Tea culture in China has been closely related to Buddhism since its birth. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, monks not only drank tea, but also planted and harvested tea trees. Monks like drinking tea for many reasons. One of them is that in the practice of meditation, it has the effect of refreshing the mind, which can prevent the occurrence of "drowsiness" and "falling off" during meditation. In addition, because Buddhism has the idea that Zen is everywhere and Buddhism is inseparable from the present, many eminent monks often talk about the Zen spirit with tea as the "moon finger", which leads to many cultural intersections between tea tasting and Buddhist spirit, such as "going to eat tea" and "blindly Zen tea". This makes the act of drinking tea a cultural activity. Tea, originally just a drink, has gradually become a cultural carrier with oriental characteristics.
Tea drinking in temples is not only for quenching thirst, but has been sublimated into people's pursuit of a certain spiritual realm. Drinking tea can make us relaxed, quiet, comfortable and happy, get rid of worldly distractions and make us feel safe physically and mentally. So is the so-called "quenching thirst by drinking poison". Buddhism is also to purify the mortal world of the soul, so as to achieve the purpose of understanding nature and freeing life and death. Therefore, in terms of this goal alone, Buddhism and tea have a certain spiritual fit. Therefore, it is natural that monks like to drink tea since ancient times.
According to the Book of Tea, in the Jin Dynasty, monks used tea worship as the etiquette for hospitality in the temple. In the Tang Dynasty, with the prevalence of Zen Buddhism, the Buddhist fashion of loving and worshiping tea became more popular. Temple tea ceremony includes offering three treasures and entertaining pilgrims. After Baizhang Huaihai, a monk in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, founded Baizhang Qinggui, the tea ceremony in the temple tended to be standardized. In a quiet and quaint meditation hall, tea is used to worship Buddha, purify the soul and entertain guests. The so-called "burning incense leads to a quiet step, and tea is a net feast." In the biographies and quotations of Zen monks in the Tang Dynasty, such as Five Lights Meeting Yuan, there are many records about tea, mostly taking tea as a question and answer, with a clear mind. It can be seen that the role of tea in the life of monks has deepened. Due to the high social and cultural status of monks in the cultural class at that time, some literati, cultural celebrities and even officials and businessmen were proud of making excellent monks. Imitating the life style of monks in temples is considered to be a very elegant and noble symbol. Monks often entertain guests and give gifts with their own tea, which drives China people to drink tea.
In the south of China, almost every temple has its own tea garden, and monks in many temples are good at collecting and drinking. As the saying goes, "famous mountains and famous temples have famous teas", famous mountains and famous teas complement each other, and famous Buddhist temples produce more famous teas. There are also many temples with deep tea culture.
Wannian Temple in Tiantai Mountain, the birthplace of Japanese medicinal tea, is located at the foot of Wannian Mountain in Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province. It originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and was founded in the Tang Dynasty. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was listed as "Five Mountains and Ten Temples", which was very popular. Song Xiaozong asked, "Where is the best temple in the world?" Song Zhiduan, a bachelor, replied, "Peace and happiness will last forever." It can be seen that Wannian Temple is extraordinary. According to the map of temples drawn by Japanese monks, there are more than 40 halls and rooms. There is a hexagonal pagoda in front of the temple and a release pond built in the early Song Dynasty. After the rise and fall, during the Qianlong and Jiaqing years of the Qing Dynasty, 500 people shaved once.
Wannian Temple occupies an important position in the history of tea culture communication between China and foreign countries. Japanese monks Rong and Daoyuan came here to learn from their teachers. It is particularly worth mentioning that Master Rong Xi (11-1215) came to China twice. Rong first came to China for four years in Dadao (1 168), and studied at Ayuwang Temple in Tiantong Temple and Wannian Temple in Tiantai Mountain in Mingzhou (now Ningbo) until he returned to China in 1 1.
