德國東弗里斯蘭地區之茶文化發展及現況探究

Abstract

談到歐洲的茶，相信英國絕對是第一個出現在多數人腦海中的國家，喝茶的行為早已深入英國人每天的生活當中，成為了一種日復一日的習慣，他們成功的將茶這個原本屬於國外的進口農產加工品變成了本國文化的一部分，發產出屬於英國的飲用方式、習俗和文化。更有甚者，英國還將茶飲文化推播至全世界，例如風靡全球的英式下午茶。除了英國，歐洲的其他地方如法國、荷蘭的飲茶文化也多為人知。不過，多數人並不知道的是，在德國，有個地區同樣也有著深厚的飲茶文化。事實上，這個地區號稱擁有全世界最大的年人均飲茶量，它叫做東弗里斯蘭，位於德國西北方的下薩克森邦。在那裡，全年人均飲茶量高達300公升，傲視全球。除此之外，東弗里斯蘭也發產出了一套自己特別的茶飲文化，並於2016年入選了聯合國教科文組織德國辦事處的非物質文化遺產。東弗里斯蘭茶文化當中，有什麼樣的特別之處？當初茶是如何到達當地，在那裡發展的情況又是如何？為什麼茶在德國其他區域相當少見，唯獨如此深入東弗里斯蘭的文化當中？如今，茶在文化和現實生活上，是以什麼樣的形態和方式存在於東弗里斯蘭居民的日常生活？在東弗里斯蘭的茶文化裡面，有什麼樣的習俗和特色？以上，為本研究探討的議題。

Talking about tea in Europe, it is the case that the UK pops out in most people’s minds first. The behavior of having tea as their daily routine roots in the life of British people. It is the place which has transferred and developed tea, an originally foreign imported agricultural processed product, into their own culture. Moreover, British people even carry forward tea into the world, for instance the innovation of the well-known English afternoon tea.Besides the UK, some other countries such as France and the Netherlands are broadly known for having tea. However, tea culture in Germany is something that most people might not be familiar or aware of. East Frisia, or Ostfriesland in German, a region in Lower Saxony, is the place with the most consumption per capital of tea in the entire world. Furthermore, East Frisia has developed their own characteristics of tea culture, which has been selected as a nationwide inventory of intangible cultural heritage by the German Commission of UNESCO in 2016.What is so special about East Frisian tea culture, or Ostfriesische Teekultur？ How did tea go there initially, and what are the developments of East Frisian tea？ Why has tea become a culture in East Frisia, but not other parts or places in Germany？ How does it exist nowadays in East Frisian people’s daily life, culturally and realistically, and what are the customs of it？ These issues are to be discussed.