In Chinese culture, tea plays a significant role. The preparation and serving of tea is a deep-rooted tradition that is often a metaphor for honor, respect, submission, gratitude, love and family. People make formal apologies by serving another tea as a sign of regret and humility. In a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony, the bride and groom serve their parents tea out of honor and gratitude. Families will gather to drink tea, and to pass down culture and tradition to the younger generation. Tea is ingrained in many important facets of Chinese heritage.
One summer, while I was visiting my grandmother, she lamented about all of the clutter in her house. “Look at all these teapots...I have too many!” She asked me if I would like to have one of the teapots. Yes, yes I would, I said (side note: when a Chinese grandmother offers you something, you take it). The teapot that she delicately removed from a basket was beautiful. It was gold-plated porcelain, painted with intricate designs of red dragons and delicate clouds. It was used, but not worn...just well loved as evidenced by some small tea stains on the inside. "This was actually your great-grandmother's before she gave it to me," my grandmother said as she placed it in my hands.
That moment was a profound gift for me. Growing up as a fourth generation Chinese-American in Hawaii, my family didn’t identify with many Chinese heritage or customs. But as my grandmother handed me this teapot that had belonged first to my great-grandmother and then her, I felt a sense of connection to my family, and to previous generations of Chinese, all linked through culture and tradition and legacy.
One summer, while I was visiting my grandmother, she lamented about all of the clutter in her house. “Look at all these teapots...I have too many!” She asked me if I would like to have one of the teapots. Yes, yes I would, I said (side note: when a Chinese grandmother offers you something, you take it). The teapot that she delicately removed from a basket was beautiful. It was gold-plated porcelain, painted with intricate designs of red dragons and delicate clouds. It was used, but not worn...just well loved as evidenced by some small tea stains on the inside. "This was actually your great-grandmother's before she gave it to me," my grandmother said as she placed it in my hands.
That moment was a profound gift for me. Growing up as a fourth generation Chinese-American in Hawaii, my family didn’t identify with many Chinese heritage or customs. But as my grandmother handed me this teapot that had belonged first to my great-grandmother and then her, I felt a sense of connection to my family, and to previous generations of Chinese, all linked through culture and tradition and legacy.
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