從市場變遷觀點─論戰後北埔茶產業史(1946-2011)

Abstract

本論文旨在從地理、歷史、人文的觀點探討並耙梳茶產業在北埔肇始、興盛到逐漸衰微的市場變遷過程，論述焦點主要放在二次大戰之後。北埔茶產業界有句俗諺：「茶金、茶土、茶狗屎」，意在形容茶產業的起起落落。自日治初期直到1980年，茶產業和許多北埔人的生活息息相關，曾經有半甲子以上的時間，北埔鄉境內滿山遍野都是茶園，逢茶菁採收時節，大街小巷到處都在披茶、製茶。本論文所舉例的永光公司，曾經靠茶獲致龐大利益而風光一時，鄉內也同時佈滿了多所的大、中、小型茶工廠。永光公司在日治時期至光復初期向以外銷紅茶著稱，1950年後因應世界茶市的變化，也曾改做綠茶，其創始者姜阿新堪稱北埔的一頁傳奇，至今仍為人津津樂道。 但北埔自有茶產業以來，直到今日，最出名且最頂級的茶，即是「膨風茶」，在世界茶市的烏龍茶分級中，膨風茶始終站在最高級地位。深諳製茶之道的茶師都明白「三分技術、七分茶菁」的製作優質茶道理，北埔由於有兩座山峰──五指山、鵝公髻山做為屏障，而發源於鵝公髻山的大坪溪水，其主流及支系貫穿了整個北埔鄉，在如此美好的地理、水文條件下，北埔提供了茶樹絕佳的生長環境，最適合製作膨風茶及其它各類乾茶的優質茶菁亦因此產生。 緣此，除了探討北埔茶產業的興、衰外，本論文亦深入探討以下數點：北埔最出名的茶─膨風茶，茶園「著蝝」和膨風茶的關係，茶園大範圍「著蝝」在往昔和今日對茶農的影響，1998年舉辦的「北埔膨風節」對北埔的觀光產業、茶產業的影響，「擂茶」傳入北埔的經過，過去二、三十年來攸關茶農生計至深的「優良茶競賽」在茶農（師）心目中的評價，茶葉比賽評審對製茶技術走向的影響程度，由公權力主辦的茶葉比賽，其公信力之評析，以及近年來中國大陸、越南茶大舉入侵台灣後，對北埔整體茶葉市場的影響，最近二、三年來，政府極力推動的「產地證明標章」（生產履歷證明），茶農對它的看法和評價。

This thesis aims at combing the process of beginning, prospering, fading of Bei-pu tea industry from the viewpoint of geography, history, and culture.The time span focuses on 1946-2011, i.e. since the end of World War Two to 2011. Once, there's a saying "tea gold, tea dust, tea shit" prevailing over the Bei-pu tea industry. By which, it indicates the seemingly unavoidable process of prosperity and decay of tea industry. Bei-bu, on the south eastern skirt of Hsin-chu, is surrounded by two beautiful and magnificent mountains, Five-fingers & Goose-crest. Da-pin stream, originating from Goose-crest Mt., flows through the whole Bei-bu. Thus, the tea trees find their best growing environment under such an appropriate geography and hydrology. Thus, from the late Ching Dynasty to Japanese colonial period to 1980, TEA played an important role in the lives of Bei-pu people. Over sixty years, tea gardens occupied most of the Bei-pu terrain. When the tea leaves picking time came, people made tea from the main roads to narrow alleys. At that time, big and middle sized tea factories profited a lot from tea. Among them, Rung-kuang company, explored in this thesis, was the most famous one. It was famed for exporting black tea from the Japanese colonial period till around 1950. After 1950, there's a short period that Rung-kuang also produced green tea like the other big tea manufactories in Taiwan. Its inventor, Jiang Ah-hsing, was a legend in the Bei-pu tea industry and his achievements are still eulogized in Bei-pu nowadays.

In this thesis, Pung-fung tea, the best and well-known tea in Bei-pu and world Oo-long tea market, is another topic deeply and widely discussed. Furthermore, the relationship between Pung-fung tea and the tea gardens, the bug-affected(著蝝) tea leaves essential to making Pung-fung tea, the tea farmers' opinions on broad-scale bug-affected tea garden, etc. are also widely discussed. Also, this thesis tries to clarify the following issuses:the highly-praised "1998 Bei-pu Pung-fung Festival" and its influence on Bei-pu's tourism and tea industry; the beginning, development and present situation of "tea-grinding"(擂茶) in Bei-pu; tea farmers' and tea technicians' evaluations on "qualified tea competition"(優良茶競賽); the influence of tea competition judges' likes and dislikes on the present flavour of tea and tea market; the credibility of tea competition; the impact of the large-scale invasion of the imported tea from Mainland China and Vietnam on the local market; the fresh impetus of the produce traceability to the local tea farmers since three years ago till now.