艸衣 東茶頌
Dong cha song
Hymn in Praise of Korean
Tea
by the Ven. Ch’o-ŭi
Translated
by Br Anthony
Introduction
Ch’o-ŭi
was born on the 5th day of the 4th
lunar month in 1786 in
Singi Village, Samhyang District, Muan County (新基里 三鄕面 務安郡) in South Chŏlla
Province. His family name was Chang (張), his original name was
Ui-sun (意恂). In his 16th
year he first became a monk at
Unhŭng Temple (雲興寺) on the slopes of
Tŏkyong-san in Tado District, Naju County, South Chŏlla
Province, under the
guidance of the Venerable Pyŏkbong Minsŏng (碧峰 敏性). In his 19th
year, after an enlightenment experience on Wolch’ul-san
in Yŏng’am on seeing
the moon rise out of the sea as the sun was setting, he
received ordination
from the Sŏn (Zen) master Wanho Yun-u (玩虎 倫佑) at the temple of
Taedun-sa (now
known as
Taehŭng-sa), receiving the name
Ch’o-ŭi. In 1806 he first
met Tasan Chŏng Yak-Yong (1763-1836) who was living in
exile in his mother’s
native country of Kangjin, only seven or eight miles
away from Taedun-sa, and
Tasan’s tea master, the Venerable A’am Hyejang (兒庵 惠藏), the head monk of the
nearby Paekryŏn Temple (白蓮寺).
In 1809, he spent several months in Kangjin, learning
the Book of Changes and
Classical Chinese poetry from Tasan, who seems to have
learned more about tea
from him in return. They became very close and this was
unusual, since Tasan
was socially superior and a Confucian scholar who had
been deeply influenced by
the Sŏhak (western learning) that included Catholicism.
Usually such men had
little or no sympathy with Buddhism. In addition to
scholarly learning, Ch’o-ŭi
was a skilled painter in both scholarly and Buddhist
styles, and a noted
performer of Buddhist ritual song (Pŏmb’ae) and dance. In 1815, Ch’o-ŭi
first visited Seoul and established strong relationships
with a number of
highly educated scholar-officials, several of whom had
been to China, who
became his friends and followers. These included the son-in-law of King
Chŏngjo Haegŏ Doin Hong Hyŏn-ju (海居 道
人 洪顯周) and his brother Yŏnch’ŏn Hong Sŏk-ju (淵泉 洪奭周), the son of
Tasan, Unp’o Chŏng Hak-yu (耘逋 丁學游),
as well as the famous
calligrapher Ch’usa Kim Chŏng-hŭi (秋
史 金正喜,
1786~1856) with his brothers Sanch’on Kim Myŏng-hŭi (山泉 金命喜) and Kŭmmi Kim
Sang-hŭi (琴糜 金相喜). It was most unusual
for a Buddhist monk, who as such
was assigned the lowest rank in society, together with
shamans and kisaengs, to
be recognized as a poet and thinker in this way by
members of the Confucian
establishment. Since he was a monk, he was not allowed
to enter the walls of
Seoul and received visits from these scholars while
living in Ch’ŏngryang
temple (淸涼寺)
outside the eastern gate or in a hermitage in the hills
to the north. Once he was in his
40s, he withdrew to the mountain above Taedun-sa, built
a hermitage known as
Ilchi-am (一枝庵) in 1824, and lived there alone for the
next 40 years,
practicing Zen meditation in a manner he developed and
wrote about, provoking a
discussion that lasted long after his death. The method
in question is known as
Chi-kwan (止觀), a combination of samatha and vipasyana,
where samatha,
often translated as
'Calm Abiding', comprises a style of
practices enhancing sustained concentration, culminating
in an attention that
can be sustained for hours on end without effort.
Vipasyana is the ensuing
practice of insight into the nature of reality. Thus,
samatha is a focusing,
pacifying and calming meditation, used as a preparation
for vipassana,
pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration
in order to allow the
work of insight. This dichotomy is also sometimes
described as "stopping
and seeing." It is often said that while samatha can
calm the mind, only
insight can reveal how the mind was disturbed to start
with. In this period, Korean
meditation practice was generally
limited to the practice of samatha and Ch’o-ŭi composed a treatise Sŏnmun
sapyŏnmanŏ (禪門四辯漫語 Four Defenses and
Random Words) in order
to warn monks of the dimension missing from
their practice, in which he criticized the Sŏnmun
sugyŏng (禪文手鏡 Hand Glass of Zen Literature) written by the
contemporary meditation master Paekp’a Kŭngsŏn (白坡 亘璇 1767-1852).
Ch’usa had previously initiated a lasting
controversy on this topic by sending his Paekp’a
Mangjŭngsipojo (白坡
妄證十五條 15
signs of Paekpa’s senility)
to Paekp’a, in which he wrote, “The truth of Zen is like a light new dress
without stitching, just like a
heavenly dress. But the dress is patched and repatched
by the inventiveness of
humans, and so becomes a worn-out piece of clothing.”
