Echoes in Brewing Tea: Functional Specialization of the Teochew Dialect in Gongfu Tea Rituals and the Risk of Intergenerational Rupture

Abstract

As the core carrier of Teochew's regional culture, Teochew dialect is closely intertwined with the national intangible cultural heritage, "Teochew Gongfu Tea". Its survival status directly affects the integrity of the living transmission of Gongfu Tea culture. However, against the backdrop of the popularization of Mandarin and the acceleration of urbanization, the inheritance of Teochew dialect is facing a severe risk of "intergenerational break". This study aims to systematically explore the value of Teochew dialect in Gongfu Tea culture, its inheritance crisis, and its dissemination paths. Through multi-dimensional theoretical analysis, this study deeply reveals the cultural connotation of the "functional specialization" of dialects in the context of Gongfu Tea, assesses the current situation and causes of intergenerational break, and explores the dissemination efficiency in traditional and modern fields. The study further demonstrates the mutually reinforcing internal connection between dialect proficiency and cultural identity of Gongfu Tea, ultimately providing key evidence for revealing the symbiotic mechanism of language and culture, and offering important theoretical basis and practical implications for addressing language crises in the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage and formulating precise cultural protection and dissemination strategies.