Discourse Between Tea and Wine
Discourse Between Tea and Wine,
ca. 742-760, one juan and
preface
by the Presented Prefectural Nominee, Wang Fu (ca. mid 8th century)
I dare say that Shennong the Divine Cultivator tasted the Hundred Plants, and thereafter the Five Grains were distinct; that Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor created clothing and passed it down to instruct posterity; that Cang Jie created words; and that Confucius spread the Ru doctrines. At present, such things cannot present be spoken in depth, so I select only the essentials for discussion. Now, I ask Tea and Wine, who of the two has more virtue? Who is inferior? Who is superior? Today, each must form arguments, and the greater will lead in gaining glory for its side.”
Tea then comes forth saying, “Everyone, do not quibble, for it is said that I am the first of the Hundred Plants and the flower of the Ten Thousand Plants. The most precious part is sought from my pistils, the most important is chosen from my buds. I am called Mingcao; my sobriquet is Cha. I am sent as tribute to the households of the Five Marquises, and offered to the families of the Emperor and Princes. It is fashionable to gift me, engendering a lifetime of honor and glory. Naturally, I am the respected one. Why the need for debate and boasting!”
Wine then comes forth, “What silly words! Since antiquity till now, tea has been scorned while wine has been respected. Cast a bucket of wine lees in the river, and the Three Armies report in drunk. When lords and rulers drink wine, everyone shouts ‘longevity of ten-thousand years.’ When the assembled courtiers drink wine, all may speak without fear. I comfort the dead and calm the living, and even the divine are pleased by my fragrance. When wine and food are shared, evil intent is always absent. When there is wine, there is order: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom. Naturally, I’m called superior. So why bother comparing!”
Tea says to Wine, “Ah, you have not heard: the Ten Thousand States come seeking the tea of Fuliang and Shezhou. For tea from mountains of Shu and Mengding, people scale the massif peaks. In Shucheng and Taihu, they procure maids and buy slaves. In Yuejun and Yuhang, tea is kept in pouches made of gold and silk. The tea Pale Purple Emperor is rare in the world. When tea merchants come bidding, their boats and carriages snarl in the traffic. According to this reasoning, who is inferior now?”
Wine says to Tea, “Well, you haven’t heard. Jijiu and Qianhe wines are traded for brocade and gauze. Grape and Jiuyun wines benefit the body. Jade and Qiongjiang wines fill the goblets of immortals. The wines Chrysanthemum Flower and Bamboo Leaf are passed among lords and princes. The Zhaomu wines of Zhongshan are sweet and pleasingly bitter. One cup inebriates a person for three years, so says a legend passed from antiquity till today. Wine inspires comity among the plebeian and pacifies the martial. So, there’s no need to worry your head.”
Tea says to Wine, “As Mingcao, I am the heart of the Ten Thousand Plants. I am as white as jade or like yellow gold. Famous monks of great virtue and hermits of Chan monasteries all drink me during discourse, for I drive away weariness. Tea is offered to Maitreya and dedicated to Avalokiteśvara. Spanning a thousand katalpas, ten thousand aeons, the Buddhas all venerate me. Wine can ruin families and scatter households and spread immorality and depravity. Drinking three cups of wine causes only greater iniquity.”
Wine says to Tea, “At just three coins a jar, when will tea ever make for wealth? Wine reaches the nobility and is admired by court officials. It once inspired the King of Zhao to pluck the zither and the King of Qin to strike musical ceramics. It is not permitted for tea to accompany singing nor is it allowed for tea to rouse dancing. To drink tea is only to get backaches, and drinking too much causes stomach pains. If ten cups a day are downed, the intestines swell like yamen drums. Taking tea for three years is to spur dropsy in a toad.”
Tea says to Wine, “Of my generation, I am celebrated, properly attired, girdled and groomed. Leaping oceans and riding rivers, I arrive at this golden court. In the marketplace, dealings are never certain. But people come to buy me, their money overflowing. Even as we speak, I easily attain wealth and riches, no waiting for tomorrow morning or the day after. Oh, Wine, you make people dull and confused. Drinking too much, they become garrulous. In the street, you ensnare them. You deserve at least seventeen lashes!”
Wine says to Tea, “Don’t you know about the talented men of antiquity, who chanted poetry and said, ‘When thirsty, drink a cup of wine to rejuvenate and nurture life.’ And,‘Wine is the medicine that purges all worries.’ Or, ‘Wine can cultivate virtue.’ These sayings from the ancients have passed down till today. Tea is cheap, three coins for five bowls; and while wine is also cheap, it still costs seven coins for just half a cup. Serving wine and formal seating are ceremonies for guests. Ritual state music flows from the fountain of wine. But drink tea when court is ended and none dare tweet or strum even a bit.”
Tea says to Wine, “So, you do not believe that youths of fourteen or fifteen should not visit wine shops. You do not think that the shengsheng bird lost its life because of wine. You said, ‘Tea drinking tea causes disease and drinking wine cultivates virtue.’ But although I have seen jaundice and disease due to wine, I have never seen madness or insanity from tea. Because of wine, King Ajātaśatru killed his father and distressed his mother, and Liu Ling died in three years. Having drunk wine, the brows arch, the eyes bulge, angry fights start, and fisticuffs declared. Rough paladins are accused of drunkenness, but that can never be said of tea. Inescapably, the drunkard is arrested and imprisoned, the law fines him, a great cangue put round his neck, and his back beaten. To abstain from wine, he will burn incense, cry to Buddha, and beseech Heaven. For the rest of his days, he will not drink, hoping to avoid faltering on the path to sobriety.” Tea and Wine vie to distinguish one from the other, unaware that Water is right next to them.”
Water says to Tea, “The two of you, why so vehement! Who are you to argue about virtues? Speaking so, you ruin one another with nonsense. In life, there are four essential elements: Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. Tea without water, how does that look? Wine without water, how does that appear? Rice and leavening eaten dry injures the intestines and stomach. Caked tea swallowed dry scrapes and wounds the throat. All living things need water, the source of the Five Grains. From above, I respond to celestial signs; from below, I follow the auspicious and dreadful. By me, the rivers Yangzi, Yellow, Huai, and Ji all flow. I can inundate Heaven and Earth. I can wither and kill the fishes and dragons. In the age of Yao, the Nine Years of Floods were caused by me. I am worshipped by All Under Heaven, and the Ten Thousand Clans obey me. While I am no saint, why do you two argue your merits? From now on, be in harmony, so that wineshops prosper and teahouses are not impoverished. Be everlasting brothers, from beginning to end. When people read this, generations for eternity will never suffer madness from wine nor insanity from tea.”
