Shengjin is a tea term for the sensation of salivation when drinking tea. An article by a tea trader explains it as a phenomenon in which organic acids and other substances in the tea stimulate the submandibular, parotid, and sublingual glands, causing saliva to be secreted. This source is not an academic paper but a tea trader's commentary.
The same article introduces terms distinguishing where the sensation is felt: both-cheek shengjin, teeth-and-cheek shengjin, tongue-surface shengjin, and spring beneath the tongue (under-the-tongue shengjin). A separate reprinted article carries a theory that vitamins, caffeine, and organic acids in tea promote salivation, but in both cases this is only the range of explanation the articles introduce.
Checked for this overview: Matched the term explanation of stimulation by organic acids and others and salivation, and kept the limitation that this is a tea trader's article. / Matched the location-based distinctions of both-cheek, teeth-and-cheek, tongue-surface, and spring beneath the tongue.
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Mechanism and receptors (1)
sheng jin (tea salivation sensation) — currently proposed mechanisms: A theory that vitamins, caffeine, and organic acids in tea promote salivation.preliminary
Verbatim: 「茶叶中的维生素、咖啡碱和有机酸能够促进唾液分泌」 (in translation: "Vitamins, caffeine, and organic acids in tea can promote salivation.")
Limitations: A republished article, not an academic paper.
sheng jin (tea salivation sensation) is defined as The phenomenon in which, on drinking tea, organic acids and other components in the tea stimulate the submandibular, parotid, and sublingual glands, promoting saliva secretioncontextual
Verbatim: 「生津指的是饮茶时，茶叶中有机酸物质刺激下颌腺、腮腺和舌下腺，从而分泌唾液」 (in translation: "shengjin refers to how, when drinking tea, organic acid substances in the tea leaves stimulate the submandibular gland, parotid gland, and sublingual gland, thereby secreting saliva")
Limitations: A tea-trade article, not an academic paper. Not peer-reviewed.
Show dataconcept-sheng-jin —is_defined_as→ (the claim sentence above)
claim: clm-shengjin-definition / type: cultural / updated: 2026-09-02
sheng jin (tea salivation sensation) — sensory attribute: Described as dividing, by where it is felt, into 4 types: both-cheek shengjin, teeth-and-cheek shengjin, tongue-surface shengjin, and “spring beneath the tongue” (under-the-tongue shengjin)contextual
Verbatim: 「两颊生津、齿颊生津、舌面生津、舌底鸣泉（舌下生津）」 (in translation: "both-cheek shengjin, teeth-and-cheek shengjin, tongue-surface shengjin, spring beneath the tongue (under-the-tongue shengjin)")
Limitations: A tea-trade article, not an academic paper.