Tea, this miraculous oriental leaf, not only enriches the daily lives of the Chinese people but also deeply permeates the fabric of Chinese culture. Since ancient times, tea has forged an indissoluble bond with scholars and refined gentlemen, who incorporate tea into paintings, compose poems about it, and gather friends over it, elevating tea tasting to an art of living and a form of spiritual cultivation.
📜 Tea Poems
Tea poetry is one of the most important art forms in tea culture. In ancient times, many literati and scholars liked to create poems with tea as the theme to express their emotions and state of mind. These tea poems not only have literary value but also contain profound cultural connotations and aesthetic value.
🖋️ 1. Du Yu and "Chuan Fu" – The Pioneering Work of Tea Literature
Du Yu, styled Fangshu, was a native of Dengling, Xiangcheng in the Western Jin Dynasty. Since childhood, he had the reputation of being a "child prodigy", and when he grew up, he was highly talented, being hailed by his contemporaries as "Du Sheng". Although his work "Chuan Fu" has been mostly lost during the process of dissemination, with only a dozen sentences remaining today, it still shines with the brilliance of tea literature.
New Li Script Work "Chuan Fu"
-
🌅 The first ray of dawn of Chinese tea culture can be traced back to Du Yu's "Fu" in the Western Jin Dynasty. Among the existing official historical books, "Fu" is the first complete record in the history of Chinese tea – a work that records the whole process of tea from planting to drinking. The article talks about the planting and growth environment of tea to the picking season, and also talks about the cooking of tea, the selection of water, the selection of tea utensils, and the effectiveness of drinking tea from the labor scene. The article records the scale and geographical conditions of tea planting through paragraphs such as "Ling Shan Wei Yue" and "Mi Gu Bei Gang", describes the tea-making process such as "Shui Ze Min Fang Zhu" and "Qi Ze Tao Jian", and presents the visual characteristics of tea soup for the first time: "foam sinks and floats, shining like snow".
-
💎 The preciousness of this tea ode lies in the fact that it systematically describes for the first time the entire process of tea from growth to consumption. Expressions such as "the moon is only in early autumn" and "shining like accumulated snow" in the poem were cited by later generations The Classic of Tea, and the concept of "selecting simple pottery utensils" became the early textual foundation for the development of tea ceremony techniques. The ode reflects the historical facts of tea production in the southern mountainous areas during the Western Jin Dynasty, providing original documentary evidence for the study of ancient tea culture.
🍵 2. Su Shi – The Tea Zen of Human Flavors
Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan, also Hezhong, styled Tieguan Daoren and Dongpo Jushi, is commonly known as Su Dongpo. A native of Meishan, Meizhou (now Meishan City, Sichuan Province), he was a Northern Song Dynasty writer, calligrapher, painter, and a well-known figure in historical water management. He is collectively known as "Su Huang" with Huang Tingjian, "Ou Su" with Ouyang Xiu, and is one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties" along with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, Wang Anshi, etc.; he is also one of the "Four Great Calligraphers of the Song Dynasty" together with Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang.
"Portrait of Su Dongpo Appreciating Antiquities"
-
🌙 Su Shi, a literary giant of the Northern Song Dynasty, was closely associated with tea throughout his life. His tea poems were like his life – savoring the sweetness in bitterness. When exiled to Huangzhou, he reclaimed land on Dongpo, and late at night, he drank tea to refresh himself and studied hard:
"During the day, I'm buried in official documents and administrative duties; at night, brewing tea and roasting chestnuts are suitable for my nocturnal pursuits." ( "In Reply to Monk Qian's Gift in the Same Rhyme" ). -
💧 At this moment, tea is a comfort in weariness. In "Brewing Tea by Drawing Water from the River", he meticulously depicts the process of fetching water and brewing tea:
"Living water must be brewed with living fire; I go to the fishing rock myself to fetch deep, clear water. A large ladle scoops up the moon and returns it to the spring urn; a small ladle divides the river and pours it into the night bottle."