Discourse Between Tea and Wine, one juan.
A manuscript written by Yan Haizhen, disciple of the Zhishu Monastery, on
the fourteenth day of the first lunar month of the third year of the Kaibao
reign period, 970.
茶酒論一卷並序
鄉貢進士王敷撰
竊見神農曾嘗百草, 五穀從此得分, 軒轅製其衣服, 流傳教示後人; 倉頡致其文字, 孔丘闡化儒因. 不可從頭細説, 撮其樞要之陳. 暫問茶之與酒, 兩個誰有功勛? 阿誰即合卑小, 阿誰即合稱尊? 今日各須立理, 強者光飾一門.
茶乃出來言曰: 諸人莫閙, 聼說些些, 百草之首, 萬木之花. 貴之取蘂, 重 之摘芽. 呼之茗草, 號之作茶. 貢五侯宅, 奉帝王家. 時新獻入, 一世榮華. 自然 尊貴, 何用論誇!
酒乃出來: 可笑詞說! 自古至今, 茶賤酒貴. 單醪投河, 三軍告醉. 君王飲之, 叫呼萬歲. 群臣飲之, 賜卿無畏. 和死定生, 神明歆氣. 酒食向人, 終無惡意. 有酒有令, 仁義禮智. 自合稱尊， 何勞比類.
茶為酒曰: 阿你不聞道: 浮梁歙州, 萬國來求. 蜀山蒙頂, 其山驀嶺. 舒城, 太湖, 買婢買奴.越郡, 餘杭, 金帛為囊. 素紫天子, 人間亦少. 商客來求, 船車塞紹. 據此蹤由, 阿誰合小?
酒為茶曰: 阿你不聞道. 齊酒, 乾和, 博錦, 博羅. 蒲桃, 九醖, 於身有潤. 玉酒, 瓊漿, 仙人盃觴. 菊花, 竹葉, 君王交接. 中山趙母, 甘甜美苦. 一醉三 年, 流傳今古. 禮讓鄉閭, 調和軍府. 阿你頭腦, 不須乾努.
茶為酒曰: 我之茗草, 萬木之心. 或白如玉, 或似黃金. 名僧大德, 幽隱禪林. 飲之語話, 能去昏沉. 供養彌勒, 奉獻觀音. 千劫萬劫, 諸佛相欽. 酒能破家 散宅, 廣作邪淫. 打卻三盞已后, 令人只是罪深.
酒為茶曰: 三文一瓨, 何年得富? 酒通貴人, 公卿所慕. 曾遣趙王彈琴, 秦王擊缶. 不可把茶請歌, 不可為茶教舞. 茶喫只是腰疼, 多喫令人患肚. 一日打却 十盃, 腹脹又同衙鼓. 若也服之三年, 養蛤蟆得水病報.
茶為酒曰: 我三十成名, 束帶巾櫛. 驀海騎江, 來朝金室. 將到市鄽, 安排未畢. 人來買之, 錢財盈溢. 言下便得富饒, 不在明朝後日. 阿你酒能昏亂, 喫了多 饒啾唧. 街中羅織平人, 脊上少須十七!
酒為茶曰: 豈不見古人才子, 吟詩盡道: 渴來一盞, 能生養命. 又道: 酒是消愁藥 . 又道: 酒能養賢. 古人糟粕, 今乃流傳. 茶賤三文五碗, 酒賤中半七文. 致酒謝坐. 禮讓周旋. 國家音樂, 本為酒泉. 終朝喫你茶水, 敢動些些管弦.
茶為酒曰: 阿你不見道: 男兒十四五, 莫與酒家親. 君不見猩猩鳥, 為酒喪 其身. 阿你即道: 茶喫發病, 酒喫養賢. 即見道有酒黃酒病, 不見道有茶瘋茶癲. 阿闍世王為酒殺父害母, 劉伶為酒一死三年. 喫了張眉竪眼, 怒鬥宣拳. 狀麤豪酒醉, 不曾有茶醉相言. 不免求首杖子, 本典索錢. 大枷搕項, 背上抛椽. 便即燒香斷酒, 念佛求天, 終生不喫, 望免迍邅. 兩個政爭人我, 不知水在傍邊。
水為謂茶曰: 阿你兩個, 何用怱怱! 阿誰許你, 各擬論功? 言詞相毀, 道西說東. 人生四大, 地水火風. 茶不得水, 作何相貌? 酒不得水, 作甚形容? 米麯乾喫, 損人腸胃. 茶片乾喫, 只糲破喉嚨. 萬物須水, 五穀之宗. 上應乾象, 下順吉凶. 江河淮濟, 有我即通. 亦能漂蕩天地, 亦能凅殺魚龍. 堯時九年災跡, 只緣我在其中. 感得天下欽奉, 萬姓依從. 由自不說能聖, 兩個用爭功? 從今以後, 切須和同. 酒店發富, 茶坊不窮. 長為兄弟, 須得始終. 若人讀之一本, 永世不害酒癲茶瘋.
茶酒論一卷
開寶三年庚午歲正月十四日知術院弟子閻海真自手書記
Bibliography
Benn, James A. “Buddhism, Alcohol, and Tea in Medieval China.” Of Tripod and Palate: Food, Politics, and Religion in Traditional China. Edited by Roel Sterckx, pp. 213-236. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Cha jiu lun 茶酒論 (Discourse Between Tea and Wine, ca. 760).” By Wang Fu 王敷 (ca. mid 8th century). In Zhongguo gudai chaye quanshu, 中國古代茶葉全書 (Compendium of Books on Ancient Chinese Tea). Compiled by Ruan Haogeng 阮浩耕 et al., pp. 39-40. Hangzhou: Zhejiang sheying chuban she, 1999.
Dunhuang bianwen ji xinshu 敦煌變文集新書 (New Collection of Transformational Texts from Dunhuang). Edited by Pan Chonggui潘重規. Beijing: Wenjin chuban she, 1994.
Dunhuang bianwen jiaozhu 敦煌變文校注 (Annotations to the Transformation Texts of Dunhuang). Edited by Huang Zheng 黃征 and Zhang Yongquan 張涌泉, vol. 3, pp. 423-433. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997.
