Bai Mudan

Bai Mudan (Chinese: 白牡丹; literally: "white peony") is a type of white tea made from plucks each with one leaf shoot and two immediate young leaves. Bai Mudan is sometimes preferred by white tea drinkers for its fuller flavor and greater potency than the other major type of white tea, Bai Hao Yinzhen. The latter is made purely with leaf shoots, and so it is comparatively softer and more subtle. The typical taste of Bai Mudan is a result of both the processing and the tea plant cultivars employed in the production.

Production and processing

The family of tea cultivars used in producing Bai Mudan are the "Dai Bai" varieties. In eastern Fujian, the cultivar Fuding Dai Bai is used. In northern Fujian, the Zhenghe Dai Bai cultivar is used. The differences in the plant yield two distinct styles of Bai Mudan: the Fuding variety and the Zhenghe variety.

Genuine Bai Mudan is a white tea, therefore, it is a slightly oxidized tea. The plucks are sun-withered for an extended period of time and then piled briefly for oxidation, during which enzymes of the tealeaves interact with other constituents to form new materials that result in the final taste and aromatic character of the tea. Depending on the weather, conditions of the pluck and the taste style requirements of the finished products, the sunning may last between 1 to 3 days and the piling between one half and 3 hours.

Bai Mudan (mythology)

Bai Mudan (白牡丹; literally White Peony), also romanized as Pai Mu-tan, is character from Chinese mythology. She is described as the most beautiful courtesan in the city of Luoyang and a reincarnation of Peony fairy.

Legends

White Peony most popular legend comes from novel Journey to the East. It said one day the immortal Lü Dongbin took a walk in Luoyang, spotted White Peony, and was heavily attracted by her beauty. Lü Dongbin then transforming himself into handsome scholar and slept with her many times. However, in accordance with Taoist alchemy, he never ejaculated in order to preserve his Yang essence. Unfortunately Lu’s immortal colleague Iron-Crutch Li and He Xiangu taught Mudan how to make him ejaculate by tickling his groin. Finally, White Peony successfully made Lü Dongbin ejaculate and absorbed his Yang essence. Later she cultivated herself and become immortal as well.

Feijianji, another novel from Ming Dynasty had slightly different version of this legend. According Feijianji, Bai Mudan was a common girl (not a prostitute) who was seduced by Lü Dongbin. Later she became very weak since Lu practiced "cai yin bu yang" on her. Meaning he absorbed her yin (female) essence, without losing his own yang (male) essence. When her mother consulted with Buddhist Monk Huanglong (Yellow Dragon), he teach her on how to make Lü Dongbin ejaculate and thus restoring her yin essence. This event enraged Lü Dongbin, he tried to decapitate Huanglong using his flying sword but failed. In the end Lu admitted his mistakes and acknowledged Huang Long as his teacher.

Bai (suffix)

Bai or baisaheb is a suffix added to the name of female members of the in the Maratha and Rajput dynasties. This type of suffix is also used in several kshatriya castes and in some of the tribal castes, for example the Lambadi.

References

Bai (decoration)

The Bai was an imperial Vietnamese decoration for merit. The decoration, an oblong shield of gold set with ten rubies was worn on a cord around the neck. It was given to meritorious princes, mandarins, generals, ministers and the highest civil servants.

The decoration is very old but was reformed by the emperor Thành Thái in 1889. It ceased to exist after the fall of the Vietnamese monarchy in 1945.

External links

Emperors with the Bai

Emperor Khải Định with Bai and Khim Kanh

Emperor Khải Định with Bai and Khim Kanh

Emperor Thành Thái with Bai and Khim Khanh

Emperor Thành Thái with Bai and Khim Khanh

Emperor Bảo Đại with Bai and Khim Khanh

Emperor Bảo Đại with Bai and Khim Khanh

Obai

The Obai or Bai was the ruler of the Temne people in the Kingdom of Koya, in what is now northwestern Sierra Leone. The kingdom became part of the British protectorate in Sierra Leone after 1898, and the Bai was then a king in title only.

List of Rulers of the Temne state of Koya Temne

See also

Sources