There are many special cultures in the world, and these cultural differences make people in every country and region have different living habits and eating styles, each with its own characteristics. However, in this completely different situation, there is a kind of beverage that can be widely favored all over the world, whether it is a westerner with a unique taste or an oriental with a light taste. It is tea. Tea is a health drink, which is closely related to people's lives. Because it has a good health care function, it can not only prevent some diseases, but also enhance the body's resistance, so people from 70 to 80 years old to 17 to 18 years old like to drink tea. However, people's understanding of tea mostly stays outside, but they don't know that tea, as a drink that has been circulated for thousands of years, has formed a unique culture inside. In today's eastern countries, especially China and Japan, more and more people are attracted by tea culture, practicing with tea, and improving their inner cultivation and realm in a quiet environment, which is highly similar to the spirit advocated by Buddhism. So today, let's discuss this tea culture that has been passed down for thousands of years. The relationship between tea culture and Buddhism The rise of tea drinking was first discovered among monks in China. The spirit of calmness, introversion and modesty when making tea is highly respected by Buddhists, which can make people better learn and understand Zen thought. It is also under the influence of Zen thought that China Tea Ceremony has a deeper connotation. Therefore, if you want to understand the culture of tea, you need to understand some connections between it and Buddhist culture. Buddhism was introduced into China in the Han Dynasty, and it developed rapidly from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, reaching its peak. At the same time, tea ceremony culture also quietly emerged. Who was the first person who created the tea ceremony in China? In fact, it is known as Lu Yu. He is Cha Sheng of China. His writings and research on tea have laid a foundation for the development of tea culture in China and made great contributions. Lu Yu's own life experience is closely related to Buddhism. Living in a temple since childhood, he was deeply influenced by Buddhist culture, and later became close friends with the famous poet Gao Sangjiao. Therefore, he was more or less influenced by Buddhism in the records of tea culture, and there are also related records of monks drinking tea in his books. Therefore, since Lu Yu initiated the tea ceremony, it has been inextricably linked with Buddhism from the beginning of its formation. The origin of tea and Buddhism began with Lu Yu, so how did Buddhism and tea ceremony have a practical connection later? Anyone who has a relative understanding of China's history and religious culture should know that many clean mountains in ancient China were places where monks practiced. Because mountains are considered to be the quietest and farthest away from the world, monks chose to practice in such places. In the deep mountains, tall trees, misty clouds, abundant sunshine and fertile land are all necessary conditions for tea growth, so monks often cultivate tea gardens near temples. Over time, tea trees have been cultivated by Buddhists, and peaceful monks have enough time to explore and publicize tea culture, so drinking tea slowly has become a part of temple life. Tea is indispensable in the daily life of monks. In temples, tea has three main functions: one is to offer Buddha, the other is to entertain guests, and the third is to drink by oneself. Tea is not only used to worship Buddha, but also the best way to entertain guests. There is also a special teahouse in the temple, where monks discuss Buddhist Zen after worshipping Buddha every day. If donors come here, monks will also entertain guests with tea here, so that they can feel the charm of Zen in the realm of tea ceremony, which shows the importance of drinking tea in temples. Later, the spread of tea also had some great origins with Buddhism. It was the influence of Buddhism that made the tea ceremony in China spread abroad. The first person who came to China from abroad to study China tea culture was Zuicheng. He is a Japanese monk. After a period of study, he fell in love with China Tea Ceremony, and after returning to China, he spread tea planting techniques and culture widely in the local area. Then, a Japanese Zen master named Rongxi came to China to study China's Zen tea theory, wrote a book about the efficacy of tea in China, and brought the tea-making and tea-making technology of the Song Dynasty back to China. All these experiences tell us the close relationship between tea ceremony and Buddhism in China. Tea and Buddha complement each other. Everyone knows that one thing monks do every day is meditation, which takes a long time every day. In the temple, there are very high requirements for meditation, not only to control diet, but also to keep the body straight and impartial at all times. In the long run, they will be exhausted, so they need external factors to enhance their spirit and attention to show their respect for the Buddha. Tea is the best choice, because it can refresh and prevent sleep, and can maintain a state of meditation and concentration after drinking tea, which can help monks better understand the Buddhist way, so drinking tea every day has become an indispensable habit. Tea has played a great role in the daily life of monks, and the contribution of Buddhism to the tea ceremony can not be underestimated. The emergence of tea is the basis of the development of tea ceremony, and the living environment of monks gives tea a good living space. It is the careful cultivation and care of monks that makes tea flourish, so without the care of monks, there would be no such high-quality tea today, not to mention the widespread spread of tea ceremony. In addition, Buddhism has also made a great contribution to the cultural connotation of tea ceremony, because Buddhist monks generally like to write poems and draw pictures, and tea is closely related to their lives, so tea culture is indispensable in their usual cultural activities, and the spread of these cultures has also left an important foundation for future generations to study tea culture. More importantly, the spirit of tea ceremony also comes from the spirit of Buddhism. As mentioned above, the spirit of the tea ceremony is pure, restrained and humble, which monks usually admire, so Buddhist thought has played a vital role in the development of the tea ceremony. In the development of thousands of years, the Zen culture of Buddhism has more and more similarities with the tea ceremony culture of drinking tea. The most famous saying about this phenomenon is "tea Zen blindly". The first person who proposed tea Zen blindly was Jiao Ran monk. Because of his love and research on tea, he became good friends with the famous Cha Sheng. It was through his contact with Lu Yu that he got a deeper understanding of tea culture and gradually formed a deeper way of tea Zen. He believes that the most important reason why tea and Zen can complement each other is because of their consistency in concept. Among the four truths of Buddhism, Buddhism believes that people have the pain of birth and death, the pain of love and hate, and so on. Therefore, the monk's understanding of Zen is to see through the world of mortals and finally realize the Tao, thus freeing himself from suffering. Tea, too, is characterized by bitterness. The bitter taste of tea is also recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica, which talks about the bitter taste of tea and its effect of clearing away heat and toxic materials. People who often taste tea also know that tea is bitter, but you can feel a little sweetness after careful tasting. Therefore, the characteristic of bitter tea with sweetness coincides with the truth of "bitterness" advocated by Buddhism. Drinking tea can help monks remember and enjoy life better. Through the development experience of tea culture, we can see the relationship between tea ceremony and Buddhism. Tea ceremony pays attention to meditation, slowly savoring its true taste, and Buddhism also needs silence. * * * Meditation is the only way to understand Buddhism, so this is also a * * * similarity of tea meditation. In addition, there are many similarities between Buddhism and tea ceremony, which need to be understood slowly. In short, the way of Buddhism is inscrutable, and so is the tea ceremony. If you want to learn tea ceremony better, you need to study the relationship between it and Buddhism more deeply, and learn imperceptibly in the relationship between them. References:

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