The connotation of tea ceremony

Lead: Ancient literati each carried tea, and judged the quality of tea by comparing the flowers on the tea surface and tasting the tea soup. Doucha, also known as Doucha, flourished in the late Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. It was first popular in Jianzhou, Fujian. Fighting tea is the highest expression of ancient tea tasting art, and its ultimate goal is to taste tea, especially to absorb the soup flowers on the tea surface. Finally, tea drinkers must taste the tea soup, so that the color, fragrance and taste are all good, which is the final victory of the tea war.

The word "tea ceremony" was first seen in the "Tea Song" written by a poet and monk in the Tang Dynasty: "If you drink it, you will feel sleepy and feel good all over the sky. Drink my god again, and suddenly it will rain like light dust. After three drinks, you will get the word. Why ... who knows that the tea ceremony is true, only Dan Qiu has it. " According to Tang? Feng's Collection, Volume 6, Drinking Tea, says, "Lu Hung-chien, a Chu man, talks about the efficacy of tea and the method of frying it. Twenty-four things about making tea sets are kept in cages. Admire from far and near, a good man keeps a pair at home. There are always bears, which are widely embellished by hung-chien's theory. So the tea ceremony prevailed and all the ministers drank. " At the end of Tang Dynasty, Liu pointed out in Ten Virtues of Tea that tea can be "Li Liren, showing respect, Ka Ya's heart, feasible way" and so on. It can be seen that as early as the Tang Dynasty in China, there was a "Tao" in drinking tea.

Drinking tea is Tao, and Tao is born of tea, which is of course attributed to Cha Sheng Lu Yu. In the Book of Tea, Lu Yu first raised tea drinking from the field of life to the height of spiritual tea tasting and artistic creation, which not only stylized tea drinking, but also made tea drinking artistic. He subdivided ten things and commented in detail, which made the tea ceremony take shape. Tea drinking in the Song Dynasty became a spectacular sight, and there emerged Cai Xiang, Huang Ru, Ouyang Xiu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Lu You and other literati who were keen on tea tasting. Even some emperors and nobles joined the ranks of tea people, adding fuel to the fire for the tea ceremony. For example, Song Huizong, as the emperor, personally grinded and fried tea, and wrote a monograph on tea science, Daguan Tea Theory. They entered the tea with language, artistic accomplishment, Buddhism, self-personality and true feelings for nature, which made China's tea tasting art really rise from the daily frying point to the realm of spiritual tea drinking, and the spiritual pursuit of elegance, quietness, emptiness, peace and frankness in tea ceremony was gradually improved, which laid a solid foundation for the final establishment of China Tea Ceremony. Tea ceremony gradually declined in Ming and Qing dynasties, like a cold spring in a mountain stream, giving people a cold feeling. Tea ceremony in Ming and Qing Dynasties often spread among literati and became a clear stream of China culture. In recent years, with the gradual improvement of people's living standards and living conditions, the tea ceremony has gradually developed. Personally, I think tea culture is an important part of China traditional culture. After thousands of years of historical accumulation, it combines the essence of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and becomes a bright pearl in the palace of oriental culture and art. Tea ceremony is the core of tea culture, a concrete process of tea practice, and also a process of self-improvement and self-knowledge of tea people. Tea people realize Tao by drinking, and this process is called tea ceremony. Or simply put, the consciousness of tea drinkers is called tea ceremony. It can be seen that tea ceremony belongs to the category of revision to a great extent, and it needs practical demonstration, not only the argument of "reason", but also the argument of "thing", rather than just staying at the level of cognition or research. Just like Zen meditation, studying case-solving and reading Zen historical materials can only be regarded as word Zen at best, which has little to do with enlightenment.

Throughout the ages, many people have talked about tea, from Lu Yu, Jiao Ran, Yan Feng, Lu Tong, Lu Guimeng and Pi Rixiu in Tang Dynasty to Song Caixiang, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Evonne, as well as Zhu Quan, Xu Cishu, Zhang Dai, Zhang Yuan, Lu Shusheng, Luo Bing, Yuan Mei, Mao Xiang, Zhou Zuoren, Liang Shiqiu and Lin Yutang in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Great virtue, a Buddhist monk in past dynasties, has a deeper relationship with tea ceremony.