Paekp’a had written that certain Zen traditions were
superior to others, and he
considered that a waste of time as well as a
misunderstanding of the nature of
Zen. Nonetheless, when Paekp’a died at Hwaŏm temple in 1852, Ch’usa
wrote an epitaph for the memorial stone. In 1828, during a
visit to Ch’ilbul hermitage (七佛庵)
in Chiri Mountain, he copied out from a Chinese
encyclopedia dating from the
late 16th century the Chasinjŏn (Chronicle
of the Spirit of
Tea), as a simple guide to making and drinking
tea. In 1830, back at
Ilchi-am, he prepared a clean copy of his rapidly
written text. In 1831 he once
again visited his friends in Seoul, reading and writing
poems with them. In the
same year, he published a (now lost) collection of his
own poems with prefaces
and postscripts by four leading scholar-administrators
in which they show their
personal interest in Sŏn (Zen) practice and the drinking
of tea. He then
returned to his hermitage, where he also practiced
painting. In 1837 he wrote his
Hymn in Praise of Korean Tea, at the request of Hong Hyŏn-ju. In 1838
we find him climbing to the topmost peak of the Diamond
Mountains, Piro Peak,
before visiting the hills around Seoul. In his
fifty-fifth year, he received
recognition as a Great Monk from King Hŏnjong. In his 58th
year he
visited his childhood home and saw his parents’ graves
covered with weeds, an
event he marked in a poem. From
1840 until 1848, Ch’usa Kim
Chŏng-hŭi was exiled to the southern island of Cheju and
during those years, Ch’o-ŭi
visited him no less than five times, once staying for
six months, teaching him
about tea and Buddhism. When Ch’usa was freed, he
visited Ch’o-ŭi at Ilchi-am as
soon as he arrived on the mainland on his way back to
Seoul. He died in the 10th
month of 1856 and a little later, when he was already
71, Ch’o’ŭi visited his
grave near Asan, to the south-west of Seoul. He
remained vigorous and healthy to the end, all the time
practicing Zen
meditation. Early in the morning of the second day of
the seventh month of 1866
he called his attendant to help him get up, sat in the
lotus position and
entered Nirvana. In
romanizing the Korean, the character 茶
is written as ‘차 cha’
although some Koreans prefer ‘다
da.’ The two pronunciations derive from the different
ways the Chinese in
different regions spoke the word and underlie the
varying names for tea found
in the rest of the world, from ‘tea’ in England to
‘chai’ in India. The more
widely practiced Chinese pronunciation is “cha.” Hymn in Praise of
Korean Tea composed by
the Venerable Ch’o-ŭi Ŭi-sun at the
command of Haegŏ-doin 1 Heaven and earth
wed together a
beautiful tree and the virtues of the tangerine. It
obeys their command, invariably living in the southern
regions. Its
thickly-growing leaves struggle with sleet to stay green
during the winter, its
white flowers blossom splendid in autumn, bathed in
frost. 2 The
flowers are white and pure as the powdered skin of the immortal who lives on the hill of Guye, the
stamens
of the flowers blend
the sandalwood and river-gold of
Jambudvipa. Vast mists
purify the jade-green stems. Dawn light
enfolds the lustrous blue-green
bird-tongue leaves. 3 Gods,
immortals, humans, ghosts, all esteem it highly, for
they know that by nature it is true and admirable. The
Emperor Yandi
tasted it, then he
wrote about it in his Classic of Food. From
ancient times the names Butter and Sweet Dew have
been used. 4 The
Duke of Zhou
testified that tea relieves
drunkenness and reduces sleep. Yan Ying of Qi was
renowned for his meals of unhulled
rice and leaves. Yü Hong made offerings, praying to Danqiu. One
hairy immortal guided Qin Jing
to a grove. 5 One
long since buried gave a fortune. Of
all the kinds of fine food enjoyed at high tables, only
it can still the six
passions. A
remarkable tale tells how Emperor Wen was cured of a
headache by it. Thunder
Pod and Fragrant Down began to be made. 6 Although
the great Tang dynasty enjoyed every kind of delicate
food, the only
plant recorded in the Jingyüan Garden was Purple Beauty. Properly
processed, first-grade tea developed from
that time, wise men and
famous scholars praised its outstanding
taste. 7 Bricks stamped with dragon and phoenix
patterns
were beautifully decorated with various colors; huge sums of money went to make a
hundred bricks. Who knows the full abundance of its true
color and fragrance? Once contaminated, it loses its true
quality. 8 A follower of the Way constantly sought
perfect
beauty, planting it with his own hands high on
Mount Meng and cultivating it in early times. When he had made five pounds of it, he offered it to the king. It was called Auspicious Flowerbud and
Sacred Poplar Flower. 9 The flowery fragrances of Snow Flower
and Plump Cloud competed, Twin Wells and Radiant Sun were famous in Jiangxi and Zhejiang. Jianyang
and Danshan are sources of pure water, Moon Stream and Cloud Pagoda are
outstanding. 10 Those made in our eastern land are
identical with the original. In color, scent and taste they are
granted the same high merit. The taste of Luan is good, Meng Mountain
has good medical properties, but the great masters of the past prized
the Korean kind, that combines both qualities. 11 Childhood returns to the aged quickly
like a tree revitalized as if by a miracle, the face of an eighty-year-old is pink
as a lovely peach. I have a spring so I brew Excellent Blue
and A Hundred-Year Life. How can I bring some to Old Hae at the
foot of Mongmyŏk Mountain? 12 With nine difficulties and four
fragrances, it is an extremely delicate affair. What shall I teach the monks meditating
above
the Jade Floating Terrace? If the nine difficulties are overcome,
the four sorts of fragrance will develop fully and the finest kind can be presented to
the king himself in his royal palace. 13 Blue Wave and Green Fragrance were
served at court. Wisdom dwells all round, every barrier
falls. Its spirit-like roots are entrusted to God
Mountain. Immortal-like features and jade-like bones
denote a different species. 14 Green Bud and Purple Bamboo Shoot pierce
the roots of clouds, they are crumpled like barbarians’
shoes, wrinkled
like the breast
of an ox. Drinking dew on clear nights, hands guided by meditation produce a
wonderful
fragrance. 15 A profound subtlety lies at the heart of
this process, that is hard to express. True vitality cannot divide body and
spirit. Though body and soul are perfect, care is needed not to
lose the harmony between
them. That harmony is nothing but a balance of
matter and spirit. 16 If I drink one cup of Jade Flower, a breeze rises beneath
my arms, my body grows light and I ascend to a
state of supreme purity. The bright moon becomes my candle, my
friend, while a white cloud becomes my cushion,
my screen. 17 The
sound of bamboo oars and wind in pine trees, solitary
and refreshing, penetrates
my weary bones, awakens my mind, so clear and cool. With
no other guests but a white cloud and the bright moon, I
am raised to a place far higher than any immortal. Tasting