Mair, Victor H. and Erling Hoh. “Appendix B: A Debate Between Tea and Beer.” The True History of Tea. London: Thames and Hudson, 2009.
Pearse, Amy. “Negotiating Religious and Cultural Diversity in Tang China: An Analysis of the Cha jiu lun 茶酒論,” The Student Researcher, vol. 4, no. 1 (May 2017), pp. 45–55.
Tseng Chin-Yin. “Appendix A: Debate Between Tea and Alcohol.” Tea Discourse in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE): Conceptions of Social Engagements. A.M. diss., Harvard University, 2008.
Wang Fu 王 敷. Cha jiu lun 茶酒論 (Discourse Between Tea and Wine). Scroll: ink on paper. 41.1 x 41.6 cm. Pelliot Chinois 2718. Département des Manuscrits, Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Zhongguo lidai chashu huibian jiaozhu ben 中國歷代茶書匯編校注本 (Annotated Compilation of Tea Books of Dynastic China). Compiled by Zheng Peikai 鄭培凱 and Zhu Zizhen 朱自振 (1934–present), vol. 1, pp. 42 and 43, n. 1. Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2014.
Offering Matching Rhymes to Pi Rixiu’s Ten Songs on Tea
眠雲臥石
Lu Guimeng of the Tang dynasty
Offering Matching Rhymes to Pi Rixiu’s Ten Songs on Tea
陸龜蒙
奉和襲美茶具十詠
Tea Garden
The way to tea concealed, winding round in twists and turns,
A walk in the wild in countless circles.
Sunward, tea grows close and dense;
Shaded, small and sparse.
The women — entwined clouds of hair — languid.
The tea — piled into scent filled baskets — scant.
Where shall we gather?
Atop the cliffs on a dewy spring morning.
茶塢
茗地曲隈回
野行多繚繞
向陽就中密
背澗差還少
遙盤雲髻慢
亂簇香篝小
何處好幽期
滿岩春露曉
Teaist
The divinely endowed know the herb of immortality,
Naturally and simply.
Coming at leisure to the north side of the mountain,
Greeting the east wind.
After the Grain Rains, seeking the ephemeral fragrance
Among the clouds, high and far from the path;
Waiting for the call of the bird of spring
To enlighten me.
茶人
天賦識靈草
自然鍾野姿
閑來北山下
似與東風期
雨後探芳去
雲間幽路危
唯應報春鳥
得共斯人知
Tea Shoot
The bud embodies profound harmony;
Spring rouses the jade sprout.
As light mists infuse and refine essence,
The tender nub forms.
It seeks the purple haze of dawn,
Desires the warmth of red clouds.
Such beauty is hard to come by —
Like an upended basket never filled.
茶筍
所孕和氣深
時抽玉苕短
輕煙漸結華
嫩蘂初成管
尋來青靄曙
欲去紅雲煖
秀色自難逢
傾筐不曾滿
Tea Basket
The gold blade splits jade bamboo; strips
Woven into oblique ripples.
Made by the village elder,
Carried by the mountain maiden.
Yesterday, smoke stained and blistered;
Today, holding the morning’s green pickings.
Contending songs, teasing chants;
At eventide, returning home.
茶籝
金刀劈翠筠
織似波文斜
制作自野老
攜持伴山娃
昨日斗煙粒
今朝貯綠華
爭歌調笑曲
日暮方還家
Tea Hut
Wandering the mountain, searching for wood
To build a place in the foothills.
The gate bows by a bend in the stream,
The wall hugs the curve of the cliff.
In the morning, scattering with the birds,
In the evening, resting with the clouds.
Undaunted by the toil of picking,
Worrying only of fulfilling the tribute.
茶舍
旋取山上材
駕為山下屋
門因水勢斜
壁任岩隈曲
朝隨鳥俱散
暮與雲同宿
不憚採掇勞
隻憂官未足
Tea Stove
Without a chimney, it contains a light steam,
A mist reflecting the first rays of the sun.
Fill the cauldron with jade pure spring water to boil,
Fill the steamer with soft buds to cook.
The rare fragrance perpetuates the spring season;
The fair delicate hue, like the fall chrysanthemum.
Those tending the fire are like my disciples, of whom
Year after year I can never see enough.
茶竈
無突抱輕嵐
有煙映初旭
盈鍋玉泉沸
滿甑雲芽熟
奇香襲春桂
嫩色凌秋菊
煬者若吾徒
年年看不足
Tea Hearth
All around, pounding tea into pulp;
Dawn to dusk, slender wisps of smoke rise.
Square or round, tea molded into various shapes;
Arranged in order, layers dried in rotation,
High to low, like rounds of mountain songs.
After drying tea, the hearths return to daily use:
In truth, those tending the hearths
Usually dry preserved flowers.
茶焙
左右搗凝膏
朝昏布煙縷
方圓隨樣拍
次第依層取
山謠縱高下
火候還文武
見說焙前人
時時炙花脯
Tea Brazier
Fresh spring water tastes fine;
The old iron brazier looks foul.
How is a night of wind and snow endured
Without like-minded friends of mist and haze?
We once crossed below Red Rock
And rested among the fine tea at the mouth of Clear Stream.
Carelessly, we were offered a coarse turbid bitter brew…
Was there any need then to dispense with the wine?
茶鼎
新泉氣味良
古鐵形狀醜
那堪風雪夜
更值煙霞友
曾過赪石下
又住清溪口
且共薦皋盧
何勞傾斗酒
Tea Bowl
The ancients prized the bowl and stand
As a seductively expressive adornment.
But can it have the elegance of the jade tablet and disc
Or the delicacy of hazy mountain mists?
Perhaps to grace and enhance the bamboo mat,
To harmonize and refine the golden wine jar.
But to make a moral and superior gentleman?
This has never been known before.
茶甌
昔人謝塸埞
徒為妍詞飾
豈如珪璧姿
又有煙嵐色
光參筠席上
韻雅金罍側
直使於闐君
從來未嘗識
Tea Brewing
Sitting leisurely among the pines,
Watching the simmer of snow swept from their branches.
When the water roils,
Add the blue green powdered leaf.
Overflowing with lively essence,
Vanquishing malaise, such tea is
Unsuited to reading palace documents,
But proper to peeking at jade scrolls of the immortals.
