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Tea ceremony in China
Tea ceremony history

Drinking tea can calm the nerves, help to cultivate sentiment and eliminate distractions, which conforms to the oriental philosophy of advocating "quietness" and the "introspection and practice" thoughts of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. "Tea ceremony" is a kind of life etiquette with tea as the theme, and it is also a way of self-cultivation. It cultivates the body and mind by making tea, tasting tea and tasting tea.

Tea ceremony originated in China. At least before or during the Tang Dynasty, people in China first regarded tea as a way to cultivate one's morality. In the "Feng Ji" in the Tang Dynasty, there is such a record: "The tea ceremony is so prosperous that all princes and ministers drink it." This is the earliest record of tea ceremony in existing literature. At that time, tea banquet was a very popular social activity in society. Tang Lvwen vividly described the elegant atmosphere of the tea banquet and the wonderful charm of tea tasting in the preface to the tea banquet on March 3. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, people were very particular about the environment, etiquette and operation of drinking tea, and there were some established rules and ceremonies. Tea banquets are divided into palace tea banquets, temple tea banquets and literati tea banquets.

Song Huizong Evonne is a tea lover. He thinks that the fragrant taste of tea can make people carefree, quiet and interesting: "If tea is a thing, it is good at the delicious taste of the people, the spirit of Zhongshan, the spirit of Sichuan, and the clarity and harmony, it is not known to young people." The lotus is carefree and clean, and the rhyme is high and quiet ... "

The Song Dynasty initiated the "Tea Fight", which first appeared among literati in the form of entertainment. The teahouse of the Tea Party is usually a two-story building, which was called "Tea Pavilion" at that time. The guests wait in the living room downstairs until the owner of the tea kiosk invites them, and then go to Taige on the second floor for tea. "Taige" has windows on all sides, overlooking the outdoor scenery. Famous paintings are hung on the indoor screen, and the table in front of the screen is covered with brocade with incense burners, vases and candlesticks. There are a pair of decorative cabinets in the west wing room, which are filled with luxurious prizes, and the winners can become the owners of the prizes.

"Fighting tea" adopts the method of "four kinds and ten clothes". Each contestant drinks ten servings of four kinds of matcha, and then tells the "origin" and "water quality" of the tea, and decides the winner according to the score. The "origin" of tea refers to local tea and non-local tea, and "water quality" refers to the water quality used in tea making, that is, water source.

"Tuancha", which was popular in Nara era, heian period and Japan, was a kind of tea used by literati in the Tang Dynasty. The method of making "Tuancha" is not difficult, as long as the tea leaves are dried, pounded into powder with a tea mortar, kneaded into balls with a little water, dried and stored for later use.

In the middle period of Heian (the end of the ninth century), Japan abolished its diplomatic envoys in Tang Dynasty, and "group tea" gradually disappeared and was replaced by "matcha" which prevailed in Song Dynasty.

The method of making "matcha" is to pound refined tea leaves into powder with a mortar, put water into the tea powder when drinking, and mix it evenly with a tea basket (bamboo brush) for drinking, which is nutritious and delicious.

In the second year of Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1 19 1), Japanese monk Rong brought tea varieties back to Japan for the first time. Since then, Japan began to grow tea all over the world, and wrote a book "Drinking Tea for Health", which strongly advocated that drinking tea can prolong life and promoted the popularization of "matcha". At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 1259), Zen Master Zhaoming from Nanpu, Japan, came to Jingshan Temple in Yuhang County, Zhejiang Province, China, where he studied tea ceremony, introduced China's tea ceremony to Japan for the first time, and became the earliest disseminator of China's tea ceremony in Japan. Japan's "Research on Famous Objects" clearly records this: "Since the tea ceremony, Nanpu Zhaoming, the first mountain of Chongfu Temple built by Zheng Yuan, was introduced from Song Dynasty." Japan's "Biography of the Monks in Korea" also describes: "Nanpu Zhaoming returned from the Song Dynasty and brought tea tables and tea props to Chongfu Temple."

