(click on the image to enlarge)

This tea grinder was also excavated in the famous Fahmen Temple. It was used to grind tea leaves. The grinder has a wheel and a groovy body. It was made of silver, decorated by gold wild goose and cloud patterns. The edge of the wheel is thin and sharp.

In the Tang Dynasty, before drinking the tea, people baked the tea bricks first, then grinded it into powders when it was still hot. The grinder could be made from wood, porcelain, or metal. Sometimes stone was also used as the material.

After the tea was grinded into powders it would be sifted before serving. The sift was also made from silve, decorated by gold holy man ridding a crane picture. The sift is sitted on the top of a drawer. The tea powders was sifted into the drawer and then used.

Of course the silver tea equipment was very luxury utilities in the Tang Dynasty.
 

Background Knowledge: History of China

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