煮茶
閑來松間坐
看煮松上雪
時於浪花裡
並下藍英末
傾余精爽健
忽似氛埃滅
不合別觀書
但宜窺玉札
Source
Lu Guimeng陸龜蒙 (?-881), “Fenghe Ximei chaju shiyong 奉和襲美茶具十詠 (Offering Matching Rhymes to Pi Rixiu’s Ten Songs on Tea)” in Cao Yin 曹寅 (1658-1712 A.D.) and Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645-1719 A.D.) et al., comps, Quan Tangshi 全唐詩 (Complete Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, 1705), ch. 620, nos. 47-56.
Notes
Lu Guimeng wrote the poems in response to a set of ten tea poems by his friend Pi Rixiu 皮日休 (834-883 A.D.). For a translation of the original themes and poems of Pi Rixiu, see tsiosophy.com/2018/07/miscellaneous-rhymes-tea/
An Excess of Tea
Hulu jushi fanyi
When Huan Xuan had his army, there was a commander general who — because of an epidemic — contracted a feverish illness that caused him to constantly drink tea. He had to imbibe one hu and two dou for his thirst to be satisfied; one sheng less than that amount was insufficient. He drank this quantity of tea day after day, until the family was destitute. Later, a guest visited him and found him incessantly drinking tea. It was the first time the guest had ever heard of this affliction, yet he made him drink a further five sheng, causing the general to massively vomit. A thing came out, about a sheng in capacity and with an opening, its form shrunken and wrinkled and shaped like a cow’s stomach. The guest then ordered it placed in a pan and used one hu and two dou of tea to pour over it. This thing absorbed all of it but then stopped soaking up any more. Touching the little gut, he added another five sheng of tea, which gushed out from its opening. After expelling this thing, the general recovered from the illness and asked about it: “What kind of disease was this?” The answer: This ailment is called huming jia, intestinal blockage as capacious as a hu of tea.”
桓宣武時有一督將, 因時行病後虛熱,更能飲複茗, 必一斛二斗乃飽, 纔減升合便以為不足, 非復一日, 家貧. 後有客造之, 正遇其飲複茗. 亦先聞世有此病. 仍令更進五升. 乃大吐, 有一物出, 如升大, 有口, 形質縮縐, 狀如牛肚. 客乃令置之於盆中, 以一斛二斗複茗澆之. 此物噏之都盡而止. 覺小脹又加五升, 便悉混然從口中涌出. 既吐此物, 其病遂差. 苦問之: 此何病. 答雲: 此病名斛茗瘕.
Sources
Tao Qian 陶潛 (365–427), attributed to, Soushen houji 搜神後記 (Further Records to the Investigation of the Supernatural, ca. 6th century), juan 3, pp. 3b–4a. SKQS. Cf. Li Fang 李昉 (925-996 A.D.) et al. comps., Taiping yulan 太平御覽 (Imperial Readings of the Taiping Reign, 983 A.D.), juan 867, pp. 3b–4a. SKQS.
Tea in the Han Dynasty
眠雲臥石
The story of tea is but one of many historical accounts of plants and their benefit to humankind. Discovered millennia ago by hunters and gatherers of the Stone Age, tea was a source of nourishment and medicine. Over time, its use as a food and drug was refined, and tea became part of the culinary and medical repertoire. Classed as a superior drug, tea was noted as a stimulant and relaxant, simultaneously sharpening concentration while soothing without sedation. At table, tea was consumed as a bitter herb and as greens in soups and stews. Valued as a flavoring and vegetable in cooking, tea was commonly combined with other herbs and fruit. Tea as beverage likely derived from medicinal decoctions, the essence of its buds and leaves extracted and concentrated as a liquor by simmering in hot water or by infusion as a tisane. Tea was prized by commoner and aristocrat alike.
Tea was once native to the remote regions of the south where it was first gathered as a wild plant and then later cultivated as a domesticated crop. Whether as wild or cultivated produce, tea was traded, the demand for the leaf influencing the spread of the tea plant to the lower reaches of the Yangzi. In time, much of the south produced tea of such quality that it was exacted as provincial tribute and sent north to the imperial palace during the Han dynasty.
Evidence of tea as tribute was discovered in the Wei River Valley at a Western Han necropolis in the northern suburbs of the ancient capital of Chang’an, present Xi’an, Shaanxi. The site, which is known as the Yangling Mausolea, consists of two pyrimidal mounds, the tombs of Emperor Jing and his empress.
Emperor Jing was the sixth ruler of the Han dynasty; his wife Empress Wang was later buried in an adjacent smaller tomb.
Archaeological investigations of the emperor’s tomb revealed eighty-six outer trenches radiating perpendicular from the four sides of the mound, each long rectangular pit containing funerary goods sacrificed to the dead.
Two pits – designated DK 14 and DK 15 – in the northeast quadrant hold rows of terracotta figures that represent the courtiers, guards, and retainers meant to attend the emperor in the afterlife.
At the eastern end of DK 15, the matted and partially decomposed remnants of organic matter left a large rectangular stain on the earthern floor. Analysis of the fragments showed a mix of seeds, including foxtail millet (Setaria italica), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), rice (Oryza sativa) and domesticated chenopod (Chenopodium giganteum).
The sample DK 15-1, however, was a mass of plant leaves in a dark brown brick shape: tea. Taxonomic identification of the remnant leaves as tea (Camellia sinensis) was determined by chemical analysis and the examination of plant crystals. Abundant levels of both caffeine and theanine established the leaves as tea, while the ample presence of calcium phytoliths or plant crystals, the types and shapes of which are distinctive to tea, also confirmed the leaves as tea.
The matted remnants of tea revealed that the leaves consisted uniformly of leaf buds, that is to say, only the premium part of the plant was selected and sent to the emperor as tribute. As with all of the other funerary goods in the tomb, the tea was a sacrificial offering to the deceased, and like the grains of millet and rice, probably came from the palace stores.
Sources
Houyuan Lu, Jianping Zhang, Yimin Yang, Xiaoyan Yang, Baiqing Xu, Wuzhan Yang, Tao Tong, Shubo Jin, Caiming Shen, Huiyun Rao, Xingguo Li, Hongliang Lu, Dorian Q. Fuller, Luo Wang, Can Wang, Deke Xu, and Naiqin Wu, “Earliest Tea As Evidence For One Branch Of The Silk Road Across The Tibetan Plateau,” Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 18955 (2016) and Jianping Zhang, Houyuan Lu, and Linpei Huang, “Calciphytoliths (calcium oxalate crystals) analysis for the identification of decayed tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.)” Scientific Reports 4, Article number: 6703 (2014).
