Things you need to know about making ganghu dê 功夫茶 gong1fu5cha2

In this posting, we will learn the terms you need to know for making ganghu dê 功夫茶 gong1fu5cha2  Gongfu cha in Chaoshan hua is said as ganghu dê. I will first give you the standard Chinese names, then the Chaoshan hua names and finally the English names.

Chinese 中文 / Chanshan Hua 潮汕話 / English 英文
cha2 茶 / dê5 茶/ tea
cha2ye4 茶葉 / dê5bhi2 茶米 / tea leaves
gong1fu1 cha2 功夫茶 or 工夫茶 / gang1hu1 dê5 功夫茶 or 工夫茶 / kungfu tea
Tie3guan1yin1 鐵觀音 / Tih4Guang1Im1 鐵觀音 / Powerful Goddess of Mercy [tea]
Gang1yin1 Wang2 觀音王/ Guang1im1 Uang5 觀音王/ Supreme Goddess of Mercy [tea]
bei1zi 杯子 / buê1 杯 / cup
shiu3 水/ zui2 水/ water
cha2hai3 茶海 / Dê5buan5 茶盤 / tea tray
gai4 wan3 蓋碗/ Dê5ao1 茶甌 or gai3 uan2 蓋碗/ a covered tea cup
gong1dao4 bei1公道杯 / 茶盅 cha2 zhong1  / pitcher or jug - This is an item which some Teochew people call it a  dê5hu5 茶壺 or a dê5hai2 茶海.
cha2 hu2 茶壺 / dê5 hu5 茶壺 / tea pot 
lou4 dou3 漏斗 / lao7 dao3 漏斗 / tea strainer


鐵 – has always been given the definition of iron – iron goddess of mercy. However, this character also mean strong and powerful. I have therefore chosen powerful goddess of mercy for I think it is much more informative and relevant to the goddess of mercy and to the tea.

Making a cup of rea! ganghu dê 功夫茶 gong1fu5cha2

In standard Chinese we say pao4 cha2 泡茶. Pao4 cha2 means to steep or soak tea leaves – obviously in hot water. However, in Chaoshan hua we say cong1 dê5  沖茶 Where cong1 means "within a dash". In gongfu cha, that is actually what we do – the boiling water is poured unto the tea leaves and the tea is decanted within a ‘dash’! In English slang, a dash is a very short while like a minute. Another meaning of cong1 dê5 [a Chaoshan hua phrase] is to pour boiling water from a height over the tea leaves. It should be said as gao1 cong1 高沖. Cong1 dê5 in standard Chinese is zhong1 cha2. In Chaoshan tradition, we pour hot water over the tea leaves and within a minute we decant the tea completely and not allowing the tea leaves to be soaking in the hot water and be over brewed. For other Chinese, they brew tea or pao4 cha2 and allowing the tea leaves to sit in hot water for sometime before decanting the whole tea pot.