茶水知音

中國(guó)茶文化史上，文人常常就是茶人。他們品茗閱讀，著書(shū)寫(xiě)茶。明末清初的散文家張岱就是其中之一。張岱（1597-1679），字宗子、石公，號(hào)陶庵，山陰(今浙江紹興)人，僑居杭州。他的散文取公安派、竟陵派諸家之長(zhǎng)，風(fēng)格以公安派的清新流暢為主調(diào)，在描寫(xiě)刻畫(huà)上雜以竟陵派的冷峭詼諧之趣，短雋有味。除此之外，張岱在中國(guó)茶文化史上占有重要的一席，他不僅精于茶道，還以茶明志、借茶抒情，創(chuàng)作了為數(shù)甚多的茶散文作品。后世有人稱(chēng)其為“茶散文家”，倒也是不為過(guò)的。

張岱出身仕宦之家，曾漫游蘇、浙、魯、皖等地區(qū)，常盤(pán)桓于滬、寧、杭一帶，游覽名山大川，了解各地風(fēng)情習(xí)俗、物產(chǎn)土宜。他性情曠達(dá)，守大節(jié)而不拘泥小節(jié)，興趣愛(ài)好廣泛。在諸多癖好中，嗜茶為甚，喜品茶鑒水。

親制蘭雪

張岱的茶癖自幼習(xí)染，秉承家風(fēng)，未至不惑之年，已是茶藝精湛，冠絕一時(shí)。張岱的家鄉(xiāng)山陰盛產(chǎn)日鑄茶，名望素著。“日鑄雪芽”在宋朝已被列為貢品，且為當(dāng)時(shí)社會(huì)名流饋贈(zèng)之珍品，為文人墨客所鐘愛(ài)，有“越州日鑄茶，為江南第一”之譽(yù)。張岱對(duì)故鄉(xiāng)的日鑄茶贊不絕口，他在《陶庵夢(mèng)憶》中夸贊日鑄茶雋永獨(dú)特：“日鑄者，越王鑄劍地也。茶味棱棱，有金石之氣。”傳說(shuō)春秋時(shí)期，越國(guó)鑄劍大師歐冶子至此，一日間鑄成歷史上著名的“越王劍”，故名日鑄。日鑄茶湯濃、味釅、爽口，這也許便是張岱所贊美的“棱棱有金石之氣”。然而到了明代，安徽休寧松蘿茶制法精妙，名噪一時(shí)，蓋過(guò)日鑄。

張岱為振興家鄉(xiāng)茶業(yè)，改良日鑄，創(chuàng)制新品種，招募徽州歙人專(zhuān)事松蘿茶的師傅入日鑄山授業(yè)。他在散文《蘭雪茶》中自述：“遂募歙人入日鑄。拘法、掐法、挪法、撒法、扇法、炒法、焙法、藏法，一如松蘿。”進(jìn)而他又探究泉水，發(fā)現(xiàn)“他泉瀹之，香氣不出，煮禊泉，投以小罐，則香太濃郁，雜入茉莉，再三較量，用敞口瓷甌淡放之。候其冷，以旋滾湯沖瀉之，色如竹籜方解，綠粉初勻，又如山窗初曙，透紙黎光。取清妃白，傾向素瓷，真如百莖素蘭同雪濤并瀉也。雪芽得其色矣，未得其氣。”張岱將新品種戲呼之曰“蘭雪”，品賞把玩，自得其樂(lè)。他的這一發(fā)明后逐漸流行開(kāi)來(lái)，如此四五年后，蘭雪茶風(fēng)靡茶市，紹興之飲茶者一改往日飲松蘿的習(xí)慣，反倒非蘭雪不飲。此風(fēng)播及徽州，原來(lái)徽人惟松蘿茶者也改飲蘭雪，“不食松蘿，只食蘭雪”，“松蘿貶身價(jià)俯就蘭雪”。后來(lái)，連松蘿茶亦改名“蘭雪”了，可惜今已失傳。

