Distributing Evenly Without a Fairness Cup：What Do 2 Historic Generals Have to Do with Tea?

Central to Chinese tea etiquette is hospitality, making the guest feel welcome, if not valued even.

Hence there are little details to consider, some of which I feel might be a tad superfluous but there are some worthy of retention.

Let’s look at 2 that falls into the latter category.

Unequal Distribution

For example, even distribution of the concentration of tea.

If you are brewing for 1 to 2 minutes, the difference may not be that ostensible but if you are brewing gongfu style with infusions of 30 seconds or less, an additional 5 seconds of infusion time can be significant.

Unfortunately it doesn’t show up well in the photo- those well-versed in white balance and the like please do drop me a tip- but the liquor in the cup on the far left is darker than the other 2 as I poured from right to left.

If I took say 3 seconds to decant each cup and I was pouring 6 cups, the 6^th cup would have an additional 15 seconds of infusion compared to the first.

For an infusion of 30 seconds, this is 50% more infusion time.

Hence you would expect the first cup to be lighter compared to the last.

There lies the function of a fairness cup.

However there are some detractors of the fairness cup- particularly the traditional Teochew tea drinkers- stating that the additional step causes loss of heat and aroma. An argument I find valid but will address in a future post.

Guan Gong Patrols the City (关公巡城)

If you have heard of Romance of the Three Kingdom- in the watered down movie forms or otherwise- you would probably be familiar with Guan Yu or Guan Gong (Master Guan).

Beloved for his fighting skills and unwavering loyalty, he is probably one of the most celebrated generals in Chinese history.

So it comes as little surprise that this step in gongfu tea is named after him- Guan Gong Patrols the City.

The cups are placed in a straight line or circle and instead of pouring all into one cup then moving on, the liquor is decanted partially in a back and forth manner, not unlike a general patrolling the city walls on horseback to intimidate the invaders.

Therefore, this little steep ensures the distribution of the concentration is more even.

In practice though, equity is a little trickier than it looks- isn’t it always the case.

Han Xin Apportions the Troops (韩信点兵)

For this next step, I will talk about the tale at the end- me being partial to General Han Xin.

The essence of tea, particularly oolong tea is in the final few drops. The last few drops are then distributed over the cups with a somewhat deliberate ‘dipping action’.

Personally, I find this useful to compensate for any inequality in Guan Gong Patrols the City. The liquor color is usual indicative of the concentration levels and you can accord a few extra drops to the lighter cups.

Hence Guan Gong Patrols the City and Han Xin Apportions the Troops will allow you to even out the concentration levels without a Fairness Cup

Criticisms of the Names

Certain modern tea scholars such as Lin Zhi argue that the names are steeped in military connotation and are inappropriate for the elegance of tea.

Alternatives such as “祥龙行雨”，“凤凰点头”or “The Auspicious Dragon Dispenses Rain” and “The Phoenix Nods it’s Head” in lieu of Guan Gong Patrols the City and Han Xin Apportions the Troops respectively.

It should be quite intuitive why these names are proposed- rain being tea and the nodding being the ‘dipping’ act.

Back to Han Xin

I will end this post with a bit of background on韩信点兵.

General Han Xin was the military advisor of Liu Bang- the founder of the Han Dynasty. His story far exceeds the scope of this little post but to put it into perspective, Zhuge Liang aka Kong Ming- who is considered one of the foremost military geniuses of ancient Chinese history- was at one staged ridiculed for comparing himself to Han Xin.

The story goes that Liu Bang had this conversation with Han Xin:

Liu: “How many soldiers do you think I can command in battle?”

Han: “At most a hundred thousand”

Liu: “How about you?”

Han: “Han Xin apportions the troops, the more the merrier” (韩信点兵，多多益善)

Liu: “So are you saying you are better than me?”

Han: “No sire, your servant is only capable of commanding soldiers but your grace commands generals.”

The word 点is a homonym for “apportioning” and also “dipping”, hence the name Han Xin Apportions the Troops.

Please click to see other articles related to brewing tea.