Ch’o-ŭi’s new Fragrant Green Mist, picked before
Kog-u, it is
soft as the tongues of
birds. Never say that Danshan’s Cloud tea or Moon Stream
tea are superior. A
cup full of Thunder Pod prolongs
life. By
Baekp’a
東
茶頌 承海道人命作 艸衣沙門意恂 Hymn
in Praise
of Korean Tea composed
by the Venerable Ch’o-ŭi Ŭi-sun at
the command of Haegŏ-doin The
original title says ‘Eastern Tea,’ which here indicates
Korea as seen from a
Chinese perspective Haegŏ-doin
is a secondary name of Hong Hyŏn-Ju, 1793 – 1865, the
son-in-law of King Jŏngjo
and a great lover of tea. He and his brothers were close
to Ch’o-ŭi. 后皇嘉樹配橘德 受命不遷生南國 密葉鬪霰貫冬靑 素花濯霜發秋榮 姑射仙子粉肌潔 閻浮檀金芳心結 Heaven and earth
wed together a
beautiful tree and the virtues of the tangerine. It
obeys their command, invariably living in the southern
regions. Its
thickly-growing leaves struggle with sleet to stay green
during the winter, its
white flowers blossom splendid in autumn, bathed in
frost. The
flowers are white and pure as the powdered skin of the immortal who lives on the hill of Guye, the
stamens
of the flowers blend
the sandalwood and river-gold of
Jambudvipa. 茶樹如瓜盧 葉如梔子
花如白薔薇而心黃如金 當秋發花 淸香隱然云 The tea-tree is like
wild tea, its leaves
are like those of a gardenia, its flowers like white
roses, its stamens are
yellow as gold, when the flowers bloom in autumn their
pure fragrance is said
to be subtle and hidden. Heaven
and earth : a traditional Chinese term implying
veneration for the powers
governing the cosmos, 后皇 houhuang is an abbreviation of 后土皇
天 hou tu huang tian (far more commonly
written in the reverse order 皇天后土 huang tian hou tu) where ‘tu’ is ‘earth’ and ‘tian’ is ‘heaven.’ Guye
: see Zhuangzi Chapter 1 逍遙遊 Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease, section 5 “on the hill of Guye there
dwelt a spirit-like man whose flesh and skin were
(smooth) as ice and (white)
as snow; (. . .) he did not eat any of the five grains,
but inhaled the wind
and drank the dew.” Such beings are often called
“immortals” in English
translations of Chinese texts. Jambudvipa
: the continent inhabited by humans to the south of
Mount Meru in Buddhist
cosmology. The beds of the rivers there are said to be
composed of grains of
gold. Wild
tea 瓜蘆 gualu
: the Chinese name for Thea (camellia) sinensis L
var. macrophylla;
(a.k.a. 皋蘆 gualu), a
closely related variety of the domestic tea
plant. Gualu is notable for its large
leaves. It grows in
southwestern Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou,
Sichuan, Yunnan, northern
Burma, and eastern India. Kualu has sometimes been
substituted for tea
and makes a muddy-colored drink that is bitter and
astringent. Like tea,
gualu is a stimulant that causes sleeplessness. 沆瀣漱淸碧玉條 朝霞含潤翠禽舌 Vast mists
purify the jade-green stems. Dawn light
enfolds the lustrous blue-green
bird-tongue leaves. 李白云 荊州玉泉寺 淸溪諸山 有茗艸羅生 枝葉如碧玉 玉泉眞公常采飮. As Li Bai said: “Tea grows widely over
all
the hills of the
green valleys near Yüquan Temple in Jingzhou, the
branches and leaves are like green
jade. The (head) monk of the temple
always plucks and drinks that tea.” Li Bai : 李白(701-762) One of greatest Chinese poets. His
name is also
pronounced Li Bo. He lived in the Tang dynasty. Yüquan (Jade Spring) Temple
玉泉寺 is located to
the east of Yüquan
Mountain in Dangyang County, Hubei Province. It is one
of the earliest Buddhist
temples in China. 天仙人鬼俱愛重 知爾爲物誠奇絶 炎帝曾嘗載食經 Gods,
immortals, humans, ghosts, all esteem it highly, for
they know that by nature it is true and admirable. The
Emperor Yandi
tasted it, then he
wrote about it in his Classic of Food. 炎帝食經云 茶茗久服 令人有力恍悅志 The Emperor Yandi wrote in his Classic
of Food: “If a person drinks tea for a long time,
it gives him
strength and contentment of mind.” The
Emperor Yandi : the “fiery emperor,” or Shen Nong, the legendary ruler (Shen Nong means Divine Farmer) who is said to
have first taught
agriculture to the Chinese some 5000 years ago, after
testing hundreds of herbs
on himself. This line is a quotation from Lu Yü (陸羽)’s 茶經
Classic of
Tea, chapter
7 “Writings on Tea.” (Lu Yü
lived 733-804,
during the Tang dynasty) 醍醐甘露舊傳名 From
ancient times the names Butter and Sweet Dew have
been used. 王子尙詣曇齋道人于八公山 道人設茶茗 子尙味之曰 此甘露也. 羅大經瀹湯詩,
松風檜雨到來初 急引銅甁離竹爐 待得聲聞俱寂後 一甌春雪勝醍醐. King Zishang of Yüchang visited a Buddhist monk named Tan Qi
in the Mountain of the Eight Dukes. After savoring the
tea served to him, he
said: “This is sweet dew!” In a poem
by Luo Da-jing about brewing tea, we read: “When you
hear a sound of wind in
pines, of rain on firs, quickly take the kettle from the
stove. Once you have
waited for the noises you heard to grow silent, the cup
of spring tea you drink
will be more delicious than butter.” The
story about King Zishang is a quotation from Lu Yü’s
茶經
Classic of
Tea, chapter
7 “Writings on Tea.” The
Mountain of the Eight Dukes is a small hill in Shouxian in
Anhui Province. Luo Dajing was a scholar-poet of the 13th century. 解醒少眠證周聖 The
Duke of Zhou
testified that tea relieves
drunkenness and reduces sleep. 爾雅, 檟苦茶. 廣雅,
荊巴聞采葉 其飮醒酒令人少眠. In the Erya, 檟 ‘jia’ is bitter
tea. In the Guangya, it is written that in Jingzhou and Bazhou people say that if
(tea) leaves are picked and drunk as a tea, the
effects of drink are overcome
and sleep is shortened. The Duke of Zhou
周公
was the much-revered brother of King Wu of Zhou (ruled 1046-1043 B.C.) who put an
end to the ancient Shang
Dynasty. After King Wu died, instead of assuming the
throne himself, he served as regent
for King Wu's son until he was old enough to rule. The Erya
(“Examples of Refinement”) is a very early
(2nd
century
BC) encyclopedic compilation that includes a large
section about plants. It was
sometimes attributed to the Duke of Zhou. 檟 ‘jia’ (often said to
be the catalpa tree) was one of the characters used for
‘tea’ before the
current character was created. The Guangya ("Expanded
Refinement") is a Northern Wei
lexicon
compiled by Zhang Yi 張揖 (4th
century AD). It is a suplement to the Erya. 脫粟飯菜聞齊嬰 Yan Ying of Qi was
renowned for his meals of unhulled
rice and leaves. 晏子春秋, 영相齊景公時 食脫粟飯 炙三戈 五卵 茗菜而已. In the Yanzi Chunqiu it is written that
when Yan Ying served as minister to Duke Jing of
Qi, he took a bowl of coarse grain, three
small helpings of
roasted fowl, five eggs, with the tender leaves of late
tea and herbs.
Yan Ying : (died
500 B.C.) was minister to Duke Jing (reigned 547-490
B.C.). Yanzi
Chunqiu : The
Spring and Autumn
Annals of Master Yan, a book
traditionally dated to the
Warring States Period (475-221 BC). This line is inspired by a quotation in Lu Yü’s 茶經
Classic of
Tea, chapter
7 “Writings on Tea” : “According to the Spring and
Autumn Annals of Master
Yan, when Yan Ying was minister to Duke Jing of
the State of Qi, he only
ate coarse grain, three small helpings of roasted fowl,
five eggs, and the
tender leaves of late tea and herbs.” 虞洪薦餼乞丹邱 毛仙示叢引秦精 Yü Hong made offerings, praying to Danqiu. One
hairy immortal guided Qin Jing
to a grove. 神異記, 餘姚虞洪 入山采茗 遇一道士牽三靑牛 引洪至瀑布山曰 予 丹邱子也 聞子善具飮 常思見惠 山中有大茗 可相給 祈子他日 有甌犧之餘 乞相遺也 因奠祀後入山 常獲大茗.
