What is the realm of drinking tea? Different people have different opinions. It is recognized that there are seven realms in the poem Seven Bowls of Tea Songs written by Lu Tong, the author of Tea Spectrum in Tang Dynasty and honored as "tea fairy" by the world. The poem reads: "A bowl of throat kisses moistens; Two bowls of broken loneliness; Three bowls of poor search, only five thousand volumes of words; Four bowls of light sweat, uneven life, all pores scattered; Five bowls of bones and muscles are distinct; Six bowls of fairy spirits; I can't eat seven bowls, but I feel the wind blowing under my arm. Penglai Mountain, where is it? Yuchuanzi wants to take this breeze to go home. " Later generations refined it into seven realms of drinking tea, namely: first, moistening the throat; second, breaking loneliness; third, searching the poor heart; fourth, sweating lightly; fifth, clearing the bones and muscles; sixth, enlightening the immortal spirit; and seventh, the birth of a cool breeze. These seven realms were later introduced to Japan and became the essence of Japanese tea ceremony.

The seven realms of drinking tea are from low to high, from the physical level to the spiritual level, and finally the emergence of harmony between man and nature and immortality-not everyone can experience it once drinking tea. However, there was a man in the Song Dynasty who really experienced all the seven realms in the process of drinking tea. He was a famous calligrapher and poet in the Southern Song Dynasty.

Chen Shu (1134 ——1216), a famous calligrapher and poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, was a magistrate in Guizhou, an imperial envoy in central Yunnan, an arranger in Jiangxi and an assistant minister of the Ministry of War. In the Qing Dynasty, Liu Yulin wrote "Stone Carvings in Western Guangdong": "(Chen Shu) Ning Yuan knew Guizhou at the beginning." Consciousness is "in the early years of Ningzong in the Southern Song Dynasty, Chen Shu was appointed as the supreme leader of Guizhou (now Guigang)". It was during his tenure in Guigang that Chen Shu experienced the seven realms of a cup of tea in Nanshan.

Nanshan is a hill about 4 kilometers south of Guigang. It is famous for the Millennium Nanshan Temple built in the cave. Therefore, there are more than 100 cliff stone carvings of dignitaries and celebrities in the past dynasties on the mountain. One of them was left by Chen Shu after drinking tea.

This stone is carved on the stone wall of the Arctic Cave in the Mid-levels of Nanshan Mountain, two feet square, with the words "Chen, Cai Yuanfa, Chen, Gao Bohe, Qingyuan, Zhongchun and Ugly, urging farmers to work and sip tea in the North Cave". At first glance, this sentence is similar to "a visit here", except that there are nine more words "to persuade Geng Bei Dong to sip tea". However, it is these few nine words that tell the seven realms of drinking tea.

During his tenure as a well-known official in Guizhou, Chen Shu once served as the imperial ambassador to persuade agriculture (an official in charge of agriculture). Cai Yuanfa, Chen and Gao Bohe didn't find this person, so they should be your subordinates. "Qingyuan" is the year number of Song Ningzong, "Chen Bing (Year)" is 1 196, "Midspring" is February of the lunar calendar, and "E Yuan" is the date. "Persuade agriculture" means that officials in charge of agriculture visit the countryside to urge agricultural production during the busy farming season in spring and summer. "sipping tea" means drinking tea. The "North Cave" is the Arctic Cave, also known as Gexian Cave. According to legend, Ge Hong, a Taoist fairy, was an alchemist here before he attained the Tao. There are Gexianyan, an alchemist furnace, Xianjing in the mountain outside the cave and other relics.

This stone inscription is translated into modern vernacular, which means "1 196. On the second ugly day of the second month of the lunar calendar, Cai Yuanfa, Chen, Gao Bohe and others and their entourage went to the countryside near Nanshan to inspect and supervise agricultural production. After work, they went to the Arctic Cave where Ge Hong made an alchemist and cultivated immortals (by the way). Let's imagine the scene at that time: on a beautiful spring afternoon, Nanshan was on the mountain. This tea is delicious! Let's analyze the seven realms that Chen Shu experienced in the process of drinking tea.

First, the throat is moist. Going to the countryside to check the work in the fields, of course, has to walk a lot, and then climb the mountain. As a civil servant, Chen Shu must be very tired. A cup of green tea goes down your throat. Is it humid?

The second is to break loneliness. Guigang is located in the south of Xinjiang, and its economy and society were still relatively backward during the Song Dynasty. Chen Shu was arranged to be an official in a remote place far away from the prosperous area of the Central Plains, and he seldom entertained at ordinary times. He must be very depressed. It's rare to have a rest today. A group of people drank tea and relaxed in this beautiful scenery, and their loneliness naturally faded.

Third, search the heart. There are two understandings of "searching for the poor". One is to drink tea on an empty stomach and scrape the intestines; The second is that after drinking tea, poetry is ready to move. Chen Shu led a team to the countryside, and after walking so many roads, he should be hungry. Drinking tea at this time can quench your thirst, but it will definitely scrape your intestines. In addition, Chen Shu himself is a poet, which is of course full of literary thoughts. But I don't know why he didn't leave poems and stone carvings in the Arctic Cave at that time. He only wrote two regular script characters "Nanshan" on the stone wall in the Nanshan Temple Cave, each one meter square, which is the largest font among the existing cliff stone carvings in Nanshan.

Fourth, light sweat. Honest and clean, a character of Chen Shu, has experienced ups and downs in officialdom, and now he has been sent to this "bird does not shit" place. Today, many people will feel very wronged. However, today, Chen Shu drank several cups of beautiful tea in the North Pole Cave in Nanshan, broke out in a smelly sweat, talked a lot and complained. Hmm! I feel much better!

Fifth, the bones and muscles are clear. After a few cups of hot tea, the intestines will be scraped clean; After a short rest, my physical strength recovered and my mood became better. Chen Shu is naturally relaxed and as light as a swallow.

Sixth, pass the fairy spirit. Drinking tea is the same as drinking, and drinking on an empty stomach is easy to intoxicate. When people are refreshed, there will probably be a feeling of harmony between man and nature. It is estimated that Chen Shu was drinking tea at that time. The more tea he drank, the better his mood, and he was drunk before he knew it. At this time, it is natural for him to "get through a spirit".

Seventh, the breeze is born. Tea is slightly drunk, fairy-like, condescending, harmony between man and nature, and ecstasy. At that time, thanks to someone around Chen Shu, otherwise he might really "fly out" of the mouth of the Arctic cave. There is a similar scene in the old movie Hunting starring Japanese Gao Cangjian.