涼茶在民間：香港涼茶的傳承與發展

涼茶，作為嶺南地區常見的功能性飲品，被視作具祛濕、清熱等效用，以應對嶺南地區炎熱潮濕的氣候。涼茶講求就地取材、用藥方便，多以地方生草藥入藥，故而在配方或會有所增減，各家各方或大體相同但未必完全一致，別具特色。經粵、港、澳三地政府爭取，自2006年起「涼茶配製」被中國國務院列為518種「國家級非物質文化遺產」之一，從嶺南地區的民間傳統被列入非物質文化遺產項目。本文以四個個案探討涼茶於個人、族群、社區的傳承。文中先闡述涼茶所代表的特性、探討村落及社區今昔飲用涼茶習慣的改變、村落傳承至社區傳承的過程所體現的社會變遷。藉此研究，我們期望可提出未來涼茶研究可跳出現時探討商品消費的框架，及將涼茶如何成為了解香港飲食文化及嶺南地區文化媒介的可能。

關鍵字

涼茶；民間傳統；社會變遷；非物質文化遺產

並列摘要

Herbal tea is a beverage with specific functions. Due to the climate in Lingnan (southern China), the major benefits of drinking herbal tea are balancing dampness, clearing internal heat, and improving general well-being. One of the key characteristics of herbal tea is that it is made from local herbs, and we can see both similarities and differences in various prescriptions. As one key local tradition, herbal tea was included in the National Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. Inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is closely related to social development. By collecting and investigating popular traditions, this article focuses on the inheritance, creation, and uses of herbal tea in local villages and communities. To further explore the significance of herbal tea as not only Hong Kong intangible cultural heritage but a national intangible cultural heritage project, we would like to study the changing understandings of herbal tea in local society and the processes of transferring knowledge from villages to communities based on four case studies that examine the current inheritance of herbs and herbal tea uses from different aspects: individual, ethnic group, and community. Herbal tea thus can be used as a topic in future research on consumption studies, and as a medium for understanding Hong Kong food culture in its Lingnan cultural context.