After Rong returned to China, he not only studied Buddhist classics, but also brought back the tea-drinking atmosphere of the Song Dynasty. He studied the function of tea with great interest and planted tea seeds brought back from Tiantai Mountain and Siming Mountain in Japan. Then, according to the tea drinking method of temples in China, the tea drinking ceremony of temples is formulated. In his book "Eating Tea for Health" written in his later years, he said that tea is "expensive, and it is good for the next generation." Every milkshake is a medicine for all diseases, and tea is a medicine for all diseases. "Tea is also known as' a godsend' and' the source of holy medicine'. Therefore, tea spread rapidly in Japan.
Yuquan temple, dangyang yuquan temple, the hometown of famous tea in poetry, is known as the "Three Chu Famous Mountains" because of its rugged rocks, famous springs in Quxi, lush green flowers in four seasons and beautiful scenery. The tea produced in the mountains is famous in appearance, silvery in color, elegant in fragrance, slightly green and bright in soup, fragrant in teeth and cheeks, and endless in aftertaste. Yuquan temple, located at the eastern foot of Xiyuquan Mountain in dangyang city, Hubei Province, is one of the "Four Jungles" in China, which was founded in the reign of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (58 1 ~ 600). Master Wise Man, the founder of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, once wrote three famous Tiantai Sect here. Legend has it that Guan Yu and Guan Yunchang converted to Buddhism. The pearl spring water in front of the temple is sweet and clear, and the tea in Yuquan Mountain is especially delicious.
Li Bai, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Answering a nephew and a monk giving Yuquan cactus tea", which is about this kind of tea. This is the first poem in the history of tea culture development in China. His poem goes like this: "Preface of tea given to Yuquan cactus by Ansai nephew Zhong Fu" I heard that yuquan temple in Jingzhou is near Qingxi Mountain, and there are often milk holes in the cave. There are many Yuquan communication in the cave, including a white bat as big as a crow (a duck). According to the fairy tale bat, a fairy tale mouse. After chitose, the body is as white as snow, and the residence is upside down. Drinking milk will live forever. There are tea and grass everywhere by the water, and the branches and leaves are like jasper. However, Yuquan Gong Zheng often picks and drinks it. Over eighty years old, the color is like peaches and plums. Besides, this tea is delicious and unique. So you can save children and save lives. When I traveled to Jinling, I saw my nephew's position was Zhongfu, displaying dozens of teas. The fists overlap and are shaped like hands. It is called cactus tea. Cover your heart and cross Yuquan Mountain, and you will be surprised at the end of the ancient times. Because he persisted, he gave a poem and wanted to answer it, so he made this work. After the monk died, he knew that cactus tea originated from Zhongfu Zen and Qinglian lay plum.
I have often heard of Yuquan Mountain, and there are many caves with milk caves. The fairy mouse is as white as a crow, hanging upside down on the Qingxi moon. In the middle of this stone, Yuquan keeps flowing. Genk spilled Jin Fang to moisten his bones and muscles. Clusters are always rolling green leaves, and the branches are connected. Exposed to cactus, it seems to be patting the cliff shoulder. If the world has not seen it, its name will be passed down. Zong Ying is a Zen master. He gave a good article. There is no salt in the mirror. You are ashamed of Xi Yanzi. Sitting in the morning, I have fun, I sing and broadcast heaven.
Zhongfu mentioned by the poet is Li Bai's nephew and a monk in yuquan temple. He is proficient in Buddhism, good at writing lyrics, and especially likes to taste tea. Therefore, every year around Tomb-Sweeping Day, Little Shami always picks fresh buds of tea trees outside the milk cave on the left side of the temple, makes cactus tea and worships pilgrims in the past. After Guanzhong traveled to qixia temple, Jinling (now Nanjing), he met his uncle Li Baishi and offered cactus tea. Li Bai couldn't put it down and wrote it happily, so it became this famous article about singing tea. This kind of psychology is clearly written by Li Bai in the preface of the poem.
