How Wulong Was Understood in Early 20th-Century Fujian

The Origins of Wulong

The name Wulong, or Oolong, did not begin as a category. In the tea hills of Ānxī (安溪, Anxi County) in Fújiàn (福建, Fujian), growers once used the word wūlóng (乌龙) simply to refer to a tea tree. Leaves from that tree were known to behave well under a particular handling—plucked, withered, shaken, allowed to oxidize lightly before roasting. At that time the name meant little more than that: the tree, the leaves from that tree.

Tea naming in China has rarely been tidy. Names often gather around what people notice first: a place—Wǔyí chá (武夷茶, tea from the Wuyi Mountains), Ānxī chá (安溪茶, tea from Anxi); a plant or leaf form—Tiěguānyīn (铁观音, Iron Goddess of Mercy), Báiháo Yínzhēn (白毫银针, Silver Needle), Lóngjǐng (龙井, Dragon Well).

Wulong followed a similar path. Initially, the term marked the raw material—the leaves of the wūlóng tree. Over time, craft accumulated around these leaves: shaking the leaf in a certain way, pausing during oxidation, applying fire lightly or again later. The processed leaves began to show a recognizable character. The resulting cup carried a balance that did not fit comfortably with either lǜchá (绿茶, green tea) or hóngchá (红茶, black tea). Gradually, the name drifted outward from the tree that first carried it.

Tea makers sometimes describe the method as bàn qīng bàn hóng (半青半红, half green, half red), where the edges of the leaf redden while the center remains green. Not fully green, not fully black—something in between. The name Wulong gradually began to follow this method. Leaves made in this way, wherever they were grown, began to share the term.

Trade carried the term further. By the Yōngzhèng era (雍正, 1723–1735) of the Qīng dynasty (清朝), tea techniques from Ānxī had begun traveling north into the mountains of Fújiàn and across the strait to Táiwān (台湾). New teas appeared—lighter or heavier in roast—but the gestures of making remained recognizable. The plant material was often similar, the handling of the leaves familiar. Along the coast, the Minnan pronunciation of the word leaned toward O-liông. Western merchants recorded it as Oolong. Export buyers focused not on cultivar subtleties, but on the character of the tea—the fragrance, the partial oxidation, and the balance between green and black.

Seen from a distance, the shift is subtle. First the plant: the wūlóng tree. Then the craft: the semi-oxidized method. Finally, the category: Oolong tea, or qīngchá (青茶, blue-green tea). A name that once pointed to a single tree slowly expanded to encompass an entire family of teas. The mountains themselves—Ānxī, Wǔyí Shān, and the higher slopes of Táiwān—remained separate, each with its own weather, soil, and roasting practices. The word moved more easily than the trees, carrying a faint trace of the hills where it first appeared.

Historical Documentation: Wulong as Plant Stock

Republican-period Fujian sources show that “Wulong” was sometimes described not merely as a tea category, but as a tea plant stock, a transmissible lineage, or a named cultivar.

Jiàn’ōu County Gazetteer (建甌縣誌, 1929)
“Wulong tea has thick leaves and a deep color; its flavor is strong and lingering. It is suitable for cultivation in all high and open lands. Its stock was transmitted from Anxi County in Quanzhou.” Here, Wulong is described in varietal terms: leaf thickness, deep color, strong flavor, and suitability for high terrain. It was treated as a transmissible tea stock, not only a tea category.

Report on Fujian Construction (福建建設報告, May 1936)
“Wulong tea originated in Anxi. In the early Guangxu period of the Qing, as gongfu tea declined in various counties, a semi-oxidized tea, neither red nor green, was gradually developed. Because it came from the Wulong tree, it was therefore called Wulong tea.” This record explicitly refers to the Wulong tree, showing the tea’s name derived from the plant itself, not only the processing method.

New Gazetteer of Chong’an County (崇安縣新志, 1940)
“As for Wulong and Shuixian, although they also came from this mountain region, in modern times they were first transplanted from Jiàn’ōu and are not original local stock.” “Wulong tea is produced in Anxi; in the Qing period it was transplanted to Jiàn’ōu by a man surnamed Zhan.” Wulong is treated as transplantable stock, tracing its route from Anxi to Jiàn’ōu and onward into Chong’an.

Tea in Fujian, Volume I (福建之茶, 上冊, 1941)
“Among the Northern Fujian blue-green teas, there is also one kind called Wulong…” “[Someone] transplanted Anxi tea stock into Jianning Prefecture, where it propagated very widely…”
“The Wulong of Chong’an was first moved to Jiàn’ōu by the Anxi man Zhan Jinpu during the Daoguang period of the Qing, and from there was moved onward.” This source explicitly identifies Wulong as “one kind”, linking it to Anxi tea stock, transplantation, propagation, and regional spread.

Daye Wulong: A Living Legacy

Daye Wulong (Large-leaf Wulong), also known as Daye Wu or Dajiao Wu, is a tea plant cultivar characterized by broad leaves and deep green foliage. Its widespread cultivation and recognition confirm its historical importance and support the sustainable development of the tea industry.

• Chinese name : 大叶乌龙 (Daye Wulong)
• Alternative names : 大叶乌 (Daye Wu), 大脚乌 (Dajiao Wu)
• Earliest traceable date : 1731 (9th year of the Yongzheng reign, Qing dynasty)
• National cultivar registration number : GS13011—1985
• Place of origin : Shanping Tiantian, Changkeng Township, Anxi County, Fujian Province
• Type : Clonal cultivar; shrub form; medium-leaf; mid-season; diploid
• Category: Tea plant cultivar (Camellia sinensis)