The Ancient Chinese Tea Etiquette of Finger Tapping

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The Ancient Chinese Tea Etiquette of Finger Tapping

Friday, October 9th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Chinese Tea Etiquette: Finger Tapping

Tea has been around in China for over 5,000 years. And ancient Chinese tea customs are still often followed.

Of those the finger tapping is probably the most interesting for those new to the world of Chinese tea. The gesture indicates your respect to your host.

The Chinese, by their tea customs, shall thank their host as the tea is served. Interestingly, they don’t say it, but instead, they simply tap the table with three fingers (the middle, index, and ring fingers). Each time you get your cup refilled, you repeat the gesture.

The gesture isn’t superstitious at all. In fact, the story of finger tapping dates back over 200 years to the Qing dynasty.

The Qing emperor was travelling throughout China in disguise so he could observe the day to day life of his subjects unnoticed. Wherever the emperor went, the one place he would never miss is the local teahouse.

One day, the emperor and his two companions stopped by a teahouse, where he became amazed by the way the waiters leaned across the table and poured tea without spilling a single drop. So he decided to try it out and pour Chinese tea for his companions.

Custom demanded that people bow before their emperor, not to say the emperor just poured you tea! So they had to thank him in some way. However, bowing to the emperor would ruin his disguise.

With a flash of wit, one of the companions tapped three of his fingers on the table to symbolize a bow to his emperor.

Thus, the finger tapping gesture was born! Soon the story spread from one Chinese tea lover to another. After a time, finger tapping was incoporated into Chinese tea custom as a remebrance to the emperor.

Next time you visit a Chinese tea house, try to observe the interesting finger tapping technique to quietly thank your host for their delicious Chinese tea!

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