Fufeng Famen Temple, the witness of ancient tea culture, is located in Famen Town, Fufeng County, Shaanxi Province. By preserving the relics, it has become the ancestral home of Buddhism in the world today. According to Buddhist scriptures and related data, Famen Temple was founded in the Eastern Han Dynasty, formerly known as Asoka Temple, renamed Famen Temple in the Tang Dynasty, and later became a famous royal Buddhist temple. The 13th-grade "attic-style" brick tower next to it was built in the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. After 357 years of wind and rain, it collapsed in 198 1 due to rainwater infiltration. 1987, when the brick tower was rebuilt and the tower foundation was cleaned, the underground palace of the Tang Dynasty was discovered, thus reappearing 1 100 years ago, the treasure of the Tang royal family-the Buddha's finger relic.
Among thousands of offerings, there is a gold and silver tea set used by the royal family in the Tang Dynasty, which is the highest grade tea set in the world at present. They are all royal treasures.
"Property Account Monument" contains: "Tea trough, roller, tea roller and spoon are a pair of seven objects * * * 820". Besides, according to the inscriptions on the tea seeds, rollers and shafts, these items were made in Xian Tong nine to two years ago. At the same time, in Yinze, Changshou and Zaluozi, there are also the words "five elder brothers", which were hard-engraved after the engraving. "Five Elder Brothers" is another name for Nuo Buddha in Tang Palace, indicating that this object is dedicated to Nuo Buddha. In addition, there is a three-legged silver salt table and cage dedicated to Tang Xizong, and a small salt table dedicated to the wise wheel mage. In addition to gold and silver tea sets, glazed tea sets and secret porcelain tea sets were unearthed this time. In addition, there are silk, tooth cleaning cloth, soap folding towels and so on. This is also necessary for the tea ceremony.
These unearthed tea sets are favorable evidence of the prevalence of tea drinking in the Tang Dynasty, and also the concentrated expression of tea drinking culture in the Tang Dynasty.
Kokuseiji, a Japanese and Korean tea variety, was founded in the 18th year of Emperor Kai of Sui Dynasty (598). It is located at the southern foot of Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang Province. Surrounded by five peaks, the ancient trees are towering, and Galand is towering. It is the birthplace of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism in China and the ancestral home of Tiantai Sect of Buddhism in Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Together with Lingyan Temple in Changqing, qixia temple in Nanjing, and dangyang yuquan temple in Hubei, it is also called "the four best in the world". This is also the place where Jigong Living Buddha was born. The introduction of Tiantai Sect into Japan is closely related to Japan's "sending envoys to the Tang Dynasty". In Tang Shunzong Yongzhen Yuannian (804), a Japanese monk Zuicheng took his disciple Yizhen to the coast of Mingzhou (Ningbo) in the Tang Dynasty, and went straight to Tiantai Mountain Congress Temple to study Buddhism through Taizhou. Returning to China the following year, I brought back Tiantai Sect classics and other Buddhist classics, as well as tea seeds. After that, Yanqing Temple was designed and built in Japan according to the style of Tiantai National Temple, and tea trees were planted in Lushan Mountain near Jiang Tai, which was the beginning of tea planting in Japan.
Sino-Korean Buddhist friendly exchanges have a long history. As early as the Southern Dynasties, Yuanguang, a high priest in Silla, was obedient to the wise Buddhist mage in Tiantai Mountain. With the friendly exchange of Buddhism in Tiantai Mountain, the wind of drinking tea soon entered the Korean peninsula and spread from Buddhist temples to the people. After12nd century, King Dexing of Silla sent envoys to China from the Tang Dynasty. In fact, Tang Wenzong gave tea seeds, and North Korea began to grow tea. Since then, the wind of drinking tea has spread rapidly among the people.
Generally speaking, Keizo Obuchi played an important role in the process of spreading China tea to the East, especially in the process of drinking and growing tea in Japan and South Korea.
Jingshan Temple, an important source of Japanese tea ceremony, is not only famous for Jingshan tea banquet, but also as an important birthplace of Japanese Zen, which has a far-reaching influence on the development of Japanese Zen.
