Introduction to the Ages of Puerh Tea: Part 1 ‘The Antique Era’

Posted by Aaron Fisher
Wednesday August 15, 2007 | 12 comments

It should be noted that most all the terms used to identify the families and eras of Puerh tea began for the most part with the scholarship of the 1990’s. During their own times, these teas were everyday commodities—names and trends always changed with the times. Also, one should remember that the lines between these eras, while based on reason, are ultimately arbitrary. While most scholars agree in general, certain vintages right near the boundaries might slip into either age depending on what one reads.

The Antique Age

This era of tea includes all the Puerh that was produced prior to the formation of the People’s Republic of China (app. 1949). All of the factories from that time were private businesses and none had anywhere near the output of those today. Many of these trading firms also dealt in other goods as well, like rice and other agricultural products. Puerh tea was just one commodity amongst others. Some of them were even owned by single families, like the legendary Song Ping Hao and Tong Qing Hao. They were often small, rural houses where tea and other products were all processed completely by hand. The demand of the market at that time was small and annual production in numbers that would make even the state-owned factories of later years scoff. Old tea house owners in Hong Kong reported to my esteemed colleague Chan Kam Pong that 10 jian (or baskets, therefore equaling 840 cakes) was enough for the entire island for one year. “The demands for refined Puerh cakes were very low because the retail price of these Antique Puerh cakes, which were new then, were relatively high when compared to other teas.” He says. Nevertheless, many would argue that the cleaner and more natural farming methods and environment lent these cakes a certain majesty not found in any of their descendents. The fact that many of these teas are now 60 or more years old, coupled with the fact that very few were produced to begin with, makes them extremely rare and valuable—sometimes costing in the tens of thousands (USD) per cake.

The cakes from the Antique Era were never wrapped with an outer wrapping paper. Perhaps it was considered too costly at the time; and preservation wasn’t as much of an issue. However, all the cakes did have a nei fei or “inner trademark ticket” embedded into the tea just like the ones of today. Many also had a nei piao or “stack ticket’ that rested in each stack of seven cakes (tong). Other than the leaves themselves, these trademarks are really the only way that collectors can tell cakes apart, especially ones from the same factory, like for example the Red and Blue Mark Song Ping Hao cakes. The leaves in these ancient cakes are often said to be larger-leaf blends, which has led some people to argue that the technique of harvesting old, wild tree leaves isn’t as modern as we think. Others argue that leaf size really isn’t proof of what kind of trees the raw materials came from, and that the idea of using wild tea leaves really begin in the 1990’s. Neither of these arguments can really be proven because it’s impossible to know what these Antique Era cakes tasted like when they were new. Still, it is a romantic idea: that the oldest factories were harvesting from old tea trees.

When the “New China” was established in 1949, the central government declared that all industry belonged to the people. Even the tea industry was handed over to the local government. These changes closed these family-run, private businesses in the 1950’s and the Antique age came to an end.

Introduction to the Ages of Puerh Tea: Part 1 ‘The Antique Era’

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