續搜神記 晉武帝, 宣城人秦精 入武昌山中採茗 遇一毛人 長丈餘 引精至山下 示以艸밑聚茗而去 俄而復還 乃探懷中橘 以遺精 精怖 負茗而歸. In the Records of Divine Wonders
we read: A man from Yüyao named Yü Hong went into the hills and picked tea. There
he met a Daoist
hermit who was leading three
blue-black oxen. He took Yü Hong as far
as Baopu Mountain, where
he said: “I am Danqiu zi. I heard how you appreciate tea and always
longed to meet you.
There is fine tea on Mount Hui. But please, in future,
before you return first
make a daily offering of tea.” After that, he would make
offerings, then send
his household to the mountain where they always found
great tea. In the Sequel to the Shoushen ji,
we read how in the days of Wudi of the Jin
dynasty a man from Xuancheng, Qin Jing,
went to Wuchang Mountain to pick tea and there he met
a man ten feet high,
covered with hair. He led Qin Jing to the foot
of the mountain, showed him a grove of tea trees, then
left. Returning, he drew
a tangerine from his breast and gave it to Qin Jing.
Terrified, Qin
Jing
picked his tea and went home. Both
stories are quoted from Lu Yü’s 茶經
Classic of
Tea, chapter
7 “Writings on Tea.” Record
of Divine Wonders : 神異記 Shen yi ji
(aka as Shen yi jing 神異經 The
Classic of Divine Wonders) is attributed to 東方朔 Dongfang Shuo, 154-93 B.C. Yüyao is near 紹
興縣 Shaoxing prefecture in
Zhejiang province. Baopu
Mountain can be translated “Waterfall Mountain.” Danqiu
zi can be translated “Master Cinnabar
Hill.” Xuancheng
is in Anhui province. Mount Hui
is near Wuxi in Jiangsu
province. Xuancheng
is in Anhui province. Wuchang
Mountain is in Hubei province. Jin Wudi (aka Sima Yan) was the first emperor of the Western Jin
dynasty, ruling between
265 and 289 AD. Shoushen
ji (搜神記 In Search of the Supernatural) a collection of
supernatural stories. 潛壤不惜謝萬錢 One
long since buried gave a fortune. 異苑, 剡縣陳務妻 少與二子寡居 好飮茶茗 宅中有古塚 每飮輒先祀之 二子曰 古塚何知 徒勞人意 欲堀去之 母禁而止 其夜夢一人云 吾止此三百餘年 鄕子常欲見毁 賴相保護 反享佳茗 雖潛壤朽骨 豈忘예桑之報 及曉 於庭中獲錢十萬. In the Garden of Marvels, we read
how the
wife of Chen Wu, of Shan prefecture, having been left a widow
early in life, lived with her two sons.
She enjoyed drinking tea. There was an old grave on the
property and every day
she would make an offering of tea before it before
drinking. Her two sons would
ask, “How can an old grave appreciate what you’re doing?
You’re just wasting
your time.” They wanted to dig up the grave and get rid
of it but their mother
always managed to prevent that. In a dream she had one
night, a man appeared
and said, “I’ve been buried here for three hundred
years, and your two sons
always keep wanting to destroy my grave. You have
stopped them and in addition
you have served me good tea. I may be nothing but
rotting bones buried
underground, yet how could I forget the tale of the
reward for the kindness
under the mulberry tree? The next morning she found a
hundred thousand cash
piled up in the yard. Yiyüan (Garden
of Marvels), an early 5th century collection of
tales, written by Liu
Jingshu (劉
敬叔). Shengxian
is in Zhejiang province. Kindness
under the mulberry tree: In the 7th book of
the Zuo
Documentary by
Zuo Qiuming
(a commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals)
we read: “Once
when Zhao Dun
was hunting, he rested under a shady mulberry tree,
and noticed one Ling Che lying there dying of
hunger. Zhao Dun
had food given to him (. . .). Later, in a battle,
this man was present among
the duke's enemy’s,
but turning the head of his spear, he resisted the
others, and allowed Zhao
Dun to escape. Zhao Dun
asked him why he thus came to his help,
and he replied, "I am the starving man whom you saw
in the shade of the
mulberry tree;" but when further asked his name and
village, he made no
answer, but withdrew. 鼎食獨稱冠六情 Of
all the kinds of fine food enjoyed at high tables, only
it can still the six
passions. 張孟陽登樓詩, 鼎食隨時進 百和妙具殊 芳茶冠六情 溢味播九區. In Chang Meng-yang’s poem “Climbing the
Tower” we read : All the different fine foods in the cauldrons were served in order, the
hundred different dishes were
all delicate and outstanding. Fragrant tea stills the
six passions, the
spreading taste fills the whole space under heaven. The
poem is quoted in Lu Yu’s 茶經
Classic of
Tea, chapter
7 “Writings on Tea.” 開皇醫腦傳異事 A
remarkable tale tells how Emperor Wen was cured of a
headache by it. 隋文帝微時 夢神易其腦骨 自爾 痛 忽遇一僧云 山中茗草可治 常服之有效 於是 天下始知飮茶. Before he became emperor, Wendi had a
dream in which a spirit replaced his brain, after which
he suffered from
headaches. One day he met a monk who said: “You can cure
headaches with the
leaves of tea from the hills.” Wendi always drank tea
and it was effective.