The Zen Saint School started the mountain to debate Yuan Yuan, the Buddha Light School started the mountain without learning from the ancestors, the Zongjue School started the mountain, and Wu 'an Puning was a disciple. Zuyuan's Buddhism school had a great influence in Kamakura and Muromachi. His disciple, Weng Yuanhao, also entered the Song Dynasty in the first year of Duanping in Song Lizong (1234) and went to Jingshan to meditate with a Zen master. In the Hugh school, we initiated mindfulness; In Jingshan Temple, we sent a mountain pioneer who lived in Shao Ming to Xutang to learn from Buddhism in manjuji.
Dajue School initiated Lanxi Daolong once went to Jingshan to ask teachers who were not allowed to teach. Daoyuan, the ancestor of Cao Dong's relatives, went to Jingshan to ask Wengru, the ancestor of Japanese Zen Buddhism, Rongxi, the founder of Qianguang School, and the founder of Deng Fa School, all of them did not feel at Jingshan. In the year of Song Lizong Kai Qing Yuan (1259), Shao Ming, a Japanese monk from Nanpu, came to Jingshan Temple to learn Buddhist scriptures, and worshipped Xutang, a monk from Jingshan Temple. After returning home, I brought the banquet ceremony of Jingshan tea and the tea bowls popular in Jingshan Temple in Song Dynasty back to Japan. On this basis, combined with Japan's national conditions, Japan quickly formed and developed a Japanese tea ceremony that can be discussed by tea. At the same time, the tea bowl brought from Jingshan Temple in Tianmu Mountain is called "Tianmu Tea Bowl", which is used for Japanese tea ceremony. Up to now, the Tianmu Tea Bowl brought from China can still be seen in the performance of Japanese tea ceremony.
While introducing chinese zen to Japan, Buddhist monks in China and Japan also introduced the tea ceremony in China Temple, especially the tea fighting, tea ordering, tea parties and tea banquets in Jingshan Temple. Among them, Rong, Nanpu, Daoyuan, etc. The Japanese "Study on the Collection of Famous Objects" records: "Nanpu Shao Ming went to Yuhang Jingshan Temple to preach the Dharma and returned home for four years." He also said: "From the tea ceremony, Chongfu Temple was built in the middle, and Nanpu Shao Ming was handed down from the Song Dynasty." Japanese "Continued Audio-visual Grass" and "Biography of Monks at Present" all say that Nanpu Shao Ming returned to China from the Song Dynasty, bringing "tea tables" and "tea props" back to Chongfu Temple.
It can be said that Japanese tea ceremony originated from China tea ceremony, and Jingshan Temple tea ceremony is an important source of Japanese tea ceremony.
Cha Sheng Millennium Temple-Nanjing qixia temple qixia temple is located in the northeast of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, at the west foot of Qixia Mountain. Built in the first year of Yongming in the Southern Qi Dynasty (483), it is one of the "Four Wonders" in the jungle of China. China's first poem "Famous Tea into Poetry" is not only a poem "Answering my nephew and giving Yuquan cactus tea" written by Li Bai, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, during his stay in qixia temple. Huang Furan, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said in "Sending Lu Hung-chien to qixia temple to Pick Tea": "Picking tea is not right, it is far from the cliff", which tells the scene of Lu Yu picking tea by the temple in the Tang Dynasty. In this regard, Li Rihua, a Ming Dynasty man, commented in "Two Paintings of Liuyanzhai": "qixia temple has a tea flat, and tea is born in the wild, so it is not cut down by people. Tang Luyu received a mountain, and Huang Furan wrote poems and sent them to the clouds. " In the Qing Dynasty, Qianlong's "Jiangnan Tongzhi" contained: "Jiangning Camellia is absolutely fragrant. The Qingliangshan tea in the city and the camellia in Shangyuan Dongxiang taste sweet. " Around its temples, it is now a famous producing area of Yuhua tea.