Notes
Emperor Jing of the Han (Han Jingdi 漢景帝, né Liu Qi 劉啟, 188-141 B.C.E.), reigned 157-141 B.C.E.
Empress Wang (née Wang Zhi 王娡, 173-126 B.C.E.); consort to Crown Prince Liu Qi, ca. 168 B.C.E.; empress to Emperor Jing, 150 B.C.E.; dowager empress to Emperor Wu, 141 B.C.E.
Baisaō’s Verse on Tea
眠雲臥石
Kō Yūgai of the Edo Period
Verse on Tea
Going far to China in search of the sacred shoots
Old Eisai brought them back to sow in our land
The taste of Uji tea is imbued with Nature’s essence
Worthy of pity, people talk only of color and scent
Awkwardly done at the request of Nishida Eishi
Written by the eighty-nine year old man, Kō Yūgai
江戸時代 高遊外
茶詩
遠息靈葡入大唐
持歸西老播狀桑
宇陽一味天然戮堪
嘆時人論色香
右拙作應西田英士求
八十九翁 高遊外書
Kō Yūgai 高遊外 was a tea seller who lived in Kyoto during the eighteenth century. At the age of eleven, he became a novice at a Zen monastery affiliated with the Ōbaku sect and took the religious name Gekkai Genshō 月海元昭. After decades as a monk in Kyushu province, he moved to Kyoto where he made a living selling tea, adopting the name Baisaō 賣茶翁, Old Tea Seller. He frequented the scenic spots around the ancient capital, preparing and serving tea to passersby, never charging them but always accepting donations. In his eighties, when he could no long carry his equipage, he burned his tea case and devoted himself to calligraphy. This work on tea was written in the last year of his life.
Note
Compare Norman Waddell, Baisaō, The Old Tea Seller: Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto (Berkekely: Counterpoint, 2008), pp. 118-119.
Figure
Kō Yūgai 高遊外 (1675–1763)
Verse on Tea, 1763
Japan: Edo period
Hanging scroll: ink on paper
41.3 x 27.9 cm.
Saint Louis Art Museum
215:1986
A Little Tea Book
In the introduction to A Little Tea Book, Sebastian Beckwith and Caroline Paul declare that its contents are devoted to the reader, stating that the small volume truly “is for you.” Take them at their word, and you are amply rewarded by clear and simple explanations of the tea plant and leaf in a series of straightforward narratives on over a dozen aspects of tea, many illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton and her vibrant watercolors.
Throughout the little book, tea is presented as stepping stones that cross many borders, “not only geographic boundaries but political, socioeconomic, cultural, and religious ones as well.” Beckwith describes the art of tea as a process of exploration and invites us all to share in the journey, a tea trek captured in part by his many travel photographs and keen eye for detail, but best of all by his stories of searching the remote regions of Asia for the rarest and most elusive forms of the leaf. In just over one hundred twenty pages or so, Beckwith proves to be a singularly outstanding guide.
Notable explanations of tea include the distinctions between Camellia sinensis as a plant species, Camellia sinensis sinensis and Camellia sinensis assamica as varietals, as well as tea plants that are bred as cultivars. Beckwith observes the role of the tea green leafhopper (Empoasca (Matsumurasca) onukii Matsuda): the presence and bite of the bug on a leaf produces a defensive response by the plant and the release of chemicals that effect the creation of Oriental Beauty, a wulong tea of exceptional sweetness and aroma. Like the Tang tea master Lu Yu, Beckwith describes water – a much neglected subject in tea – especially the stages of boiling and the look of the hot liquid, all wonderfully illustrated with corresponding temperatures.
Even the scum atop boiled water, which Lu Yu once likened to “dark mica,” is noted and attributed by Beckwith to hard water. Flavors are described as categories: fruit, floral, marine, mineral, sweet, spice, wood, and earth. Vegetal and herbal might qualify as well. Of them all, marine properly describes the fish, seaweed, and kelp flavors of some teas.
Here and there, Beckwith likens tea to fine wine. It is an apt comparison, for the character and quality of bush and vine are influenced by terroir – soil, topography, geology, and climate – the age of the plants, horticulture, harvest, handling, processing, and storage. Indeed, Beckwith goes a step further than analogy and offers several recipes that mix tea and spirits: matcha and shochu, jasmine pearls with vodka, Earl Grey with gin, and sencha and rum.
Perhaps the most important notion in the book is Beckwith’s belief in “rules of thumb rather than rules” regarding the preparation, service, and enjoyment of tea. Rule of thumb is precisely the method used by tea masters from antiquity to the present. The many variables of tea, those changeable factors of water, heat, utensils, and time, require the practice of what the ancients called tasting tea: determining through experimentation how a tea, any tea, is best brewed to exhibit its fullest expression of color, aroma, and flavor.
A Little Tea Book: All the Essentials from Leaf to Cup
Sebastian Beckwith
with Caroline Paul and illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton
New York: Bloomsbury Publishing
2018
Sending Lu Hongjian Off to Pick Tea at Qixia Temple
眠雲臥石
Huangfu Ran of the Tang
Sending Lu Hongjian Off to Pick Tea at Qixia Temple
Gathering tea is not plucking greens:
Far, far away rises the rim of the cliff.
Leaves cloaked by a warm spring wind,
Baskets filled by sunrise.
Old friends on the temple path,
Now and then spending the night with the recluse.
On our sad parting I ask,
Whenever shall we meet again for a brimful bowl of floral tea…
唐·皇甫冉
送陸鴻漸棲霞寺採茶
採茶非採菉
遠遠上層崖
布葉春風暖
盈筐白日斜
舊知山寺路
時宿野人家
借問王孫草
何時泛椀花
Commentary
The harvesting of fine tea is very different from the gathering of garden vegetables. Unlike cultivated greens and kitchen herbs, superior tea plants grow wild among high cliffs, and the climb to them is difficult. In springtime, tea is fostered by sunshine and warm winds. Its leaves, however, are collected in the cool dark hours of the early morning, the baskets filled before dawn.
Lu Yu 陸羽 (ca. 733-804) once traveled to Nanjing where he resided at Qixia Temple, a monastery renowned for its tea gardens. During his brief residency at the monastery, Lu Yu lived in a hermitage where he received Huangfu Ran 皇甫冉 (ca. 714-765), a friend who came to visit with him. On his departure, Huang recalled their farewells in his poem. Taking Lu Yu’s hand, Huangfu Ran wondered when they would meet again and have the pleasure of drinking bowls overflowing with hua 花, the frothy floral essence of tea.
