The seven necessities stem from the phrase "Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea are the seven necessities to begin a day". The items were known as early as the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
travel book, ''
Dreams of the Former Capital''.
The Chinese phrase "seven necessities" literally means "開 open 門 door 七 seven 件事 items" when translated, which is an old Chinese saying. They include firewood (柴 chái), rice (米 mĭ), oil (油 yóu), salt (鹽 yán), sauce (醬 jiàng), vinegar (醋 cù), tea (茶 chá). The seven necessities were made popular in modern
tea culture
Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking.
Tea plays an important role in some countries. It is commonly consumed at social events, and ...
due to the fact the beverage was mentioned as one of the seven necessities of Chinese life.
References
External links
Chinese Culture Institute
* {{cite web , url = http://ketang.dict.cn/item/4e981f95acf0a3c9df000098 , title = Notes on Chinese Culture- Food and Drinks (08) – Chinese Tea , website = dict.cn , access-date = 2012-01-09 , url-status=dead , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120804163552/http://ketang.dict.cn/item/4e981f95acf0a3c9df000098 , archive-date = 2012-08-04
Chinese tea culture
Chinese proverbs