May Tea and Wine Enthrall the Heart

Lu Yu （733 CE – 804 CE）

Lu Yu， who was also known as Lu Ji， was a native of Jingling， Fuzhou （today’s Tianmen， Hubei）. He had the courtesy names Hongjian or Jici， and the pseudonyms “Jinglingzi” （Man from Jingling）， “Sangzhuweng” （Man who grows mulberry and ramie）， “Donggangzi” （Man from Donggang）， and “the royal tea taster”. As a famous tea scholar of the Tang Dynasty， he was known as the “Tea Saint”， honored as the “Tea Sage”， and worshipped as the “Tea God”. He was a lifelong tea lover and master of the tea ceremony.

This book was the first known monograph on tea in the world and the very first significant monumental document in the history of Chinese tea that systematically and comprehensively combined the spirit of tea with the spirit of aesthetics. This masterpiece discusses in detail the origin， harvesting， and boiling of tea， teaware， people， and anecdotes that are related to tea， as well as tea tasting and tea ceremonies， making tea a part of daily life， as a taste of life that everyone can appreciate in a relaxed， peaceful and light-hearted manner.

The Classic of Tea

Written by Lu Yu （Tang Dynasty）; Annotations by Xi Ze

Bejing Times-Chinese Publication House

September 2020

57.00 （CNY）

Like a window， a pure heart may be pushed open to explore the serenity of our lives. This gives us a little room for aesthetic appreciation so that the arts of flower arrangement， tea appreciation， dining and wining， horticulture， and even house repairs may all burgeon into the high tides， growing vast into the “pure offerings” in our lives under the pen of the literati. Masterpieces such as The Classics of Tea and Recipes from the Garden of Contentment may simply be a tidal wave in our vast history， and yet， reading them will purify our souls from their silt.

Lu Yu of the Tang Dynasty wrote a love poem for tea and scrutinized it for a lifetime， just like how the Tang people wrote their classical poems. The deep love and devotion in his lines quenched the exasperation and thirst of the world.

“Tea， for it is a graceful tree that thrives in the south，” the opening chapter of The Classic of Tea is already pleasing to the ear， conveying the wonderful imagery of the ancient verse “the beauty beyond the stream” （verse from The Classic of Poetry） as if you were listening to a love song sung to the ancient Prince Zixi by a boatman： “The mountains have trees， the trees branches; my heart has gone to my lord， but my lord does not know” （“Song of the Yue Boatman”， around 528 BCE）. Such allegory makes the reader content to embellish and “add more leaves and branches” to the “graceful tree”.

But Lu Yu also said the graceful tree emerges from a mess of rocks， which is heartbreaking. Imagine the tender green buds thriving in a mess of rocks and cold soil without fear of any hardship or obsessing over the conditions. Perhaps it is this simple and unprejudiced character of the plant that has inspired a lonely monk （Zhang Dai， essayist， and historian of the Ming Dynasty， a famous connoisseur of tea） to tirelessly select the right water and coal， establish the rules and standards， and scrutinize over the finest words just to grasp its pure and tender soul and extract a tiny trace of timeless sweetness， so he could eventually have a heart-to-heart moment with the tea drinkers thereafter.

A traditional custom called “Mountain Call” was common in the Song Dynasty. As the spring arrived and was about to revive all living things， the plants were still somnolent and awaiting the spring thunder to rouse the insects， while the tea buds were the very first to awaken. Tea farmers would set up all the gongs and drums in advance and moist their throat， getting ready to mimic the spring thunder and recreate nature together. As gongs and drums were hit passionately to resemble the earth-shaking sound of thunder， the deafening shouts were also heard from all across the mountain， one after another： “My tea shall sprout！ My tea shall quickly sprout！” So the blast went on and on like hammers that shattered the morning mist， turning it into cool dew that sprinkled gently on the freshly awakened tea buds. Such spring-inciting scenes were probably the most mind-blowing form of harmony between heaven and man.

Life calls for life， and life awakens life. As man lives in symbiosis with nature， then tea can be considered the “pure offering” of life. This is precisely in line with Lu Yu’s pursuit of the “tea realm”.

As tea was introduced to Japan， it became a “pure offering” as Rikyū’s Wabi-Cha （a style of the Japanese tea ceremony）， and in the United Kingdom， the “pure offering” consists of the world-famous English afternoon tea. Furthermore， the European continent and the American continent became only a cup of tea away ever since the Americans won the War of Independence. Whether it was through war or learning， the practice of drinking tea managed to connect the whole world.