Source
Huangfu Ran 皇甫冉 (ca. 714-765), Song Lu Hongjiang Qixia si caicha 送陸鴻漸棲霞寺採茶 in Cao Yin 曹寅 (1658-1712 A.D.) and Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645-1719 A.D.) et al., comps, Quan Tangshi 全唐詩 (Complete Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, 1705), juan 210.
Miscellaneous Rhymes on Tea
眠雲臥石
Pi Rixiu of the Tang dynasty
Miscellaneous Rhymes on Tea
Tea Garden
At leisure, seeking Mount Yaoshi.
Finding and entering the tranquil garden.
Cultivating tea and creating the estate,
Planting tea and planning the field.
Water trickles from the stone spring,
Clouds thread the break in the cliff.
Summer just starting,
White flowers brimming with misty rain.
Teaists
Born on Mount Guzhu,
Now old among the stony gardens.
We talk only of tea,
Our robes scented with mists and clouds.
The courtyard hidden by the jade green plants;
We remain, despite the threat of wild beasts.
At day’s end, laughing as we return home,
Baskets lightly tied about our waists.
Tea Shoots
Budding, three to five inches;
Growing and fostered by the cliffs.
Dreading the cold, shoots turn red;
Doubting the warmth, buds turn purple.
Round like a polished jade axle,
Fragile like a frozen jade flower.
Each encounter is sparse;
Even the sunny side of the mountain is draped in a distant dream.
Tea Basket
Taking up the bamboo basket at dawn,
Crossing quickly to the tea grove.
Steadily tossing in the russet buds,
Our backs soaked with dew.
We rest near Cloud Spring;
Returning, the basket still hangs in the misty tree.
How rewarding is this life,
Even precious gold is eclipsed.
Tea Hut
Sunlit cliffs cradle the commons;
Voices, playful and lively.
The shed draws water from Red Spring;
Before firing, steam the russet buds.
Husbands pulp the tea, next
Wives mold tea, then rest.
Close the brushwood gate;
Pure fragrance fills the moonlit hills.
Tea Stove
Within the mountains, tea happening:
The stove set in the foothills;
The water boils, the rocks emit steam;
The tinder fired, the pine sap fragrant.
Jade leaves steamed, then gelled;
Green essence heated to a luster.
Wherefore such bitter hardship?
One by one, the creation of unsurpassed fare.
Tea Hearth
Chiselled beneath the Green Cliffs,
Precisely two feet deep.
Plastered simply to the rocks,
Fire does not obstruct the stony veins.
It begins the parching of the golden cakes,
Gradually drying the jade tea.
Fir Woods encompasses nine li,
Facing the mountain side.
Tea Brazier
The town of Longshu has fine artisans
Casting this beautiful form.
Standing compact and solid,
Boiling with a rushing sound.
Shadowed by evening clouds — the hermitage;
Luminated by melting snow — the window of pines.
Now ladling rich tea;
Lore and legend grasp this exceeding purity.
Tea Bowl
The artisans of Xing and Yue
All create bowls
As round as the moon,
As light as the clouds.
The floral froth enthralls the eye,
Fruit fragrant foam cleanses the mouth.
A single glance from beneath the pines;
Master Zhi knew this…
Brewing Tea
Fragrant spring water — like milk,
Boil to form strings of pearls.
When crab eyes spray,
Suddenly fish scales rise.
The sound of rain in the pines;
The foam creates a misty green.
Rain still drips in the mountain…
Wine need not be drunk for a thousand days.
唐 皮日休
茶中雜詠
茶塢
閑尋堯氏山
遂入深深塢
種荈已成園
栽葭寧計畝
石窪泉似掬
岩罅雲如縷
好是夏初時
白花滿煙雨
茶人
生於顧渚山
老在漫石塢
語氣為茶荈
衣香是煙霧
庭從𣟤子遮
果任獳師虜
日晚相笑歸
腰間佩輕簍
茶筍
褎然三五寸
生必依岩洞
寒恐結紅鉛
暖疑銷紫汞
圓如玉軸光
脆似瓊英凍
每為遇之疏
南山掛幽夢
茶籝
筤篣曉攜去
驀個山桑塢
開時送紫茗
負處沾清露
歇把傍雲泉
歸將掛煙樹
滿此是生涯
黃金何足數
茶舍
陽崖枕白屋
幾口嬉嬉活
棚上汲紅泉
焙前蒸紫蕨
乃翁研茗後
中婦拍茶歇
相向掩柴扉
清香滿山月
茶竈
南山茶事動
竈起岩根傍
水煮石發氣
薪然杉脂香
青瓊蒸後凝
綠髓炊來光
如何重辛苦
一一輸膏粱
茶焙
鑿彼碧岩下
恰應深二尺
泥易帶雲根
燒難礙石脈
初能燥金餅
漸見幹瓊液
九裏共杉林
相望在山側
茶鼎
龍舒有良匠
鑄此佳樣成
立作菌蠢勢
煎為潺湲聲
草堂暮雲陰
松窗殘雪明
此時勺複茗
野語知逾清
茶甌
邢客與越人
皆能造茲器
圓似月魂墮
輕如雲魄起
棗花勢旋眼
蘋沫香沾齒
松下時一看
支公亦如此
煮茶
香泉一合乳
煎作連珠沸
時看蟹目濺
乍見魚鱗起
聲疑松帶雨
餑恐生煙翠
尚把瀝中山
必無千日醉
Source
Pi Rixiu 皮日休 (834-883 A.D.), “Chazhong zayong 茶中雜詠 (Miscellaneous Poems on Tea) in Cao Yin 曹寅 (1658-1712 A.D.) and Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645-1719 A.D.) et al., comps, Quan Tangshi 全唐詩 (Complete Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, 1705), ch. 611, nos. 47-56.
Notes
The ten poems by Pi Rixiu were responded to by his friend Lu Guimeng陸龜蒙 (?-881), “Fenghe Ximei chaju shiyong 奉和襲美茶具十詠 (Offering Matching Rhymes to Pi Rixiu’s Ten Songs on Tea).” For a translation of the responding themes and poems by Lu Guimeng, see
The Huzhou Lei Tea Jar
眠雲臥石
An ancient jar is the earliest object identified with certainty as tea ware. The ceramic was found in a third century tomb where it was offered as funerary goods, that is to say, objects of daily use placed in the burial chamber as sacrifice to the dead. The size, shape, and features of the pottery reveal that it functioned as a storage container, while its inscription verifies that the jar was once designed to hold tea.