From the Southern and Northern Dynasties (1336) to the mid-Muromachi period (1mid-5th century), the method of "fighting tea" and tea kiosks almost completely imitated China. However, after the mid-Muromachi period, Chinese tea kiosks were abolished and used as clubs to hold songs and concerts. The taste of "fighting tea" has gradually become Japanese, and people no longer pay attention to luxury, but pay more attention to elegant taste.

Thus, the aristocratic tea ware and the popular way of tea tasting appeared. Zhuguang formulated the first tea tasting method, so he was called "the ancestor of tea tasting" by later generations. Zhuguang changed tea tasting from entertainment to tea ceremony.

Zhu Guangliu's tea ceremony has gone through several generations. During the Japanese Toyotomi Hideyoshi era (A.D. 1536 ~ 1598, which was equivalent to the middle and late Ming Dynasty in China), a tea ceremony master, Sen unreasonable and Sen unreasonable, founded Li Xiuliu's grass temple wind tea method, which was popular all over the world for a while and pushed the development of tea ceremony to the peak. Mori no Rikyū is known as "the first person in the world's tea ceremony" and holds high the "tea ceremony". Senoriki's popularity among the people threatens the authority of those in power. The foul-mouthed General Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued a decree on the status of scholars, farmers and businessmen, and ordered Sen Noriky to commit suicide by caesarean section on trumped-up charges.

After Morino's death, his successor took over his mantle, and there appeared thousands of schools, such as "expressing thousands of schools", "thousands of schools among thousands of schools" and "thousands of schools in the way of samurai".

All schools of tea ceremony basically adopt matcha method, but as early as the Edo period (1the end of the 6th century), the upsurge of tea frying method initiated by China in the Ming Dynasty started among scholars. The tea frying method does not require much for tea. Simply dry ordinary tea leaves, then steam them, rub them open by hand, put them in a teapot and brew them with boiling water, and then pour them into a tea bowl for drinking. In fact, people called this method "making tea" at that time, but the real method of "frying tea" was different. Pour boiling water into the tea bowl first, and then put the tea in it to drink. Modern people collectively call it fried tea. Because frying tea is convenient and not limited by the venue, it is widely used in modern families. Of course, the traditional matcha method is still the main method in formal tea parties or reception of important people.

The tea ceremony in China is hundreds or even thousands of years earlier than that in Japan. China's tea ceremony can be said that the spirit is greater than the form, and it has different forms of expression in different historical stages. All kinds of teas are different and full of flowers, but they all embody the spirit of "purity, elegance and truthfulness".

What is the tea ceremony?

Mr. Wu Juenong believes that the tea ceremony means "taking tea as a precious and noble drink, because tea is a kind of spiritual enjoyment, an art and a means of self-cultivation."

Mr. Zhuang Wanfang believes that tea ceremony is a ceremony to educate people on etiquette and morality through drinking tea. Mr. Zhuang Wanfang also summarized the basic spirit of China Tea Ceremony as "sincerity, beauty, harmony and respect". He explained: "Honesty, frugality, virtue, beauty, honesty, sincerity and respect for others."

Mr. Chen believes that China tea ceremony includes seven principles: tea ceremony, cha de, tea ceremony, tea theory, tea sentiment, tea theory and tea ceremony guidance, and the core of China tea ceremony spirit is harmony. China Tea Ceremony is a way to guide individuals to complete character cultivation in the process of enjoying beauty through tea being a process, so as to realize the harmony and happiness of all mankind. Mr. Chen's moral tea ceremony theory can be abbreviated as "seven arts and one heart".

Mr. Zhou Zuoren said it casually. His understanding of tea ceremony is: "The meaning of tea ceremony, in ordinary words, can be called taking a vacation from work, enjoying happiness in suffering, enjoying a little beauty and harmony in incomplete reality, and experiencing forever in an instant."