After that, everyone came to know about drinking tea. The
Emperor Wen (aka Wendi
or Yang Jian, reigned
581-604), was the founder of the Sui dynasty. 雷莢茸香取次生 Thunder
Pod and Fragrant Down began to be made. 唐 覺林寺僧 志崇 製茶三品 驚雷莢 自奉 萱草帶 供佛 柴茸香 待客云. In the Tang dynasty, Zhichong the monk of Juelin Temple used to make
three kinds of tea: Thunder Pod he drank
himself, Day Lily he
offered to the Buddha, and Purple
Fragrant Down he
served to guests. Juelin
temple is near Chongqing, Sichuan province. This record
is found in the Fozu
lidai tongzai 佛祖歷代通載
(A comprehensive record of the history of
the Buddhas and Patriarchs) by Nianchang 念常 (1282-1344). 巨唐尙食羞百珍 沁園唯獨記紫英 Although
the great Tang dynasty enjoyed every kind of delicate
food, the only
plant recorded in the Jingyüan Garden was Purple Beauty. 唐 德宗 每賜同昌公主饌與茶 有綠花紫英之號. Whenever food was sent to Princess
Tongchang by Emperor Dezong of the Tang
dynasty, it always included Green Flower tea and Purple
Beauty tea. Jingyüan Garden : the name of a wooded park
on
the estate of Princess Jingshui. Princess Jingshui was
the daughter of the
Emperor Mingdi of the Han dynasty (reigned 58-75) of the
Eastern Han dynasty
(25-220 AD) Princess Tongchang : No such
person is recorded among the
children of Dezong (742-805). Princess
Tongchang (died 870) was the favorite daughter of
Emperor Yizong (reigned
859-873). Ch'o-ui apparently wished to link the Han
dynasty plant Purple Beauty
with the Tang dynasty tea by making reference to
Princess Jingshui and Princess
Tongchang, both of whom were doted on by their
emperor-fathers. Ch'o-ui
seems to have substituted the emperor Dezong for the
emperor Yizong but he
is historically incorrect. Purple : the term ziying, "russet
or
purple beauty [flower]" has no particular literary or
botanical meaning;
the color purple, however, is a potent Daoist color and
it adds a spiritual
dimension when used to describe anything 法製頭綱從此盛 淸賢名士誇雋永 Properly
processed, first-grade tea developed from
that time, wise men and
famous scholars praised its outstanding
taste. 茶經稱茶味雋永. In the Classic of Tea the taste of tea
is said to be ‘outstanding.’ The
term 雋
永 (‘outstanding’)
evokes the taste of the finest meats. 綵莊龍鳳團巧麗 費盡萬金成百餠 Bricks stamped with dragon and phoenix
patterns
were beautifully decorated with various colors; huge sums of money went to make a
hundred bricks. 大小龍鳳團 始於丁謂 成於蔡君謨 以香藥合而成餠 餠上飾以龍鳳紋 供御者 以金莊成. 東坡詩, 紫金百餠費萬錢. Ding Wei first began to make
bricks of tea stamped with dragon and phoenix patterns,
large and small. Cai Chunmo
perfected the method. The
bricks were made of tea mixed with perfumes and herbs
then stamped with
decorations showing a dragon or phoenix. The bricks
destined for the emperor
were decorated with gold. A poem by Dongpo says: “a hundred bricks of tea decorated with purple
gold, they cost ten
thousand cash.” Ding Wei (丁
謂, 966-1037) was a scholar, poet
and writer who works included a 3-volume treatise on tea
建安茶錄
and the Beiyüan
chalu
北苑茶錄 Cai Xiang (1012-1067)
was a noted calligrapher of
the Northern Sung era whose works include the Chalu 茶錄, a book on tea. Dongpo :
the pseudonym of Su Shi, (蘇軾, 1037-1101), a renowned poet and
scholar during the Northern Sung. He is also known as Su
Dongpo. 誰知自饒眞色香 一經點染失眞性 Who knows the full abundance of its true
color and fragrance? Once contaminated, it loses its true
quality. 萬寶全書, 茶自有眞香 眞味 眞色 一經他物點染 便失其眞. In the Encyclopedia
of a Myriad
Treasures, we read : Tea has its own true
fragrance, true taste, true color
but if it is ever adulterated, it loses that true
quality. Encyclopedia of
a Myriad Treasures : The Wanbao qüanshu 萬寶全書, a popular encyclopedia written by imperial command in
1573, early in the reign of the Wanli Emperor (ruled 1572-1620) of the Ming dynasty. 道人雅欲全其嘉 曾向蒙頂手栽那 養得五斤獻君王 吉祥蕊與聖楊花 A follower of the Way constantly sought
perfect
beauty, planting it with his own hands high on
Mount Meng and cultivating it in early times. When he had made five pounds of it, he offered it to the king. It was called Auspicious Flowerbud and
Sacred Poplar Flower. 傅大士 自住蒙頂結庵 植茶凡三年 得絶嘉者 號聖楊花吉祥예 五斤 持歸供獻. Fu Dashi lived alone near the top of Mount
Meng, built a hermitage
and planted tea trees; three years later he obtained the
finest tea to which he
gave the names Auspicious Flowerbud and Sacred Poplar
Flower. Coming down from the mountain, he offered all
five pounds to the king. Mount Meng
lies near Yan’an
in Sichuan. Fu Dashi (497-569); a Chinese Buddhist
layman, also known as Shanhui Dashi
(善慧大士). 雪花雲腴爭芳烈 雙井日注喧江浙 The flowery fragrances of Snow Flower
and Plump Cloud competed, Twin Wells and Radiant Sun were famous in Jiangxi and Zhejiang. 東坡詩, 雪花雨脚何足道. 山谷詩,
我家江南採雲腴. 東坡至僧院 僧梵英葺治堂宇嚴潔 茗飮芳烈 問此新茶耶 英曰 茶性 新舊交 則香味復. 草茶成兩浙 而兩浙之茶品 日注爲第一 自景祐以來 洪州 雙井白芽漸盛 近世製作尤精 其品遠出日注之上 遂爲草茶第一. In a poem by Dongpo we read : “How shall I express the
quality of Snow Flower
tea and Rain Splashing tea?” while in a poem by Shangu
we read: “My
house is to the south of the Yangtzu River, and there I
pick Plump Cloud.” When Su
Dongpo reached his temple, the Buddhist monk
Fanying had just finished mending the thatch over the
main hall, it was very
clean. As they drank tea, since the taste was very
pronounced the poet asked, “Is
this this year’s tea?” The monk replied, “Given the
nature of tea, if you mix
new tea with old tea the fragrance and taste are
restored.” Green tea is
produced on both sides of the
Qiantang river and among those teas Radiant
Sun is the finest. After the Jingyou
period, Hongzhou’s Twin Wells tea and White Bud tea
gradually became popular;
nowadays, the art of tea-making having grown more refined,
their quality has
improved so that they are superior to Shining Sun and are
the best of all green
teas. Dongpo :
the pseudonym of Su Shi, (蘇軾, 1037-1101), a renowned poet and
scholar during the Northern Sung. He is also known as Su
Dongpo. Shangu : Huang
Shangu, whose real name was Huang
Tingjian (1045-1105). He was one of the most famous
poets of the Northern Sung. The Jingyou era of Northern Sung lasted 1034-1037. 建陽丹山碧水鄕 品製特尊雲澗月 Jianyang
and Danshan are sources of pure water, Moon Stream and Cloud Pagoda are
outstanding. 遯齋閑覽, 建安茶 爲天下第一 孫樵送茶焦刑部曰 晩甘候十五人 遣侍齋閣 此徒乘雷而摘 拜水而和 盖建陽丹山 碧水之鄕 月澗雲龕之品 愼勿賤用 晩甘候 茶名.
