Dahongpao (Scarlet Robe)
Three big Chinese characters Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) proclaim themselves boldly from a rock on
a steep and rugged crag near Tianxin Cliff in the Wuyi Mountains of Fujian province. On a patch of
flat land before the rock grow a few clumps of three-foot-high tea bushes with leaves a bit thicker
than usual and slightly pinkish buds.
Here the sun shines only in the morning. In the afternoon the shadow of the rock keeps the hot sun off the
the bushes, so the buds remain tender. The water from a small, slow stream of a nearby spring seeps
through the sandy soil to make this an ideal place for growing fine tea. Legend says this is the location
of the bushes whose leaves became famous for their healing properties.
At some distant time, possibly the Ming dynasty , for this tea has been known since then, the magistrate of
Chong'an county had a chronic illness, unidentified in the story about him. But after a period of drinking
tea from these bushes, reputed for their medicinal qualities, he recovered. So grateful was he that he
came to burn incense at the spot .Then as a token of respect, he hung his red magisterial robe on one of
the bushes -- and ever after that the tea bore this name.
There are other versions of the name's origin. One is that a Ming dynasty official supervising picking in
the area took off his robe and hung it up when he climed a tree. If so, he must have been an unusual official.
The second, equally unlikely, is that the monks of Tianxin Temple, who maintained the (then taller) tea trees,
trained monkeys to pick the high leaves, and because they were doing it for the emperor, dressed them in red.
Whatever the origin of the name, the belief in Dahongpao as an aid to health and longevity remained constant. In old
China, high officials and wealthy people would rush for the tea as soon as it came in season, and bid the
price up, because it was in short supply and quickly sold out. Now more is produced, from other bushes of the same type.