It is precisely because the Taoist philosophy of "harmony between man and nature" is integrated into the spirit of the tea ceremony that tea people in China are full of love for nature, and tea people in China have a strong desire to return to nature and get close to it. Therefore, tea people in China can best appreciate the passion of "feeling the earth moving" and the wonderful feeling of "being more conscious of nature".
Respect others
In the tea ceremony in China, the idea of respecting people generally exists in the naming of tea sets and the understanding of tea. Tea people are used to calling cups with trays "three-talent cups". The cup holder is "ground", the cup cover is "sky" and the cup is "person". It means big, big, big, big. If the cup, plate and lid are served together to taste tea, this cup-holding method is called "three talents in one"
Guisheng
Valuing life is the utilitarian thought that Taoism injects into tea ceremony. Under the influence of Taoist thought of attaching importance to life, preserving health and enjoying life, China Tea Ceremony pays special attention to "the power of tea", that is, the function of health care and nourishing emotions.
Taoists don't pay attention to too many rules when tasting tea, but use tea to stimulate internal strength for the purpose of preserving health and paying attention to life. Such as Ma Yu's "Si Long Tea" wrote:
A cup of tea, two cups of tea, don't give your heart to fame and fortune, and never sleep.
Wuwei tea, natural tea, God-given meditation Taoism, sleepless work.
It can be seen that Taoist tea drinking is different from secular people who are keen on fame and fortune. People who covet utility and fame will lose sleep when drinking tea, which shows that their spiritual realm is too poor. Tea, on the other hand, is the nectar and fairy dew given to Taoism by God. Drinking tea will make you more energetic, more aware of the Tao without being sleepy, and increase your skills and behaviors.
Some Taoist experts regard tea tasting as a great pleasure to forget the troubles of the world of mortals and enjoy the spirit of leisure. In this regard, Bai Yuchan, one of the five ancestors of Nanzong, wrote beautifully in the word "Water Regulating and Songtou Singing Tea":
It rained in February and thundered last night. Guns and flags compete for exhibitions, and Jian Xi leads the way in spring. Take branches and tongues, mash them with dew smoke, and refine them into purple and gold piles. Crushing infinite spring, flying green dust.
Draw a new spring, cook a live fire, try the future, put down rabbit hair and taste your tongue back. Wake up Qingzhou, fight back against the sandman by millions, and never dream of a balcony. There is a breeze under my arm and I want to go to Penglai.
Sit down and forget.
"Sit and forget" is a quiet method put forward by Taoism in order to achieve the realm of "extremely empty and quiet" in tea ceremony. Influenced by Laozi's thoughts, China Tea Ceremony regards "tranquility" as one of the "four truths". How to make your mind reach the ethereal realm of "one private, one spotless and one fake" when drinking tea? Taoism also provides a meditation method for tea ceremony, which is called "sitting and forgetting", that is, forgetting yourself. Tea ceremony advocates the communication between man and nature, melts the boundary between things and me, and takes aesthetic photos of "clear mystery" and "clear heart taste", all of which can be realized by "sitting and forgetting"
No ego
Taoism's attitude of being free from famous religion and naturally broad-minded is also the way of life of China Tea Ceremony. Taoist "no self" is the "no self" pursued by tea ceremony. Without me, it is not to destroy yourself physically, but to eliminate the opposition between things and me mentally, so as to conform to nature and accept everything. "No self" is the highest pursuit of artistic conception in China Tea Ceremony. In recent years, tea people on both sides of the Taiwan Province Strait frequently hold international "no-self" tea parties, and Japanese and Korean tea people also actively participate in them, which is a beneficial attempt to the realm of "no-self".
Taoism is natural.
China Tea Ceremony emphasizes "Taoism is natural", which includes three levels: material, behavior and spirit.
Materially, China Tea Ceremony holds that "tea is the best wood in the south". It is a "precious wood bud" given by nature. Planting, picking and making tea must conform to the laws of nature in order to produce good tea. In behavior, China Tea Ceremony pays attention to the beauty of nature, which is simple and unpretentious. When moving, it flows like a rock, quiet. Laugh like spring flowers, talk like mountain springs. Raise your hand and smile, all from nature, free your mind, and never be artificial. Spiritually, Taoism is natural, returning to nature, which is manifested in completely liberating one's sexual experience, making one's mind quiet, indifferent, lonely and inaction, making one's mind filled with tea fragrance, as if it were integrated with the universe and sublimated to the realm of "no self".
key element
China Tea Ceremony, as far as its constituent elements are concerned, has four elements: environment, etiquette, tea art and practice.
(1) environment
Tea ceremony is a tea tasting activity under certain circumstances. Tea ceremony pays special attention to the choice and construction of environment, aiming at cultivating and purifying people's hearts through the environment, so it needs an environment that meets the requirements of tea ceremony activities. The environment of tea ceremony activities is not random or random, but carefully chosen or created. There are three tea ceremony environments. One is the natural environment, such as under pine trees, beside springs and on rocks in forests. The second is the artificial environment, such as temples, pavilions, waterside pavilions, study rooms, living rooms, etc. The third is the special environment, that is, the teahouse specially used for tea ceremony activities. Tea room includes outdoor environment and indoor environment. Outdoor environment refers to the teahouse courtyard, where evergreen plants and flowers such as pine, bamboo and bamboo are often planted. Oil paintings, flower arrangements, bonsai and antiques are often hung in the indoor environment, and the study is clearly provided. In particular, hanging pictures and arranging flowers are essential. In short, the environment of tea ceremony should be elegant and quiet, so that people can enter this environment, forget the secular world, wash away the dust and cultivate morality.