By the riverside on a moonlit night, with a ladle and a scoop, he infuses the essence of heaven and earth into the tea soup, and ordinary trivialities are transformed into a poetic Zen realm. -
✨ And "The true flavor of life lies in simple pleasures" – this timeless masterpiece was precisely the profound truth of life he suddenly realized when traveling to Nanshan with his friends, sipping on tea as frothy as snowflakes and enjoying wild herbs and bamboo shoots. For Su Shi, tea was no longer just a thirst-quencher, but a medium for savoring life and transcending the mundane.
-
☯️ Su Shi integrated tea with Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist thoughts, forming a unique tea ceremony spirit and enhancing the philosophical connotations of the tea culture in the Song Dynasty.
🎨 Tea Painting
The rise of tea paintings is not only a material manifestation of economic prosperity but also reflects the refined sentiment and philosophical pursuit of literati and scholars. It seamlessly combines ink and wash with the essence of tea, recreating the tea-drinking customs of various dynasties and documenting the historical evolution of Chinese tea culture. When viewing tea paintings, one can almost hear the gentle gurgling of tea water and smell the fragrant steam rising in the air.
🖌️ 1. Yan Liben and "Xiao Yi Obtains the Lanting Calligraphy by Stratagem" – Tea‑related Scenes in the Painting
Yan Liben (about 601–673) was born in Wannian, Yongzhou (now Xi'an, Shaanxi). He was a famous painter in the early Tang Dynasty, skilled in painting figures, chariots and horses, and pavilions. His brushwork was round and powerful, with delicate content style, elegant color, and flexible lines. His handed-down paintings include "Bu Nian Tu", "Ancient Emperor Tu", "Zhi Gong Tu", etc.
-
🏛️ The Tang Dynasty was an important period in the development of Chinese tea culture, during which tea-related activities began to enter the realm of painting art. "Xiao Yi Obtains the Lanting Preface by Deception", created by Yan Liben, a painter of the early Tang Dynasty, is considered to be the earliest existing Chinese tea painting. It depicts the story of Xiao Yi, an imperial censor, who deceived Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface" for Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Notably, on one side of the painting, a tea-making scene is depicted, with an old and a young servant preparing tea, complete with all the necessary tea sets and utensils, vividly reproducing the tea-brewing customs of the Tang Dynasty.
-
🖼️ This painting not only has high artistic value, but more importantly, it leaves behind visual evidence of tea-related activities in the Tang Dynasty for future generations, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the tea-drinking customs of the Tang people. The tea utensils and tea brewing methods depicted in the painting all corroborate the records in Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea, showcasing the unique charm of Tang Dynasty tea culture.
Yan Liben's copy of "Xiao Yi Obtains the Lanting Preface"
👑 2. Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji – Defined the Pinnacle of Tea with the Dignity of an Emperor
Zhao Ji, Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty (1082–1135), an emperor with extremely high artistic attainments, was not only famous for his unique "Slender Gold Script" calligraphy but also the only emperor in Chinese history who personally wrote a tea book. His work "Daguan Cha Lun" exhaustively discussed the origin, harvesting, processing, brewing, and tasting of steamed green tea cakes in the Song Dynasty, and is regarded as a classic in tea studies.
Zhao Ji's "Wenhui Tu" is in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
-
🍵 According to records, Zhao Ji was highly skilled in the art of whisking tea, and could make the tea foam "float on the surface of the cup like sparse stars and bright moon", remaining for a long time. He painted this elegant activity into his paintings, "Wenhui Tu" – a silk painting with colors jointly created by Zhao Ji and court painters.
-
🏯 "Wenhui Tu" depicts the grand scene of literati and refined scholars gathering for tea in the imperial garden. In the painting, servants are busily preparing and serving tea, with excellent utensils and strict procedures, perfectly reproducing the extreme refinement and luxury of the tea banquets in the Song Dynasty court. Emperor Huizong of Song, with his imperial status, elevated tea-drinking from a daily custom to a supreme art that integrates aesthetics, technique, and philosophy.