Throughout the ages, qixia temple has always contained the artistic conception of tea culture and became attached to tea.
Jingning Huiming Temple, a scenic spot where Buddha worships tea, is located in Chimushan, Jingning County, Zhejiang Province. Its temple was built in the second year of Tang Xiantong (86 1), surrounded by tea fragrance. The tea made by monks at that time was the best. According to the Records of Jingning County written by Tongzhi in Qing Dynasty, tea can be seen everywhere, so it is best to make large sacrifices in Huiming Temple. According to the Records of Jingning County in the Republic of China, "there are teas in all districts, but Huiming Temple and Jietou Village are the best. In four years of the Republic of China, it won the first-class certificate and gold medal of Panama World Expo, and the annual output of the city reached about 40 thousand Jin. " "Investigation Report of Eight Counties in Lishui, Zhejiang Province in the Republic of China" also recorded: "Jingning County: produces quiet and suitable plants, followed by tea, with an annual output of about 20,000 Jin and good quality. Last year, it won the first prize at the Panama Games. "
Huiming Temple, which promotes tea with temples and tea with temples, is one of the scenic spots of Fozan tea.
Bailin Temple in Zhaozhou, the birthplace of Zen tea culture in China, is located in the southeast corner of Zhaoxian County (called Zhaozhou in ancient times) in Hebei Province, facing Zhao Zhouqiao, the "first bridge in the world". It was founded in the Jian 'an period of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty (196-220). It was called Kannonji in ancient times, Eianji in Southern Song Dynasty and Bailin Temple in Jin Dynasty. It has been called Bailin Temple since the Yuan Dynasty. Although this ancient temple has experienced several ups and downs, it is still full of incense and there are not enough porridge. According to Sanzang, Xuanzang, a famous master of scripture translation, came here from Shen Dao to study the theory of reality before going west to learn the scriptures. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Zen master was stationed in China for 40 years, becoming a great legalist and forming a far-reaching "Zhaozhou Gate". Therefore, Berlin Zen Temple has become an important ancestral home in the history of Zen Buddhism. Zhao Zhou Zen Master (778-897), whose dharma name comes from the imperial edict, is a great master in the history of Zen. Although he is famous and supported by the two kings of Yan and Zhao, his life is very simple and poor. His "rope bed is broken and tied with rope to burn his salary." He is often "pants without waist, jacket without mouth, head blue and gray." The soil collapsed the bed, the reed mat was broken, and the old elm pillow was completely uncovered. "It is in this difficult living environment that the Zen master spread the impression of his ancestors and attracted scholars from all over the world. Popular cases such as "going to tea", "washing dishes", "cypress trees in front of the courtyard" and "dogs without Buddha's nature" not only enlightened many Zen monks at that time, but also spread to later generations, and were widely quoted and studied by tea ceremony scholars, which lasted forever.
Zhaozhou is the birthplace of' Zhaozhou Tea', the birthplace of Zen tea culture and the birthplace of contemporary life Zen. In 2005, Berlin Zen Temple held the "World Zhaozhou Zen Tea Culture Exchange Conference", and Zen tea people from all over the world gathered in Zhaozhou. The old abbot of Berlin Zen Temple, the vice president of Chinese Buddhist Association and the old monk Jinghui won the "Ninth Korea Mingyuan Tea Culture Award" for their contributions to the revival of Zhaozhou Temple and the promotion of tea culture exchanges between China and South Korea. Together with Shu Man, Yin Jizhou, Hebei tea culture experts, he put forward the words "positive, clear, harmonious and elegant" representing the spirit of chinese zen tea culture in Xingtai Sanjian Teahouse, and made them public at this meeting. It also provides a historical opportunity for the further sublimation of tea culture and how to better combine tea culture with Zen culture.
Berlin Zen Temple, which teaches tea by Zen and Zen by tea, has become a cultural center that attracts contemporary people from learning tea to entering the realm of Zen.