the provincial capital, Kunming.
4. North to the capital: Escorted by officials sent by the Yunnan government, it traveled north along the official post roads and was delivered to the palace.

Tin jars kept out moisture, satin boxes looked dignified, and wooden crates stood up to handling; the packaging itself shows how much tribute tea mattered. The journey from Yunnan's southern tip to Beijing was long, and compressed balls were compact and hard to break, ideal for such long-distance transport. That's one of the reasons pu'er has always been mainly a compressed tea; see Compressed Tea vs. Loose-Leaf Tea.

How Pu'er Was Drunk at Court

There's little public material detailing how the Qing court drank pu'er, but a few things are certain:

• Prized in the capital: When Ruan Fu wrote the Record of Pu'er Tea around 1825, his very first line said pu'er was famous throughout the land, the richest and strongest in flavor, and especially prized in the capital.
• Tea paste dissolved to drink: Tea paste could be drunk simply by dissolving it in hot water, which was convenient both at court and among officials.
• Pu'er in literature: In Chapter 63 of Dream of the Red Chamber, before an evening party at Yihong Court, Lin Zhixiao's wife urges Baoyu to brew some pu'er, and the maids reply that they've already brewed a pot of daughter tea. Evidently, in an 18th-century aristocratic household, pu'er and daughter tea were everyday teas. You can read about pu'er in literature in Pu'er in Literature.
• The milk tea story: The tea world often says the Qing court also boiled pu'er into milk tea, which fits the Manchu and Mongol habit of drinking milk tea, but most of what's been found is secondhand, so take it as just one account.

Pu'er's strong, rich flavor, its tolerance for boiling, and its ability to keep for a long time suited both northern winter tastes and the palace's need to store large quantities. These qualities secured its place in the capital and laid the groundwork for the later idea that it "gets better with age."

FAQ

Does the Palace Museum really still have pu'er from over 100 years ago? Yes. The most famous is the Guangxu-era "Wanshou Longtuan," a national Grade 2 cultural relic. In March 2007 it left the palace for the first time, was exhibited in Beijing for 4 days, and was then sent to Pu'er City for a 3-month exhibition.

What is the human-head tribute tea? It's the large round tuan tea sent as tribute by Qing-dynasty Pu'er Prefecture, named for its resemblance to a human head. The Palace Museum's "Wanshou Longtuan" is the prime example.

What is daughter tea? According to the Record of Pu'er Tea, it's the small round 4-liang tuan tea, picked by women before Guyu (Grain Rain), and one of the Qing tribute items.

How long was pu'er sent as tribute? From around 1729 to the end of the Qing, about 180 years.