-
🖌️ Liu Lingcang, a Chinese meticulous and heavy-color figure painter, commented: "Wenhui Painting" is a work of the typical style of "meticulous and heavy-color" in Chinese figure painting.
🍃 Tea Ceremony
Tea ceremony is the most important part of tea culture. It is not only a way of tea tasting, but also a manifestation of the art of life and philosophy. During the tea tasting process, people pay attention to details such as etiquette, atmosphere, water quality, and heat control, and experience the beauty and tranquility of life through tea brewing, tea tasting, and other steps.
📜 1. Lu Yu – The Sage of Tea Leaves His Name in History
Tea and Chan, two cultures, share similarities and differences, neither identical nor distinct. One object and one mind, two methods, with and without form, neither separate nor attached. The tea culture and Chan culture both flourished during the Tang Dynasty, and it was Lu Yu, the Tea Sage who was raised by Chan monks and grew up in Chan monasteries during the Tang Dynasty, who made tea evolve from a beverage to an art and then to a philosophy, integrating tea and Chan into one.
-
🌱 Lu Yu (733–804 AD), from Jingling, Hubei, was a tea expert and founder of the Tang Dynasty tea culture. He was later known as the "Tea Saint". Abandoned in childhood, he was adopted by Master Zhiji of Longgai Temple. Later, he fled because he refused to shave his head and become a monk. He joined a theater troupe and traveled to Jiangnan to investigate tea affairs. In 760 AD, Lu Yu lived in seclusion in Tiaoxi (now Huzhou, Zhejiang) and wrote three volumes of the "Tea Classic".
-
📖 The Classic of Tea consists of three volumes divided into ten chapters, including Origin, Tools, Production, Vessels, Brewing, Drinking, History, Origin Regions, Abbreviated, and Illustrations. It systematically summarizes various aspects of tea, such as its origin, history, production, processing, brewing, tasting, tea utensils, etc., and deeply explores the cultural connotations of tea drinking, thereby elevating tea drinking from a daily habit to the level of art and aesthetics.
-
🌏 "The Classic of Tea" is the earliest, most complete, and most comprehensive monograph introducing tea in China and even the world. It is known as the "Complete Book of Tea Lingo", marking that tea studies have become a specialized discipline. The aesthetic thoughts of "The Classic of Tea" have also influenced later generations. It elaborates on tea leaves from professional perspectives such as tea classification, picking and evaluation, tea frying methods, and tea tasting methods. At the same time, it also rises from the level of tea use value to the category of art and aesthetics, and discusses various aesthetic tastes in tea activities.
-
🏯 Its emergence promoted the prevalence of the tea ceremony and influenced all aspects of politics, economy, culture, and life thereafter, becoming one of the three major tea books in the world.
Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea"
🌬️ 2. Lu Tong – The Soul of Tea Immortals and Poetry
Lu Tong (about 795–835), a poet of the Tang Dynasty. He claimed to be Yuchuanzi, a native of Fanyang (now Zhuozhou, Hebei). When he was young, he lived in seclusion in Shaoshi Mountain, Henan Province. His family was poor, he studied hard, and did not want to enter the officialdom. He had "Yuchuanzi's Poetry Collection". Because of his works "Tea Book" (now lost) and tea poems "Xie Meng's Admonition to Send New Tea", he was hailed as the "Tea Fairy" by later generations.
Yuan Dynasty, Qian Xuan, "Lu Tong Boiling Tea Picture"
-
✍️ "Walking Brushstroke to Thank Meng Jianyi for Sending New Tea" can be regarded as the pinnacle work in the history of tea poetry. When he received Yangxian tea gifted by a friend, while brewing it, he saw "the blue clouds are drawn by the wind and never break, the white flowers float and shine, condensing on the surface of the bowl", and immediately wrote the eternal famous lines:
"One bowl moistens the throat and lips, two bowls dispel loneliness and boredom. Three bowls search the dry intestines, only to find 5,000 volumes of writing. Four bowls induce a light sweat, all the injustices in life are dispersed through the pores. Five bowls clear the muscles and bones, six bowls connect with the immortals. Seven bowls are too much to drink, only feeling a gentle breeze blowing under the armpits."