茶山先生乞茗疏, 朝華始起 浮雲皛皛於晴天 午睡初醒 明月離離於碧澗. In the Tunzhai xianlan, we read: “Jian’an’s tea is the best in the
world.” Sun Qiao sent a gift of tea to the
Department of Punishments of Jiao
with a message saying, “I send Evening
Sweetness, enough for fifteen, for the attendants of the Purification Hall. This tea I picked during a thunder
storm, dried and prepared
myself. Jian’an
and Danshan
should be the source of the pure water but they must not
lavish Moon
Stream or Cloud Pagoda teas. Evening Sweetness is the
name of one tea. In his
letter requesting tea, Master Dasan said (that the best
times to drink tea
were) : “When the flowers begin to open early in the
morning, when clouds float
white in a clear sky, on waking after a daytime doze,
when bright moonlight is
relected in a clear stream.” Jianyang
is in Fujian province. Tunzhai xianlan: a
work by Fan
Zhenming 范正敏, a scholar of the Northern Sung. SunQiao
(fl
855) was a famous Tang scholar. Dasan
Chŏng Yak-yong (1762-1836) taught Ch’o-ŭi
the art of tea. In this letter, known as the Kŏlmyŏngso,
dating from
1805, Dasan writes asking his tea-master the Venerable
Hyejang
(also
known as A-am) to send him some tea. 東國所産元相同 色香氣味論一功 陸安之味蒙山藥 古人高判兼兩宗 Those made in our eastern land are
identical with the original. In color, scent and taste they are
granted the same high merit. The taste of Luan is good, Meng Mountain
has good medical properties, but the great masters of the past prized
the Korean kind, that combines both qualities. 東茶記云 或疑東茶之效 不及越産 以余觀之 色香氣味 少無差異 茶書云 陸安茶 以味勝 蒙山茶 以藥勝 東茶 盖兼之矣 若有李贊皇陸子羽 其人必以余言爲然也. In the Record of Korean Tea we
read : “Some people doubt that the efficacity of Korean
tea could equal that of
the tea produced in China’s Yüe region but
to
me there is no difference in color, fragrance, savor or
taste. In the
Classic of Tea, Lu Yü wrote:
‘The
taste of Luan tea is outstanding, tea from Mount Meng
has medicinal properties.’
The tea of our country is mostly equal to those two
teas. If Li Zanhuang and Lu Yu were alive now, they
would surely agree that
what I say is true.” Luan
is in Anhui province. Record of
Korean Tea: DongChaGi 東茶記, a text about tea long
attributed to Dasan but actually written by Yi Deok-ni
(1728 - ?) in about 1785. Yüe: the region of
Zhejiang Li
Zanhuang: Li Deyu 李德裕 (787–850),
Duke
of Zanhuang, was Prime Minister under the Tang dynasty Emperor Wuzong. 還童振枯神驗速 八耋顔
如夭桃紅
Childhood returns to the aged quickly
like a tree revitalized as if by a miracle, the face of an eighty-year-old is pink
as a lovely peach. 李白云 玉泉眞公 年八十 顔色如桃李 此茗香淸 異于他 所以能還童振枯 而令人長壽也. Li Bai wrote: “The (head) monk of Yüquan Temple is
eighty, his complexion is like a peach or plum. The
temple’s tea is fragrant
and pure, unlike other teas, it has
power to restore youth to an old man, revitalizing a
withered tree and ensuring
long life.” Li Bai : 李白(701-762) One of greatest Chinese poets. His
name is also
pronounced Li Bo. He lived in the Tang dynasty. Yüquan (Jade Spring) Temple
is located to the east of Yüquan
Mountain in Dangyang County, Hubei Province. It is one
of the earliest Buddhist
temples in China. 我有乳泉 把成秀碧百壽湯 何以持歸木覓山前獻海翁 I have a spring so I brew Excellent Blue
and A Hundred-Year Life. How can I bring some to Old Hae at the
foot of Mongmyŏk Mountain? 唐蘇廙著 十六湯品, 第三曰百壽湯 人過百忍 水逾十沸 或以話阻 或以事廢 如取用之 湯已生性矣 敢問皤鬂蒼顔之老夫 還少執弓扶矢以取中乎 還可雄闊步以邁遠乎 第八曰秀碧湯 石凝天地秀氣 而賦形者也 琢而爲器 秀猶在焉 其湯不良 未之有也.
近 酉堂大爺 南過頭輪 一宿紫芋山房 嘗其泉曰 味勝酥酪. In the Book of Sixteen
Beverages written by Su Yi of the Tang dynasty,
the third section is
titled “A Hundred-Year Life,” where he writes :
“the water boils over ten
times, as though one has lived to be a hundred years
old. Sometime that
is because words do not come, sometimes because of some
difficulty. Sometimes
when you want to use that brew it has lost its quality.
You wonder if an old
man with white hair and beard, his face pale, would ever
be capable of drawing
a bow, shooting an arrow and hitting the target or
walking a long distance with
resolute steps.” Of the eighth
listed, Excellent Blue, he
writes : “In form like a stone that has absorbed all the
excellent virtues of
heaven and earth. If that is ground and a bowl of tea
prepared, the excellent
virtues remain, so that there can be nothing about such
a brew that is not
good.” Recently, Master Yudang was passing close to
Duryun Mountain in the
south and spent one night at Ilchi Hermitage; on tasting
the water from the
spring there, he remarked, “This is better than cream!” Old Hae is Hong Hyŏn-ju, son in law
of King Chŏngjo, to whom the whole
poem is dedicated. He was a great lover of tea and
composed many tea poems. Myongmok Mountain is Nam San in
Seoul The Book of Sixteen Beverages : Shi liu tang
pin by Su Yi Master Yudang:
Kim No-gyŏng (1766-1840), the father
of Ch’usa Kim Jŏng-hŭi, the close friend of Ch’o-ŭi. Ilchi Hermitage :
the hermitage built by Ch’o-ŭi
above Daehun Temple in the far south of Korea. Cream : the
Chinese word Sulao 酥酪
formerly meant ‘cream’ although usually
milk products were unknown to the Chinese literati and
the word merely had a
figurative sense of a delicious liquid. 又有九難四香玄妙用 With nine difficulties and four
fragrances, it is an extremely delicate affair. 茶經云 茶有九難 一曰造 二曰別 三曰器 四曰火 五曰水 六曰炙 七曰末 八曰煮九曰飮 陰采夜焙 非造也 嚼味嗅香 非別也 羶鼎腥甌 非器也 膏薪포炭 非火也 飛湍壅潦 非水也 外熟內生 非炙也 碧粉飄塵 非末也 操艱攪遽 非煮也 夏興冬廢 非飮也. 萬寶全書, 茶有眞香 有蘭香 有淸香 有純香 表裏如一 曰純香 不生不熟 曰淸香 火候均停 曰蘭香 雨前神具 曰眞香 此謂四香. In the Classic of Tea we read :
“Tea
offers nine difficult challenges. The first is making
the tea; the second is
discerning the quality of a tea; the third involves the
utensils; the fourth
the fire; the fifth the water; the sixth is the roasting
of the tea; the
seventh is grinding the tea powder; the eighth is brewing the tea; the ninth is drinking
the tea. Picking tea on a
cloudy day and drying the leaves over a fire by night is
not the way to make
tea; chewing tea to test its taste and fragrance is not
the way to discern its
quality. A brazier that smells
of burnt fat or a cup that
smells bad is not a right utensil for making tea.