(2) Etiquette
Tea ceremony activities should be carried out according to certain etiquette, etiquette is politeness, etiquette is etiquette, and law is norms and rules. "Fuzhen delicious, bowl number three, followed by bowl number. If the number of guests is five, three bowls will be provided. Seven or five bowls. Less than six people, you don't have to wait for the number of bowls, and one less person is just a meaningful supplement. " (Lu Yu's "Tea Classic" and "Five Cooks") This is the rule of drinking tea in the tea ceremony in the Tang Dynasty.
The boy held the gift in front of him, and God began to give the guests a gift for the day: to clear up the misunderstanding for you. The guest picked it up, raised his hand and said, Otherwise, it's not enough to break the loneliness. Is to sit again. After drinking, the boy took Ou and retired. Long words, heavy ceremony. "(Preface to Zhu Quan's" Tea Spectrum ") This is the etiquette of the end, reception, drinking and narration between the host and guest of the tea ceremony in the Song and Ming Dynasties, which is quite cautious. Etiquette is the established norm of behavior, manners, language and actions, showing friendship and respect. The ceremony of tea ceremony includes etiquette, courtesy and politeness between host and guest, and between guests.
The law of tea ceremony is a series of norms and protocols in the whole process of tea ceremony, involving some regulations between people, people and things, things and things, such as position, order, action, language, posture, gfd and so on.
Tea ceremony etiquette has its ups and downs with the changes of the times. In different tea ceremony schools, etiquette is different, but some basic etiquette contents are relatively fixed.
(3) Tea art
Tea art is the art of drinking tea. Tea art has five links: preparing utensils, selecting water, making fire, waiting for soup and learning tea. First, it is divided into tea science method. Ancient and modern tea art can be divided into frying tea, ordering tea and making tea. Secondly, according to the main tea sets, tea making can be divided into pot tea, kungfu tea, cup tea and kungfu tea. Again, according to the tea used. Kung Fu Tea can be divided into Wuyi Kung Fu Tea, Wuyi variant Kung Fu Tea, Taiwan Province Kung Fu Tea and Taiwan Province variant Kung Fu Tea according to its birthplace.
Tea art is the foundation and carrier of tea ceremony, and it is a necessary condition for tea ceremony. Tea ceremony is inseparable from tea ceremony, which depends on tea ceremony. Without tea ceremony, there is no tea ceremony. The connotation of tea art is less than that of tea ceremony, but the extension of tea art is greater than that of tea ceremony. Tea art can exist independently of tea ceremony, and as an art, it can also be performed on the stage. So it is ok to perform tea ceremony or tea ceremony performance, but it is not appropriate to say tea ceremony performance or tea ceremony performance. Because the tea ceremony is for people to practice, not for others to see, it is tea instead of tea.
(4) Practice
Practice is the basis and purpose of tea ceremony. Tea people enjoy themselves, cultivate their sentiments, cultivate their hearts and realize the Tao through tea activities. The practice of China Tea Ceremony is "double cultivation", that is, cultivation of mind, life and body and mind. Self-cultivation, also known as health preservation, lies in getting rid of diseases, strengthening the body and prolonging life; Self-cultivation is based on ambition, morality, happiness and enlightenment. The double cultivation of life is finally implemented to the end.
The ideal of China Tea Ceremony is health, pleasure, cultivation and enlightenment. It is the result of monasticism, the ideal of tea ceremony, the ultimate pursuit of tea people and the highest realm of life. The purpose of tea ceremony is to practice, the environment is good, the etiquette is good, and the tea art is good, all for one purpose-practice, service practice. Practice is to improve the quality and realm of each participant and shape a perfect personality.
Tea ceremony is an art of drinking tea for the purpose of cultivating monasticism, which includes four elements: tea ceremony, etiquette, environment and practice. Tea art is the foundation and necessary condition of tea ceremony, which can exist independently of tea ceremony. Tea ceremony is based on tea art and depends on it. Tea art focuses on "art", and learning tea art is to gain aesthetic enjoyment; The focus of tea ceremony is Tao, which aims to cultivate the mind and realize the road through tea ceremony. The connotation of tea ceremony is less than that of tea ceremony, which contains tea ceremony, and its extension is greater than that of tea ceremony, which is between tea ceremony and tea culture.
The connotation of tea ceremony is greater than that of tea ceremony, and the extension of tea ceremony is greater than that of tea ceremony. The' art' we say here refers to the art of making tea, making tea and tasting tea; The' Tao' we are talking about here refers to the spirit implemented in the process of art tea. Tao without art is an empty theory; Art has no way, art has no essence and no spirit. Tea art, named but tangible, is the external expression of tea culture; Tea ceremony is spirit, truth, law, origin and essence. It is often invisible and intangible, but you can fully understand it through your heart. The combination of tea art and tea ceremony is the result of a high degree of unity of matter and spirit. The connotation and extension of tea ceremony and tea ceremony are different, which should be strictly distinguished and not confused.
The highest state of drinking tea, tasting tea and tea art-tea ceremony
Drink tea: use tea as a drink to quench your thirst.
Tea tasting: pay attention to the color and fragrance of tea leaves, pay attention to the quality of tea sets, and savor them carefully when drinking.
Tea art: Pay attention to environment, atmosphere, music, brewing skills and interpersonal relationships.
The highest state-tea ceremony: integrating philosophy, ethics and morality into tea activities, cultivating self-cultivation, tasting life and achieving spiritual enjoyment through tea tasting.