Living Crafts

From one leaf, an entire Eastern etiquette of hospitality and self-cultivation.

A single leaf changed the world: the Chinese have drunk tea for four thousand years, turning a medicinal herb into philosophy, art and a way of life. Green, black, oolong, white, yellow and dark — all six great teas come from one plant.

Growing, making, brewing and the etiquette of tea — threading through hospitality, self-cultivation, festivals and trade.

Grain fermented into wine; at banquets and rites, wine runs through Chinese social life.

The brewing customs of huangjiu, rice wine and baijiu, present at sacrifices, feasts and seasonal occasions.

Silver worked hammer by chisel into festival finery, carrying a people’s memory.

Silver forged as ceremonial dress for weddings and festivals, bearing the culture of the Miao.