Resinous firewood and
incompletely burned charcoal
from the kitchen are not a proper fire; water that is
gushing out and flowing
fast, or that is sluggish and stagnant is no water; tea
that is baked on the
outside but still green inside is not rightly roasted
tea; green meal
or drifting dust is not
well ground tea; hasty grabbing or quick gestures are
not the right way to boil
water; drinking a lot in summer and none in winter is
not the right way to
drink.” In the Encyclopedia of a Myriad
Treasures we read about the four fragrances: “In
tea there is true
fragrance, orchid fragrance, clear fragrance, pure
fragrance. When inside and
outside are the same, that is pure fragrance; what is
neither immature nor
mature, that is clear fragrance; when the heat of the
fire is controlled
evenly, that is orchid fragrance; what has the freshness
of tea picked before
Kog-u, that is true fragrance.” The
list of difficulties is near the end of the 6th
chapter of the Classic
of Tea. Kog-u
(Grain-Rain), is one of the 24 solar
seasonal dates intercalated
into the lunar calendar in China and Korea. It usually
falls on April 20 and
the earliest tea shoots, the finest tea, should be
picked before then. Encyclopedia of
a Myriad Treasures : Wanbao qüanshu
萬寶全書, a popular encyclopedia written by
imperial command in 1573 early in the
reign of the Wanli Emperor (ruled 1572-1620) of the Ming
dynasty. 何以敎汝玉浮臺上坐禪衆 What shall I teach the monks meditating
above
the Jade Floating Terrace? 智異山花開洞 茶樹羅生四五十里 東國茶田之廣 料無過此者 洞有玉浮臺 臺下有七佛禪院 坐禪者 常 晩取老葉晒乾 然柴煮鼎 如烹菜羹 濃濁色赤 味甚苦澁 政所云 天下好茶 多爲俗手所壞. In Chiri Mountain’s Hwagae
village, tea trees grow in profusion for 40 or 50 ri
over a wide area. I
believe there to be no larger tea field in our nation.
Above Hwagae village
lies the Jade Floating Terrace tea field, and below it is Ch’ilbul Meditation Hall.
Those meditating there would
belatedly pick tough leaves and dry them in the sun.
Lighting a wood fire, they
would boil them like vegetables cooked in a pot; the
brew was strong and
turbid, reddish in color, the taste extremely bitter and
astringent. As Chŏng-so
said : “Good tea is often ruined by ordinary people
too.” Jade
Floating Field: Okbudae, a tea field
beside Ch’ilbul Temple in Chiri Mountain. In
1828 Ch’o-ŭi visited Ch’ilbul and during his
stay there copied out the Chinese text about tea,
probably from a copy of the Encyclopedia of a Myriad
Treasures (Wanbao qüanshu), which we know as the Chasinchŏn. Nobody
knows who Chŏng-so was, he is said to
have worked at the temple. 九難不犯四香全 至味可獻九重供 翠濤綠香纔入朝 If the nine difficulties are overcome,
the four sorts of fragrance will develop fully and the finest kind can be presented to
the king himself in his royal palace. Blue Wave and Green Fragrance were
served at court. 入朝于心君
茶序曰 甌泛翠濤 碾飛綠屑
又云 茶以靑翠爲勝 濤以藍白爲佳
黃黑紅昏 俱不入品 雲濤爲上
翠濤爲中 黃濤爲下.
陳麋公詩 綺陰贊盖 靈艸試旗
竹爐幽討 松火恕飛 水交以淡
茗戰以肥 綠香滿路 永日忘歸
Entering
the royal court with a humble heart. As the preface to
the Classic of Tea
says, “The teacup was brimming with green foam while
green powder flew up from
the grinding stones.” It also says, “Green is the best
color for tea, a pale
indigo foam is good, but yellow, black, red or dark
colors are all signs of
poor quality. Cloud-like foam is the finest, a greenish
foam indicates a medium
grade, a yellow foam indicates low grade.” As we read in
a poem by Chen Migong :
“Gathering in a place covered with beautiful
shade, intent on experiencing the wonders of the
numinous herb, Spirit Plant
tea, set on a brazier where gently encouraged pine
branches blaze gently,
water boils lightly then tea contests
continue long as a green fragrance fills the path and
all day long we forget to
go home.” Chen Migong : aka
Chen Jiru (陳繼儒, 1558-1639)
A Ming-dynasty calligrapher,
painter, and writer, was a
native of Huating. He led a secluded life in the
mountains of present-day
Jiangsu province. 聰明四達無滯壅 矧爾
靈根托神山
Wisdom dwells all round, every barrier
falls. Its spirit-like roots are entrusted to God
Mountain. 智異山
世稱方丈. Chiri Mountain is
generally known as Abbot
Mountain. 仙風玉骨自另種 綠芽紫筍穿雲根 胡靴犎臆皺水紋 Immortal-like features and jade-like bones
denote a different species. Green Bud and Purple Bamboo Shoot pierce
the roots of clouds, they are crumpled like barbarians’
shoes, wrinkled
like the breast
of an ox. 茶經云
生爛石者爲上 礫壤者次之 又曰
谷中者爲上. 花開洞茶田
皆谷中兼爛石矣 茶書又言 茶紫者爲上
皺者次之 綠者次之 如筍者爲上
似芽者次之 其狀如胡人靴者蹙縮然 如犎牛臆者
廉沾然 如輕飇拂衣者 涵澹然
此皆茶之精腴也 As
the Classic of Tea says, “Tea grown in
fragmented stones is best. Tea
grown in earth mixed with gravel is nearly as good.” It
also says, “Tea grown
in mountain valleys is best.” The
tea fields of Hwagae are all in valleys and all are
gravelly. We also read in
the Classic of Tea : “The finest tea leaves have
a russet tint, wrinkled
leaves are next best.” “Green leaves are next best,
shoots like bamboo shoots
are the best, those like new buds are next.” “In
appearance they are crumpled
like barbarians’ shoes, like the breast of an ox. Gently steeped in water, they are as a light
breeze ruffling water,”
all of which express the purity and bountiful nature of
tea. 吸盡瀼瀼淸夜露 三昧手中上奇芬 Drinking dew on clear nights, hands guided by meditation produce a
wonderful
fragrance. 茶書云
採茶之候 貴及時 太早則香不全
遲則神散 以穀雨前五日爲上 後五日次之
後五日又次之 然驗之東茶 穀雨前後太早
當以立夏前後 爲及時也 其採法
撤夜無雲 浥露採者爲上 日中採者次之
陰雨下不宜采 老坡 送謙師詩
道人 曉出南屛山 來試點茶三昧手 We read in the Book of Tea: “It
is very important to pick tea at the right moment. If
too early, the fragrance
is imperfect; if too late, the freshness is lost. The