以茶會(huì)友

在張岱的許多著作中，記述了不少生動(dòng)的茶事。例如《閔老子茶》，詳盡記錄了張岱與精于茶道的著名老茶人閔汶水的品茶辨泉的經(jīng)過(guò)，極為生動(dòng)，富有茶趣。明崇禎十一年(1638)九月的一天，張岱專(zhuān)程前往桃葉渡拜訪閔老子。張岱想親口品嘗這位高手煎的茶，可偏巧閔汶水大清早便外出，張岱等到午后，閔老子才回家。誰(shuí)知閩老子進(jìn)屋后只是簡(jiǎn)單和張岱寒暄幾句，便又借故徑自出門(mén)去了。張岱已經(jīng)等了老半天，好不容易等到他回來(lái)，卻又走了，但是為了能品嘗到這位高手煎的茶，只好耐著性子繼續(xù)等下去。直到夜深時(shí)分，閔老子方慢悠悠地返回。一進(jìn)門(mén)，看了張岱一眼，頗為奇怪地問(wèn)：“客人你還在啊？你在這里干什么呢？”張岱恭敬地回答：“慕汶老久，今日不暢飲汶老茶，決不回去。”汶水有感于張岱的一番誠(chéng)意，遂大喜，“自起當(dāng)爐”，把煎茶絕技展示出來(lái)，并帶張岱至內(nèi)室，展示其收藏的茶具，“荊溪壺（宜興紫砂壺）、成宣窯瓷甌十余種，皆精絕”。閔汶水瀹茶后，有心考考張岱，故意不說(shuō)出茶與泉的真名。張岱精于茶藝，嘗遍天下名茶，現(xiàn)在親眼見(jiàn)到如此精絕茶湯，啜了一口，便問(wèn)閔汶水：“此茶產(chǎn)于何地？”閔老子隨便回答：“四川閬中產(chǎn)的閬苑茶。”張岱在燈光下見(jiàn)茶湯之色與瓷甌之色無(wú)別，而茶香溢人，但是他對(duì)閔汶水的說(shuō)法表示懷疑，又品了一口，說(shuō)：“汶老別哄我，這茶是閬苑的制法，但滋味卻不像！”閔汶水微微一笑，說(shuō)：“那么你說(shuō)，是什么茶？”張岱再品之，說(shuō)：“極似羅芥茶。”閔汶水驚曰：“奇、奇。”張岱又問(wèn)水是何水。閔汶水說(shuō)：“惠泉。”張岱又說(shuō)：“別哄我，惠泉在千里之外，何能鮮爽不損？”汶水對(duì)張岱的精鑒連連稱(chēng)奇，抽身而去，不一會(huì)兒，又持一壺滿(mǎn)斟，遞給張岱。張岱品鑒道：“此茶香烈味酵，乃春茶也，剛才喝的是秋茶。”閔老子聽(tīng)罷開(kāi)懷大笑，方識(shí)眼前這位茶客是品茗鑒水的行家，乃茶中知己，他不得不承認(rèn)：“予年七十，精賞鑒者，無(wú)客比。”兩人遂結(jié)成忘年交。

張岱不僅在散文《閔老子茶》中追記真人真事，還在論茶時(shí)發(fā)出無(wú)限慨嘆：“金陵閔老子死后，茶之一道絕矣!”這不能不說(shuō)是中國(guó)茶史上的一段佳話。

尋泉訪水

龍井茶、虎跑水被譽(yù)為“雙絕”。我國(guó)古代茶藝就是茶與水的藝術(shù)配對(duì)和組合，佳茗配佳泉，凡提品茗，總是把茶和水聯(lián)在一塊的。茶的色、香、味、形便是通過(guò)水的沖泡溶解，以眼觀、鼻聞、口嘗的方式提供茶人以享受的。善品茶者，必善品水。歷代文人品泉擇水都以惠山泉為上，明代文人尤其如此。張岱是鑒水行家，在散文《閔老子茶》中就有寫(xiě)到他與閔老子論泉的事。閔老子向張岱傳授了保持泉水鮮爽之法：“在汲水前先淘?xún)羧訒r(shí)后新泉涌現(xiàn)時(shí)才汲取，并用山石鋪墊甕底。運(yùn)水之舟非江風(fēng)滿(mǎn)帆則不行船，所以才保持了水的鮮活。”張岱得知此法后，為了得到惠山泉，還組織過(guò)一個(gè)專(zhuān)門(mén)運(yùn)送惠泉水的物流機(jī)構(gòu)，按上述方法定時(shí)運(yùn)輸，收取水費(fèi)。由于惠泉珍貴，加上運(yùn)程遠(yuǎn)，供不應(yīng)求。