Taiwan Province scholar Mr. Liu said: "The so-called tea ceremony refers to the method and artistic conception of tea tasting."

1977, in the book Tea Ceremony Aesthetics, Mr. Tanikawa Sanji defined the tea ceremony as an art performed through body movements. It includes four factors: artistic factors, social factors, etiquette factors and practical factors.

Mr Kumatsu Machi, on the other hand, thinks that tea ceremony culture is a comprehensive cultural system with tea as an opportunity, which is comprehensive, unified and inclusive. It includes art, morality, philosophy, religion and culture, and its core is Zen.

Mr. Xiong Cang Kung Fu proposed from a historical perspective that tea ceremony is an indoor art function. Art can make people-oriented culture a unique art group, and through the cultivation of human body, it can achieve the purpose of cultivating sentiment and perfecting personality.

On the other hand, Mr. Yukiyama Kurazawa of the Institute of Humanities Tea and Soup Culture believes that the profound philosophy of the Eleventh Tea Ceremony is the ideological background, and the comprehensive life culture is the essence of oriental culture. He also believes that "Tao is the road to life, tea ceremony is the road to heart, and the road from heart to tea."

Drinking tea, tasting tea, tea art and the highest realm-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.

China Tea Ceremony Spirit

The basic spirit of tea art adopted by the second general meeting of Taiwan Province Chinese Tea Art Association is "purity, respect, elegance and truth", and its interpretation is as follows:

"Qing"

That is, lead an honest and clean life. The true meaning of "tea art" is not only the cleanliness of things, but also the tranquility, serenity, honesty and shame-awareness. In the realm of silence, only by drinking pure tea soup can we appreciate the mystery of "drinking tea". English is like purity and tranquility.

"respect"

The foundation of respecting everything is invincible. Respect means respecting others and being careful with yourself. Zhu said that "the host is at a loss", that is, the attitude of showing respect should be sincere, manifested in the appearance of sincerity, ignoring hypocrisy and treating each other as guests. No matter what the host and guest do, they all have the mood of "respecting peace", and they are not vulgar, and all troubles are caused by.

"Yi"

It is said that "Yi Zhe and Paddle" were annotated in Wen Xiezi. It can be seen that the meaning of the word "one" is very extensive. The meaning of harmony lies in form and method, and the meaning of pleasing oars lies in spirit and emotion. Drinking tea is bitter and sweet, which stimulates the interest of life and cultivates a broad mind and broad vision. The spirit that makes the disputes between me and others disappear in form and pleasure lies in not being pretentious, being temperate and cultivating humility.

"Truth"

Truth of truth, truth of true knowledge and supreme goodness are the totality of the combination of truth and true knowledge. The state of supreme goodness is to preserve nature, get rid of material desires, not be lured by interests, learn from others and strive for perfection. In other words, seek the sincerity of everything in a scientific way. The essence of drinking tea is to inspire wisdom and conscience, so that everyone can be indifferent to Zhi Ming, be thrifty and achieve the realm of truth, goodness and beauty in daily life. English can be expressed by truth.

Other statements:

Scholars in Chinese mainland have different understandings of the basic spirit of tea ceremony. Professor Zhuang Wanfang put forward "sincerity, beauty, harmony and respect". Zhuang Lao explained: "Honesty and frugality cultivate morality, beauty and happiness, live and work in peace and contentment, and love others as yourself."

Mr. Lin Zhi, a tea drinker in Wuyishan, thinks that "harmony, quietness, elegance and truth" should be the four truths of China tea ceremony. Because "harmony" is the core of China's tea ceremony philosophy and the soul of tea ceremony. "Quiet" is China's method of practicing tea ceremony. "Yi" is the spiritual feeling of China's tea ceremony practice. Truth is the ultimate pursuit of China Tea Ceremony.

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