Secluded mountain region prepares for world tea exhibition
An old folk song from Hadong County in South Gyeongsang Province evinces the importance of tea in Korean culture. It goes like this: “The first budding tea leaves are for the local governor, those from the next round of budding are for parents, and those from the last budding of the season are for husbands; then, keep the withered old leaves separately as they come in handy to make medicine for children when they have tummy aches, hoping the children grow up healthy and one day lead the remote, mountainous township.”
This wisdom from the place where the country’s tea traditions originate dates back to as early as 1241. Discovered records show how people back then harvested tea leaves at the foot of Mount Jiri not just to enjoy them but also to survive the harsh daily challenges posed by the ruthless local government. In a poem by Lee Kyu-bo from the 918-1392 Goryeo Kingdom, everyone from children to elderly was depicted as being forced to pick ripe tea leaves from rough mountain backs and carry the collected leaves to Seoul ― over 350 kilometers north ― on foot. Lee eulogized the struggle as “straining and bloody efforts by a countless number of people which made the tea eventually known to the country…”