five days before Kog-u
are the best, the five days after are next best, and the
following five are
next best.” Yet in my own experience, in our country the
time before and just
after Kog-u is too early and the correct moment comes
just after Ip-ha. When
picking tea, “the best is picked soaked with dew during
a cloudless night,
picking during the daytime is next best; tea must not be
picked when it is
cloudy and rainy.” As Su Dongpo
says in the poem he sent to the Venerable Jian, “Hermits
come down from Nanping
Mountain and their hands, guided by meditation, make tea
for them to drink.” Kog-u
(Grain-rain) is one of the traditional 24
solar-based seasonal divisions superimposed on the lunar
calendar in Korea and
China. It usually falls on April 20-21. Ip-ha (Entry of
summer) is the next,
falling on May 5-6. Nanping
Mountain is in Zhejiang province. 中有玄微妙難顯 眞精莫敎體神分 A profound subtlety lies at the heart of
this process, that is hard to express. True vitality cannot divide body and
spirit. 造茶篇云 新採揀去老葉 熱鍋焙之 候鍋極熱 始下茶急炒 火不可緩 待熟方退 撤入竹밑徙中 輕團枷數遍 復下鍋中 漸漸減火 焙乾爲度 中有玄微 難以言顯. 泉品云 茶者 水之神 水者 茶之體 非眞水 莫顯其神 非眞茶 莫窺其體 In
the chapter about making tea in the Encyclopedia of
a Myriad Wonders, we
read : “Newly picked leaves are dried in a cauldron
after removing and
rejecting old leaves. If you wait for the cauldron to be
very hot before
beginning to put in the leaves, you must roast them
quickly without reducing
the fire. Wait for them to soften, then remove them from
the fire, place them
in a sieve, rub them together lightly in clusters, then
return them to the
cauldron while reducing the fire in order to dry them
correctly. There is a
profound subtlety in this process which it is hard to
put into words.” In
the chapter about the grading of springs in the Encyclopedia
of Wonders
we read : “Tea is water’s freshness, water is tea’s
essential body. Without
true water, tea’s spirit does not emerge, without true
tea, tea’s essential
body cannot be perceived.” 體神雖全 猶恐過中正 中正不過健靈倂 Though body and soul are perfect, care is needed not to
lose the harmony between
them. That harmony is nothing but a balance of
matter and spirit. 泡法云
探湯純熟 便取起 先注壺中
小許盪祛冷氣 傾出然後 投茶葉
多寡宜酌 不可過中正失 茶重則味苦香沈
水勝則氣寡色淸 兩壺後 又冷水
蕩滌 使壺凉潔 否則減茶香 盖罐熱則
茶神不健 壺淸則水性當靈 稍候茶水沖和然後
分釃布飮 釃不宜早 早則茶神不發
飮不宜遲 遲則妙馥先消 評曰
采盡其妙 造盡其精 水得其眞
泡得其中 體與神相和 健與靈相倂
至此 茶道盡矣
In the Encyclopedia of a Myriad
Wonders, we read : Examine the boiling water and
once it is ready, pour a
little into the teapot to warm it, throw that away, then
put in the tealeaves.
You must consider how much or how little to use, for
there is no point in going
beyond the moderate then losing the proper way. If too
much tea is used, the
taste may be bitter while the fragrance is weakened; if
too much water is used,
there will be no taste and the color will be light.
After using the teapot
twice it must be washed clean with cold water, so that
it is cool and spotless.
If that is not done, the tea’s fragrance diminishes.
Usually, if the water
poured into the pot is too hot, the tea’s freshness will
not be steady, if the
pot is clean, the water’s quality will naturally be
outstanding. Wait a little
for the tea and water to blend then strain the tea
through a hemp cloth before
drinking. The straining must not be done too quickly.
Otherwise the tea’s
freshness cannot develop. Drinking the tea must not be
delayed. If you delay,
the tea’s delicate fragrance will vanish.” Note well :
when tea is picked, its
outstanding qualities must be brought
out, when it is being dried
great care must be taken, pure water must be obtained,
and when tea is being
brewed an opportune moment of proper balance must be
achieved. If body and soul are in
harmony, matter and spirit will
blend well together. That is the perfection of the Way
of Tea. The
terminology in these lines is difficult;
the constrast between ‘body’ and ‘spirit’ or ‘matter’
and ‘soul’
seems to be a metaphor refering
to the combination of solid leaves and liquid water to
produce tea. 一傾玉花風生腋 身輕已涉上淸境 If I drink one cup of Jade Flower, a breeze rises beneath
my arms, my body grows light and I ascend to a
state of supreme purity. 陳簡齋茶詩,
嘗此玉花句 盧玉川茶歌 唯覺兩腋習習生淸風.
In a tea poem by Chen
Jianzhai there is a section “On tasting Jade Flower tea”
and in Lu Yüchuan’s “Tea Song” we read : “all I can
feel is a pure wind rising gently beneath both
arms.” Chen
Jianzhai : aka Chen Yuyi (陳
與義,
1090-1139) a Southern Sung poet. 明月爲燭兼爲友 白雲鋪席因作屛 竹賴松濤俱蕭凉 淸寒瑩骨心肝惺 惟許白雲明月爲二客 道人座上此爲勝 The bright moon becomes my candle, my
friend, a white cloud becomes my cushion, my
screen. The
sound of bamboo oars and wind in pine trees, solitary
and refreshing, penetrates
my weary bones, awakens my mind, so clear and cool. With
no other guests but a white cloud and the bright moon, I
am raised to a place far higher than any immortal. 飮茶之法 客衆則喧 喧則雅趣索然 獨철曰神 二客曰勝 三四曰趣 五六曰泛 七八曰施也. In
the Rules for Drinking Tea we read: “many guests
make much noise; if
there is noise, the mood of refinement disappears.
Drinking alone is god-like;
having two guests is very good; having three or four is
elegance; having five
or six is generosity; having seven or eight is
companionship.” 艸衣新試綠香煙 禽舌初纖穀雨前 莫數丹山雲澗月 滿鍾雷莢可廷年 Tasting Ch’o-ŭi’s
new Fragrant Green Mist, picked before
Kog-u, it is
soft as the tongues of
birds. Never say that Danshan’s Cloud tea or Moon Stream
tea are superior. A
cup full of Thunder Pod prolongs
life. 白坡居士
題 By Baekp’a Baekp’a
(1767-1852) was
a famous Zen monk, whose writings about meditation
Ch’o-ŭi criticized. |