-
🕊️ Lu Tong used poetry as a boat to carry tea drinkers from the mundane world to Penglai, making tea drinking a flight of the soul.
-
🌟 Su Shi later exclaimed: "Why need Emperor Wei's pill? Just enjoy Lu Tong's seven bowls of tea." This poem is widely recited in Japan and has evolved into the Japanese tea ceremony of "moistening the throat and lips, dispelling loneliness and boredom, searching the empty gut, inducing a light sweat, refreshing the muscles and bones, connecting with the spiritual, and generating a gentle breeze." The Japanese often compare him with "Tea Sage" Lu Yu and worship him as the founder of the "Fried Tea Ceremony."
🌟 Conclusion
From Du Yu's "Treatise on Tea" to Su Shi's concept of the unity of tea and Zen, from Yan Liben's "Xiao Yi Obtains the Lanting Preface" to Emperor Huizong of Song's "Painting of Literary Gathering", and then to Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea" and Lu Tong's "Poem of Seven Bowls of Tea", tea has always been closely connected with the spiritual world of great cultural and artistic figures throughout Chinese history. Between the fragrance of tea and the charm of ink lies the unique Chinese aesthetics of life and wisdom of life – tasting the mellow in hardship, seeing the lofty in the ordinary, and reaching the state of Zen in rituals. This tea culture, which originates from life yet transcends it, still flows in our cups today, continuing to write the immortal legend of Oriental civilization.
❓ Related Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1: Why is it said that "tea and Zen share the same essence"? How did this idea form and develop in Chinese culture?
A: "Tea and Zen are one" originated from the profound compatibility between the nature of tea and the principles of Zen. During the Tang Dynasty, tea cultivation and tea-making were widespread in Zen monasteries, as tea could help Zen practitioners refresh their minds and calm their hearts. Lu Yu was raised by Zen monks, and his "The Classic of Tea" contains Zen connotations; during the Song Dynasty, Zen Master Yuanwu Keqin proposed the concept of "Tea and Zen are one" and presented it in writing to his Japanese disciple, which became the core idea of Japanese tea ceremony. Su Shi's poem "The true flavor of life lies in simple pleasures" and other verses further integrated tea with the Zen concept of "ordinary mind is the way", making tea-drinking a spiritual practice to experience the Zen state through daily life.
Q2: What are the essential differences between the Diancha method of the Song Dynasty and the Jiancha method of the Tang Dynasty? How do they respectively reflect the cultural characteristics of their times?
A: During the Tang Dynasty, the method of decocting tea followed Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea" as a standard. After grinding the tea cake into powder, it was added to boiling water for cooking, emphasizing the natural flavor and reflecting the inclusive and grand atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. In contrast, the method of whisking tea in the Song Dynasty involved mixing the tea powder into a paste and then pouring boiling water over it, whisking to create foam, pursuing visual aesthetics (such as "snowy foam and milky blossoms"), and reflecting the introverted and refined literati taste of the Song Dynasty. Emperor Huizong's "Daguan Tea Treatise" systematized the art of whisking tea and demonstrated its central position as a core activity in court gatherings through the "Painting of a Literary Gathering," marking the transformation of tea culture from a technique to a comprehensive art form.
Q3: What impacts did Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea and Lu Tong's Poem of Seven Bowls of Tea have on Japanese tea ceremony respectively?
A: Lu Yu's "The Classic of Tea" established the theoretical foundation for Japanese tea ceremony with its utensil specifications and tea-drinking philosophy, and its ideology of "refined conduct and frugal virtue" was developed by Sen no Rikyu into "harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility"; Lu Tong's "Poem of Seven Bowls of Tea" endows tea-drinking with a mysterious spiritual sublimation experience, and Japanese Sencha tea ceremony inherited the artistic concept of "communicating with immortals" and "gentle breeze rising" from it, forming the theory of seven levels of "throat moistening → gentle breeze rising". Together, they have shaped the dual dimensions of "cultivating the mind through skills" in Japanese tea ceremony.
0 comments