Made of glazed stoneware, the vessel is of fair size and well-proportioned. Generally globular in shape, the body narrows from a broad waist to a flat foot and bears a stamped geometric design known as leiwen or thunder pattern. The mouth opens from a short neck, a rounded ring that surmounts a shoulder marked by a double string band and four small lugs. The glaze is a mottled greenish brown color and covers the vessel evenly from the neck to a few broad lappets below the waist.
Under the glaze on the upper shoulder – in the space between the neck ring and the string décor – the jar bears an inscription: the character cha 茶 or tea incised neatly in clerical script. Created with a pointed stylus, the character is a combination of four straight and angled lines and four dots, a simplified rendering in eight strokes of the nine-stroke character cha 茶, meaning tea.
The jar was excavated on April 19, 1990 by the Huzhou Museum from an old tomb discovered at Luojiabang Village, Biannan Township, a site two miles southwest of Mount Wen and just west of Huzhou, Zhejiang. The unoccupied burial chamber was built of brick in the manner of the late Han dynasty and contained other well-made ceramic wares, most notably an animal-shaped ewer, a bird-headed tripod vessel, and a four-lugged jar. The styles of the architecture and the pottery indicate an age spanning from the end of the Eastern Han (25-220) to the Three Kingdoms period (220-280), circa third century of the Common Era.
Described as the archaic vessel type known as lei 罍, the jar measures 33.7 centimeters high and 36.3 centimeters wide with diameters of the mouth and base at 15.5 and 15.5 centimeters, respectively. According to speculation, the ceramic was made at the early pottery kilns of Deqing located about thirty-five miles south of Huzhou. Alternatively and more likely, the jar was manufactured at the ancient Yue kilns near present Ningbo. Both kilns made early green wares known as celadon.
The lei vessel was fully developed as a lidless storage container in both ceramic and bronze during the Shang dynasty, circa 13th-12th centuries B.C., and remained basically unchanged for millennia to this day. To close, the jar was fitted with a wooden plug, sealed with bamboo sheath and fine thick paper, and by use of the lugs was bound with cord. When sealed, the jar was resistant to air and damp. Aesthetically appealing, technically superb, uniform in shape, lightweight, and capacious, the lei was not only the stock storage container of the ages but also perfect for keeping tea.
For several reasons, the Huzhou lei is important to the art and tradition of tea. Dated to the third century, the jar is the earliest known ware expressly dedicated to tea by its manufacture and inscription. The lei is further evidence of tea in the Han and proof of the early epigraphic development and use of cha 茶 to represent the tea plant and its produce, the character recognizable even in a highly stylized and abbreviated form. Both the celadon jar and the tea it was intended to store were likely made near Huzhou, a region that formerly was known as Wucheng. Thus, the celebrated affinity of tea for celadon may be traced from at least the late Han and the Three Kingdoms period. According to the Record of Wuxing by Shan Qianzhi (died ca. 454), the marquisate of Wucheng produced a tribute tea from the imperial estates on Mount Wen in the third century, precisely contemporaneous with the Huzhou lei.
Figures
Lei Jar, 3rd century
China: Eastern Han dynasty-Three Kingdoms period
Ceramic: stoneware with applied glaze
Four lugs, stamped décor, inscribed cha 茶
H: 33.7 cm. W: 36.3 cm.; diameter: mouth 15.5 cm.; base 15.5 cm.
Huzhou Museum
Excavated from the brick tomb M1:1 at Luojiabang Village, Biannan Township, Huzhou, Zhejiang, April 19, 1990. See Zhang Bo 張柏, Zhongguo chutu ciqi quangji 中國出土瓷器全集 (Collected Ceramic Wares Excavated in China) (Beijing: Kexue chuban she, 2008), p. 26.
Tea and the Materia Medica of Tao Hongjing
Hulu jushi fanyi
Tao Hongjing of the Liang dynasty
Baiying and Kucai
Baiying 白英, white flower. Its taste is sweet, its medicinal character is cold, and it is not poisonous. It cures chills and fever, the eight jaundices, indigestion and thirst, restores equilibrium and benefits qi 氣, the life force. Prolonged use lightens the body and extends life. One name for it is gucai 谷菜, herb of the valley; another name is baicao 白草, white herb. It is produced in the mountains and valleys of Yizhou. In spring season, pick the leaves; in summer, pick the stems; in autumn, pick the flowers, and in winter, pick the roots. The various prescriptions do not prescribe it, for it is only a food staple cooked in water for people to drink. It only grows in mountains and valleys…there is also baicao 白草, white herb, the leaves make soup to drink to relieve fatigue; however, the roots and flowers are not used. Only Yizhou has kucai 苦菜, a beverage drunk by the natives that promotes health and prevents disease. This is undoubtedly the case.