為解決品茗用水，張岱經(jīng)常尋泉訪水。此事他在散文《禊泉》中有所記述：明萬(wàn)歷四十二年(1614)，他途經(jīng)斑竹庵，取庵邊泉水品嘗，其水質(zhì)磷磷有圭角，清冽甘美，他大感驚異，于是他坐在泉井邊觀看水色，但見(jiàn)水色有如“秋月霜空，噗天為白”，又如“輕嵐出岫，繚松迷石，淡淡欲散”。隨后，他忽然發(fā)現(xiàn)布滿(mǎn)苔蘚的泉水口有字劃，便用帚刷洗，只見(jiàn)露出“禊泉”二字，書(shū)法甚似王右軍，這使他更加驚異。于是，他住進(jìn)斑竹庵，汲取泉水，烹煮瀹茶，水注入后，茶香溢出。但他發(fā)覺(jué)剛汲的泉水有股石腥味，待放置三日后，石腥味才盡散。這篇散文繪聲繪色地表現(xiàn)了他善于辨水的高超本領(lǐng)。本來(lái)品水如參禪，全憑悟性，只可意會(huì)，不可言傳，可張岱能用精微的文字表述出來(lái)，真是舉重若輕，游刃有余。禊泉澄澈清冷，水質(zhì)甘洌，相傳為晉代大書(shū)法家王羲之于永和九年(353)三月初三與當(dāng)時(shí)名士謝安等會(huì)集紹興蘭亭修禊宴飲之泉。張岱對(duì)禊泉大加推崇，認(rèn)為杭州虎跑水、會(huì)稽陶溪水、蕭山北干水均不能與禊泉為伍。禊泉與惠泉也不相上下，惠泉水經(jīng)過(guò)長(zhǎng)途運(yùn)輸會(huì)變質(zhì)，禊泉水隨汲隨飲，其鮮活自然勝惠泉一籌。從此禊泉受到茶人重視，民眾紛紛前往汲取，甚至有人以此牟利，裝甕出售。消息傳到紹興太守董方伯耳中，他差人取水品飲，果然甘美無(wú)比。猶恐泉水供應(yīng)不足，他便下令封泉，未經(jīng)許可，不準(zhǔn)汲取。這樣禊泉反而聲名大振。

張岱辨水品泉之精，達(dá)到出神入化的地步，其辨水本領(lǐng)不亞于唐之陸羽、李德裕，宋之王安石、蘇軾。當(dāng)年張岱經(jīng)營(yíng)運(yùn)輸惠山泉水業(yè)務(wù)時(shí)，他的手下人為了省力，未到惠山，在半路上隨便汲水運(yùn)回。張岱一品味，發(fā)現(xiàn)不對(duì)，但是當(dāng)差的百般抵賴(lài)。于是張岱召集運(yùn)水的差人，當(dāng)場(chǎng)品泉辨水，說(shuō)出這是某地某泉的水，眾人大為驚詫?zhuān)銓?shí)話說(shuō)了出來(lái)。張岱不愧是辨水的高手行家，自稱(chēng)“水淫茶癖”，名不虛傳。□

Zhang Dai: ea and Water Gourmet

By Liu Lufeng

In the history of Chinese tea， the most prominent figures are scholars. In ancient times， scholars enjoyed tea and wrote books on various aspects of the healthy beverage. Lu Yu (733-804) wrote The Book of Tea， the world’s very first encyclopedic book on tea. Zhang Dai (1597-1679)， a preeminent essayist of the late Ming (1368-1644) and early Qing (1644-1911) dynasties， was one of these scholarly tea gourmets.

Zhang Dai， a native of Shaoxing in eastern Zhejiang Province， was celebrated for his fresh and concise prose style and witty humor. He is also known for a significant role he played in the history of tea. He was well versed in tea and he wrote quite a few essays on tea. For this reason， he is known as a tea essayist.

