英國茶文化觀光之歷史景點發展探究

Abstract

英國是一個氣候不適合產茶的國家，絕大部分的茶葉都是由國外進口。然而英國卻因為獨特的歷史與文化，發展出與東方截然不同的茶文化，成為一個以茶聞名的國家。西方世界對茶的認識比東方世界少了一千多年，十七世紀中期茶剛進入英國時，除了當作皇室的禮物之外，英國東印度公司並不認為茶值得從遙遠的中國進口；在十七世紀中後期茶也並不是個主要的貿易商品。然而到了十九世紀末，在短短的三個世紀之內，「茶」和「英國」幾乎等於同義詞。 茶主導著英國社會的發展，改變了人們的工作方式、女性地位、審美觀，以及整個國家的氣質；茶對於英國是一種生活態度、文化與感情，英國人民更是從平民到皇室皆與茶文化息息相關。然而英國茶的歷史並不只是如人們所熟知的下午茶般的浪漫與愜意，而是同時混雜著東方與西方、殖民與霸權、競爭與掠奪、平民與貴族、男性與女性等複雜議題的歷史。二十世紀後期，文化觀光開始被視為一個特殊的觀光類型，茶文化旅遊也成為新興的文化觀光方式。如今茶在英國已經有超過三百五十年以上的歷史，也發展了許多茶文化旅遊景點；本文將探討在諸多茶文化觀光景點當中，英國保留與發展了哪些歷史景點，以及如何形塑與詮釋這些歷史景點。England is not a tea producing country, most of the tea leaves they have are imported. However, due to the unique history and culture, England has developed a totally different tea culture compared to those of the East, and it has become a country which is famous for its tea culture. The West has known tea less a thousand years than the East. In the mid-17th century, when tea first came to England, it was served only as a gift to the royals, and the East India Company didn’t consider it worthy to import from faraway China; even until the late-17th century, tea was still not a main trading commodity. However, in the end of the 19th century, ‘tea’ and ‘England’ have become synonyms in mere three centuries. We could say tea leads the development of British society; it changes the ways people work, women status, aesthetics, and the temperament of the country. Tea is an attitude, culture and affection for England, and the British from the nobles to civilians are all connected with their tea culture. However, British tea history is not all as romantic and pleasing as we may have thought; it also filled with the issues of the east and the west, fortune, trade, taxation, wars, revolutions, smugglers, social changes, men and women, etc. From the end of the 20th century, cultural tourism has been viewed as a new way of travel, and tea tourism emerged since then. Nowadays, tea has been in England for more than 350 years, and many tea cultural attractions have been developed. In all these tea attractions, what historical sites England has preserved and developed, and how they shape and interpret these historical sites are to be discussed.