There is "rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea" in "Seven Things to Open the Door". Why can tea be included?

Because the earliest and most popular saying about the Seven Events of Opening the Door is "rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea", there is no wine in this saying, and then after thousands of years of circulation, although wine was briefly added in the middle, because the popularity of wine among the people is not very high, "wine" did not stay in the content of the Seven Events of Opening the Door. Tea is accepted by the public because of its unique characteristics of being close to the people and has become one of the seven things to open the door.

The theory of "rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea" originated from Wu's Dream of Liang Lu in the Song Dynasty: "Those who can't afford to cover others in the day, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea." This is the earliest record of seven events, which vividly describes the dull but busy life of ordinary people. It is also the most popular saying. After a long time, it has become a proverb passed down from mouth to mouth.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, the "seven things to open the door" became "eight things to open the door", and wine also joined the ranks of "seven things to open the door" during this period. Wood, rice, oil, salt, wine, sauce, vinegar and tea were the most popular sayings at that time, but the saying of "eight things to open the door" was not as good as "seven things to open the door".

The reason why tea ranks among the seven things to open the door is closely related to the daily life of the people. Today, the first thing to do when entertaining guests in many parts of our country is to make a pot of good tea, and three or five friends will sit around and talk about it, which will have a special taste. This function of tea is irreplaceable by wine. Therefore, tea is easier to integrate into people's lives than wine, and it is not surprising that tea can occupy a place in the seven things of opening the door.