Boy and man， Zhang liked tea and became a knowledgeable tea scholar and gourmet. His extensive travel across Jiangsu， Zhejiang， Shandong and Anhui， all tea-production provinces in eastern China， gave him wide experience and knowledge in tea and water. Now it happens that Zhang’s hometown Shaoxing once produced a famous tea called Rizhu Tea. In the Song Dynasty (960-1279) the tea was a tribute to the royal house and a good gift among social celebrities. It was loved by literati. By the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， the brand had deteriorated and Songluo Tea made in the neighboring Anhui Province had become better known on the market. In order to revive the local production， Zhang Dai employed masters of Songluo Tea from Anhui. In Zhang’s employment， the masters used the same process to produce Rizhu Tea. With the tea quality solved， Zhang turned his eyes to the way of steeping tea. After numerous experiments， he invented a sophisticated way to make tea with spring water. The formula made a good cup of tea. In a few years， his formula became very popular. Zhang named it Snow Orchid. Tea drinkers in Shaoxing all gave up Songluo Tea and got converted to Snow Orchid. Even tea drinkers in Anhui became addicted to Snow Orchid.

Zhang Dai wrote “Master Min’s Tea” to record his visit to an experienced tea master surnamed Min. In September 1638， Zhang Dai went to visit the master. But the master had left in the early morning. Zhang waited for his return patiently. The master came back in the afternoon. But after a brief greeting， the master left again. Zhang had to wait. It was not until late at night that the master came back. The master became extremely curious why the guest was still there. Zhang replied reverently that he wanted to have a cup of tea made by the master and that he would not leave until he had the drink. Master Min was overjoyed to meet such a tea fanatic. So he started a fire and began to prepare tea. While tea was in the making， the master showed Zhang his collection of precious tea sets. Then the master served Zhang Dai a cup of tea. Zhang tasted it and asked what tea it was. Now the old man wanted to test Zhang’s knowledge of tea and water. He deliberately gave Zhang wrong information. But Zhang got all the answers right. The master went into another room and came back with a new cup of tea. Zhang found the second cup was a tea produced in the autumn and the first cup was made from tea leaves picked in the spring. The master was amazed by Zhang’s profound knowledge of tea and water. They became good friends.

Zhang Dai was a highly experienced water-taster. In his narrative “Master Min’s Tea”， Zhang Dai records a discussion on keeping spring water fresh. The method was very thorough: you remove all the water from a spring first. Then you wait until new water oozes into the spring. You get the fresh water into urns paved with mountain stones on the bottoms. This is a way to keep water fresh on a long journey. Zhang Dai later used this method. He organized a transportation service to get fresh water all the way from Huishan Spring in Wuxi， Jiangsu Province to Shaoxing， his hometown. Though the water was expensive， it sold well.

Zhang was constantly in search of spring water good enough to make tea up to his standard. His narrative essay “Xi Spring” gives an account of a successful search. In 1914 he took a break at a spring near Banzhu Nunnery in Shaoxing. He sampled the spring water and found it pleasant sweet and give him a very great mouth feel. So he decided to take a closer look at the color of the water. He found it amazingly crystal. Then he spotted some strokes of characters near the spring source on the rock. So he swept the rock and saw two characters Xi Spring carved on the rock. What was more amazing was the style of the calligraphy. He believed it was in the style of Wang Xizhi (303-361)， the founding father of calligraphy who turned functional writing into an art. After all， Wang lived in Shaoxing for years. Zhang hastily went to the nunnery and fetched the spring water. He used the water to make tea， but it had a taste of rock. Zhang let the water cool down for three days and tried again. This time， the rock taste was gone and the tea was great. With the recommendation of Zhang Dai， the spring became well known in Shaoxing. People came in to the spring to fetch water. Some transported and marketed water and made a profit. The magistrate of Shaoxing ordered to have the spring guarded.

Zhang was so experienced in water tasting that it was as if he had a databank in his mind on all the spring waters he had ever tasted. While running a water business which fetched water from Huishan Spring and shipped it to Shaoxing， Zhang inspected every delivery. After finding one delivery tasted odd， he summoned the shipping master and asked for an explanation. The shipping master said there was no mistake. Then Zhang called all the shippers together and said the water was from a certain spring in a certain place. Everybody was astonished by Zhang’s knowledge. The truth came out. The shipping master hated going all the way to the Huishan Spring. He stopped far away from the destination and drew water from a spring and came back. □