Zen was formed in the Sui and Tang Dynasties in China, boasting "no writing" and "teaching others to pass on their stories". Although Dharma was regarded as the ancestor of Middle Earth, and pointed at the Lingshan Conference that the Buddha picked flowers and rewarded Mahayana leaves, Zen was indeed the product of the integration of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism with strong cultural interest in China, so it was appreciated and respected by scholars in past dynasties and became the mainstream of Buddhism in China. By the late Tang Dynasty, more than 80% of the monasteries in China were Zen temples, and there was a heyday of no monasteries and no monks. Because meditation is easy to cause drowsiness, "everyone is allowed to drink tea", so that "everyone holds his arm and cooks everywhere." (Feng Shiwen Performance in Tang Dynasty) Zen tea was all the rage. Tea culture in China was born between the Han Dynasty, flourished between the Tang and Song Dynasties, and declined after the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its rise and fall coincide with the development of Zen, so the relationship between Zen and tea is indeed the inevitable result of the comprehensive action of all factors. 1April, 987, the world-famous Tang Palace tea set series was unearthed in Famen Temple, Shaanxi Province. According to Tommy Datura's altar ceremony, Tang Xizong hid tea sets and Buddhist relics in the underground palace of Famen Temple, which may be the strongest evidence of the kinship between Buddhism and tea.

During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, this Zen master from Zhaozhou, known as the ancient Buddha of Zhaozhou, not only liked to eat tea himself, but also often used the word "tea" to attract monks. Zen methods were all over the jungle. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the tea ceremony prevailed in Jingshan Temple in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, with strict tea ceremony procedures. It is said that the Japanese tea ceremony was originally spread from here. Master Yuan Wu Keqin, a monk in the Song Dynasty, got samadhi in tea. It is said that he wrote the word "tea Zen blindly" and spread it to Japan. Of course, the real purpose of these ancient monks' drinking tea is to practice Zen and preach. Buddhism believes that tea has three virtues: "don't stay up late during meditation, help digestion when full, and don't send tea", which has become the best assistant of Zen. These ancient eminent monks and great virtues first integrated the Zen spirit of equality, truthfulness, delicacy and ethereal spirit into the tea ceremony, which played a key role in the formation and development of China tea ceremony.

The situation in neighboring Japan deserves our attention. After sending Song to study abroad and returning to China, Japanese Zen master Rong planted tea next to the Zen Temple and wrote a book "Drinking Tea for Health", which was spread to the Zen Forest. Later, Dai Ying Buddhism spread the way of drinking tea in China temple to Japan, and Zen monks began to combine drinking tea with meditation. Master Zhu Guang is a disciple of Zen master Zong Chun, a disciple of Hou Dade Temple. He built a thatched cottage beside the temple, formulated the rules of tea ceremony and became the founder of Japanese tea ceremony. Master Zhu Guangda said: "The essence of tea ceremony lies in clearing the heart, which is also the center of Zen." And finally put forward the insight that "Buddhism exists in tea soup". Masajiro Morino, a Japanese tea ceremony master, wrote in Nanzhi: "The teaching of Buddhism is the original intention of tea. Pumping water, collecting wages, boiling water, ordering tea, offering Buddha, giving alms, sipping, arranging flowers and burning incense are all acts of practicing Buddhism. " It can be said that the secret of tea ceremony. Masajiro Morino improved the group dance tea ceremony of Zen master Zhuguang, promoted it vigorously, and advocated the Japanese tea ceremony spirit of "harmony, respect and silence". Finally, he founded the Thousand Willow Tea Ceremony, which became an important part of Japanese traditional culture and had a far-reaching impact on today's world culture.

Therefore, to advocate tea culture and the spirit of tea ceremony, the spirit of Zen must be integrated into the process of tea ceremony. Without the understanding and understanding of Zen, the pursuit of the spirit of tea ceremony, the practice of tea ceremony process, the care of tea sets and the real understanding of tea soup, it is difficult to integrate the two. Therefore, I personally think that in order to advocate China Tea Ceremony, besides the Confucian spirit of "moderation" and Taoist spirit of "inaction", we should also integrate the Zen spirit of "equality" and "emptiness" and always implement the China Tea Ceremony spirit of "elegance, quietness, peace, emptiness and frankness" in tea ceremony practice. Only in this way can there be a tea ceremony.

Talking about tea is inseparable from tea art, which can be simply understood as the skill of making tea. Although it is only a "skill", it is also the basis for practicing the spirit of tea ceremony, because "art can carry the Tao". Talking about the spirit of tea ceremony without talking about tea ceremony is easy to become empty; However, the practice of tea art without the spirit of tea ceremony is easy to fall into mediocrity. Therefore, how to combine the two is very important.

