08/11/2019
Tie Guan Yin is the world’s most renowned oolong tea, which is originated in the 19th century in Anxi County of China’s Fujian Province. The tea is named after the Chinese Goddess of Mercy Guanyin, who is known in Japan as Kannon and in Korea as Gwan-eum. Guanyin is a female embodiment of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Other spellings and names include “Ti Kuan Yin”, “Tit Kwun Yum”, “Ti Kwan Yin”, “Iron Buddha”, “Iron Goddess Oolong”, and “Tea of the Iron Bodhisattva”, etc. It is also known in the abbreviated form as “TGY”.
There are several legends behind this tea, one of which is about a poor farmer named Wei. In Fujian’s Anxi County, there was a rundown temple which held an iron statue of Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Every day on the walk to his tea fields, Wei would pass by and reflect on the temple’s worsening condition. “Something has to be done” he thought. Being poor, Wei did not have the means to repair the temple. Instead, he brought a broom and some incense from his home. He swept the temple clean and lit the incense as an offering to Guanyin. “It’s the least I can do,” he thought to himself. Twice a month for many months, he repeated the same tasks. One night, Guanyin appeared to him in a dream, telling him of a cave behind the temple where treasure awaited. He was to take the treasure and share it with others. In the cave, the farmer found a single tea shoot. He planted it in his field and nurtured it into a large bush, from which the finest tea was produced. He gave cuttings of this rare plant to all his neighbors and began selling the tea under the name Tieguanyin, Iron Bodhisattva of Compassion. Over time, Wei and all his neighbors prospered, the rundown temple of Guanyin was repaired and became a beacon for the region. Mr. Wei took joy in the daily trip to his tea fields, never failing to stop in appreciation of the beautiful temple.