Portrait of Tao Hongjing as a Daoist
梁 陶弘景
本草經集注
卷第三
白英
味甘寒無毒
主治寒熱八疸消渴補中益氣
久服輕身延年
一名谷菜一名白草
生益州山谷
春采葉夏采莖秋采花冬采根
諸方藥不用
此乃有菜生水中人蒸食之
此乃生山谷…
又有白草葉作羹飲甚治勞而不用根花
益州乃有苦菜土人專食之皆充健無病疑或是此
Herb category of medicinals
Fruit, herbs, rice, and grains: nominal drugs of no practical application
Kucai 苦菜, bitter herb tea
Superior grade
Its taste is bitter, its medicinal character is cold, and it is not poisonous. It cures the five visceral organs and diseases, relieves gastric obstructions caused by eating grain, alleviates indigestion, intestinal distress, thirst, fever, and ulcers of the skin. Prolonged use calms the heart, benefits qi 氣 – the life force – quickens perception, lessens sleep, lightens the body, delays old age, dispels cold and hunger, and stays the decline of talent and the sublime nature. One name is tuku 荼苦; one, is xuan 選; and another, is youdong 遊冬. It grows in the mountains and valleys of Yizhou. It grows in the mountains and hills and along the roads. It lives through winter and does not die. It is picked on the third day of the third lunar month and dried in the shade. This herb is likely what is now known as ming 茗. One name for ming 茗 is tu 荼. It causes sleeplessness. It too does not wither in winter and is doubtless the same as that which grows in Yizhou. Only Yizhou has kucai 苦菜, which as stated is bitter. This herb kucai 苦菜 is already commented on in the entry of the herb baiying 白英, white flower, in the superior category of the first volume. It is written in the Record of Medicines by Master Tong that “the leaves of kucai 苦菜 grow lush in the third lunar month; in the sixth lunar month, flowers follow the growth of leaves; the stems are straight and the flowers, yellow; in the eighth lunar month, the seeds blacken; when the seeds fall, the roots extend their growth; in winter, the plant does not dry up. The present herb ming 茗 truly resembles this herb kucai 苦菜. The ming 茗 teas of Xiyang and Wuchang are comparable to those of Lujiang and Jinxi: they are all excellent. Easterners make only green ming 茗 tea. Ming 茗 tea is always beneficial. Of all beverages, ming 茗 tea compares with the edible leaves of various trees, asparagus sprouts, and china root: all are beneficial, bountiful, and valuable for their cooling properties. Badong has zhentu 真荼 tea, the leaves of which when fired twist and knot; these are made into a drink that causes sleeplessness. Zhentu 真荼 is undoubtedly similar to all these very teas. Now, the brewing of beautiful leaves to make tu 荼 tea compares with the herbal made of large black plums and its cooling effects. Nanfang has gualu mu 瓜蘆木, the wild tea tree, which is similar to ming 茗 tea in bitterness and astringency; the leaves are taken and crumpled into bits, brewed, and the liquor drunk. In consequence, there is sleeplessness all night long; indeed, for wakefulness the salt workers depend only on this drink. Along the breadth of all relationships, tea is of the utmost importance; first serve when guests arrive and add fragrant herbs.”
梁 陶弘景
本草經集注
卷第七
果菜米穀有名無實
菜部藥物
苦菜
上品
味苦寒無毒
主治五臟邪氣厭穀胃痹腸渴熱中疾惡瘡。
久服安心，益氣，聰察，少臥，輕身，耐老，耐饑寒，高氣不老
一名荼苦一名選一名遊冬
生益州川谷生山陵道傍淩冬不死
三月三日采，陰乾。疑此則是今茗
茗一名荼又令人不眠亦淩冬不凋而嫌其只生益州
益州乃有苦菜正是苦爾
上卷上品白英下已注之
《桐君藥錄》雲苦菜葉三月生扶疏六月花從葉出莖直花黃八月實黑實落根複生冬不枯
今茗極似此西陽武昌及盧江晉熙茗皆好東人只作青茗
茗皆有之宜人
凡所飲物有茗及木葉天門冬苗並菝皆益人余物並冷利
又巴東間別有真荼火燔作卷結為飲亦令人不眠恐或者此
世中多煮檀葉及大皂李作荼飲並冷
又南方有瓜蘆木亦似茗至苦澀
取其葉作屑煮飲汁即通夜不眠
煮鹽人唯資此飲爾交廣最所重客來先設乃加以香輩爾
Source
Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456-536), comp., “Baiying 白英” and “Kucai 苦菜),” Bencao jing jizhu 本草經集注 (Collected Commentaries to the Materia Medica), juan 3 and 7.
Figure
Artist unknown
Portrait of Tao Hongjing as a Daoist, detail
Yuan dynasty, 14th century
Album leaf: ink and color on paper
National Palace Museum, Taipei
Inscription for the Gentleman of Principle
Hulu jushi fanyi
Sheng Yong of the Ming dynasty
Inscription for the Gentleman of Principle
Shaped like the vault of Heaven and the square of Earth:
Bamboo sheathed metal, bamboo wrapped clay.
Within, a lively fire burns,
Bearing sounds of waves on the river Xiang.
One drop of sweet dew
Cleanses my poetic core.
A pure wind sweeps beneath my sleeves,
Carrying me beyond the realm and into the Void.
明 盛颙
苦節君銘
肖形天地
匪冶匪陶
心存活火
聲帶湘濤
一滴甘露
滌我詩腸
清風兩腋
洞然八荒
Source
Sheng Yong 盛颙 (1418-1492), “Kujie jun ming 苦節君銘 (Inscription for the Gentleman of Principle, 1478)” from Qian Chunnian 錢椿年 (active ca. 1530-1535) and Gu Yuanqing 顧元慶 (1487–1565), Chapu 茶譜 (Treatise on Tea, 1541) in Zhongguo lidai chashu huibian jiaozhu ben 中國歷代茶書匯編校注本 (Annotated Compilation of Tea Books of Dynastic China), Zheng Peikai 鄭培凱 and Zhu Zizhen 朱自振 (1934–present), comps. (Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 2014), p. 181.
Three Encomia on the Ten Perfections of Tea
Hulu jushi fanyi
Wen Zhengming 1534
Wen Zhengming of the Ming dynasty
Three Encomia on the Ten Perfections of Tea
Tea Sprouts
The east wind blows across the russet tea,
In a single night it grows an inch.
A floral mist splits the heavy jade leaves,
Clouds gently congeal their tender fragrance.
The morning harvest fills less than a hand,
Returning in the evening, scolded for upsetting the tea basket.
The leaves, precious as yellow gold;
Transport the proffered tribute before the spring festival.
Brewing
Spring flowers fall, hiding the courtyard,
A gentle wind calms the meditation room.
Tend the fire to boil fresh spring water.
The cold moon floats round and shadowy.
Sleepless, yet ever writing of the worthy,
Faithful to the eternal emotions.
Wandering immortals flit about the brazier,
Effortlessly entering the spirit realm.
Stove
Everywhere nourished by spring rains,
Dark mists conceal distant peaks.
Tea contests Heaven’s ambrosia,
Crimson fire and green pine in harmony.
Purple essence condenses,
Descending among us, fragrant and rich.
Feeling tranquil and refreshed,
Sunset shadows the mountains.
Source
Wen Zhengming 文徵明 (1470-1559), “Chashi tu 茶事圖 (The Art of Tea, 1534),” Shiqu baoji xubian 石渠寶笈續編 (Sequel to the Treasure Coffers of the Stone Moat, 1793), Wang Jie 王杰 (1725–1805) et al., comps. (Taipei: Guoli Gugong bowu yuan, 1971), vol. 2, pp. 1051–1052.
Figure
Wen Zhengming 文徵明 1470–1559)
Chashi tu 茶事圖 (Art of Tea, 1534)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
National Palace Museum, Taipei