Mr. Chen Wenhua pointed out in the article "Some Problems in Current Tea Performance": At present, there are vague and even confusing understandings of many terms in tea culture. Many people in the tea industry often confuse tea ceremony, cha de and tea art, and can't figure out the difference between tea ceremony and tea art, for example, some are called teahouses, while others are called teahouses. Some people call it tea ceremony, others call it tea ceremony. It needs in-depth discussion and definition in order to gain a unified understanding ... As early as the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu pointed out in the book "The Source of Tea": "Tea is used, tastes cold, and is the most suitable person to drink." In other words, people who drink tea should pay attention to the virtue of thrift. Lu Yu put forward moral requirements for tea drinkers, and drinking tea is no longer simply to satisfy physiological needs and quench thirst. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Liu even pointed out in the Ten Virtues of Tea that "tea is beneficial to ceremony", "tea is the heart of Kaya" and "tea is feasible". It can be seen that there was a way of drinking tea as early as the Tang Dynasty. Liu's theory of "cha de" is an interpretation and enrichment of Tao and tea ceremony in the poems of "Three Drinks to Get Tao" and "Who knows the whole principle of tea ceremony" in the poet Jiao Ran's Tea Song. Let Cui Shi be the Prince ". Therefore, the tea ceremony should be traced back to Jiao Ran and Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty. Of course, it is not as clear and specific as the Japanese tea ceremony in later generations.

Mr. Wang is absolutely right. We should always pay attention to the spirit of tea ceremony when drinking tea.

When it comes to the spirit of tea ceremony, we can't help talking about Lu Yu's tea ceremony. Some scholars believe that Lu Yu's Tea Classic only emphasizes "skill" (that is, the method of frying tea) and does not emphasize "Tao" (that is, the spiritual pursuit of drinking tea), which is very objective. Personally, I think that Lu Yu's Tea Classic always talks about "technique" around "Tao" and is a work about "Tao". Where is Dao? Tao is in it. "The Analects of Confucius. The third eight-part essay ":When my son enters the ancestral temple, he asks everything. Or: "Who is the son of a man who knows manners? Go into the ancestral hall and ask everything. " Hearing this, Zi said, "This is a gift." The master's answer is really wonderful. The process of "asking" is "ceremony". So, did Lu Yu also leave us a message in the Book of Tea? In this regard, many scholars at home and abroad have discussed and explained that the word "tea ceremony" has long existed in Tang Feng's Feng Shiwen Ji Jian and Jiao Ran's Tea Song. In fact, Tao is everywhere. Where is Tao? "Tao" is applied to tea affairs in people's daily life. Tao is in the teahouse, in the teapot, in the tea bowl and in the saucer. The so-called "one flag, one gun, one drink and one peck" is the Tao. Therefore, the Tao in Lu Yu's Tea Classic has been materialized in people's daily life, such as tea set, teapot, tea bowl, teapot, loose tea, coarse tea and cake tea, which are the Tao of tea that people can't live without for a moment. Moreover, I personally think that Lu Yu's Tea Classic contains not only the tea ceremony, but also the skills of frying tea, tea culture, tea people, tea sets and tea sets. As long as you appreciate it with your heart, you have everything. This is the reason why The Book of Tea has become a monument of tea science.

It is precisely because Lu Yu's Tea Classics is a work on Taoism that it has been criticized by some scholars in later generations, and there are also many criticisms about Lu Yu's classification of Tea Classics into Six Classics. In the eyes of these people, the Tao existing in "tea", one of the "seven things to open the door" of ordinary people, can not be called "tea ceremony", but can only be called "tea ceremony" at best. For example, Li Ming Wei Zhen's preface to the tea classics: "The reason why the classics were put forward is criticized by the world. Compared with the Six Classics, Hung-chien's ability to taste tea has no objection! " Cha Sheng, such as Lu Yu, even so, the embarrassment faced by later tea people is inevitable.

Or quote Mr. Chen Wenhua's "On Several Problems in Current Tea Performance" as the end of this article: In short, the spirit of tea ceremony is the core, the soul and the highest principle guiding tea culture activities. We should carry out tea culture activities according to the spirit of tea ceremony. All behaviors that violate the spirit of tea ceremony should be corrected and overcome, so that the tea culture in China will develop along the healthy and civilized road forever. ;