How was The Book of Tea created?

Drinking tea can calm the mind, help to cultivate sentiment and eliminate distractions. China is the hometown of tea with a history of thousands of years. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, tea became a necessity. In the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu founded a set of thoughts on tea science, tea art and tea ceremony, and compiled the Tea Classic, which became an epoch-making symbol of tea culture.

Lu Yu's life

Lu Yu (733— about 804), the word hung-chien, was born in Jinglingzi, Sangzhuweng, Donggangzi, and Jingling, Tang Fuzhou, which is now Tianmen, Hubei. He loved tea all his life and was good at tea ceremony. He compiled the world's first monograph on tea science, Tea Classic, which made outstanding contributions to the development of tea industry in China and the world.

Lu Yu's contribution to the tri-color applique furnace in Tang Dynasty is great, but he had a strange, mysterious and unfortunate childhood. It turned out that he was an abandoned orphan. According to the literature, he was abandoned at the age of 3. At dusk in late autumn and early winter, he was picked up by a Zen master at the Longgai Temple in Jingling. At that time, he didn't even know his name. Master Zhiji calculated a divination for Lu Yu according to the Book of Changes. The divination says: "Hung-chien was born on the ground, and his feathers can be used as utensils", so his surname, name and character came out like this. His surname is Lu, his first name is Yu and his word is Hung-chien. But why was Lu Yu raised to 3 years old in infancy? This is the eternal mystery of Lu Yu's life experience, which may never be revealed.

Although Lu Yu is a Buddhist, he is unwilling to convert to Buddhism. At the age of 9, Master Zhiji asked him to copy the scriptures and recite the Buddha. Lu Yu was not only uneasy about copying scriptures, but also asked the Zen master, "There are three unfilial sons and daughters." Is it filial piety? And openly declared that he wanted to learn Confucius' articles. After hearing this, the host was very angry and punished him with heavy physical labor, trying to make him repent, but Lu Yu did not give in and started a big debate with him about the dispute between Buddhism and Confucianism. In this debate, Xiao Luyu showed amazing courage, eloquent eloquence and unyielding strong personality. Master and apprentice are tit for tat and do not give in to each other. In the end, everyone held their own opinions and broke up in discord.

Stopped by the Zen master, Lu Yu not only did not reduce his thirst for Confucianism, but was even more eager for knowledge. There was no paper to write on, so he wrote on the cow's back. By chance, he got a Du Nan Fu by Zhang Heng. Although he doesn't know the words on it, he still mumbles to himself. When Zen master Zhiji knew about it, he was afraid that he would be immersed in Confucian classics, so he sent someone to lock him up. In this way, after three years, Lu Yu 12 years old, while others were not paying attention, escaped from Longgai Temple and became a performer in a troupe. He is not good-looking and stutters, but he is humorous and plays a clown very successfully. It is said that he later wrote three volumes of joke books.

Lu Yu's life experience is poor, but Renji has his own nature. In the fifth year of Tang Tianbao, he met his Bole at a party. At that time, Lu Yu's outstanding performance made Jingling Prefecture Ritchie appreciate his talent and ambition very much, thinking that he would become a useful talent in the future. Lu Yu became a famous scholar and tea expert in the Tang Dynasty, and its significance is immeasurable. Later, he met Cui, a doctor who was demoted to Jingling Sima. They often went hand in hand, sipping tea and water, talking about poetry and writing, becoming the turn of the year, and giving Lu Yu corresponding help, so that his talent, morality and budding tea-making skills were appreciated by people at that time. These are all his experiences in the first half of his life.

Later in life, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, and Lu Yu began another experience. He crossed the Yangtze River from Shanxi with refugees. Along the south bank of the Yangtze River, the rivers, mountains, landscapes and specialties in some coastal areas, especially tea gardens and famous springs, were investigated on the spot. Along the way, he went to Mage Mountain to pick tea, busy watching, busy visiting, busy taking notes, and his kits were full. He swam the magnificent Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, turned to Daba Mountain and visited Pengzhou, Zhou Shu, Qiongzhou and Yazhou in one breath. In 760 AD, he traveled to Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places, and came to Huzhou, which is rich in famous tea. The following year, he lived in seclusion in the scenic Tiaoxi Building, devoted himself to studying tea affairs and wrote the Book of Tea behind closed doors. During his seclusion, he often walked alone in the wild, picking tea, looking for springs, evaluating tea, or chanting poems, hitting trees with sticks, running around with his hands, hesitating, and often crying when it was dark, so people called him "Chu Kuang meets Yu".

Before Lu Yu died, there was a "Six Envy Songs": "I don't envy gold poppies, I don't envy white jade cups; Do not envy the people, do not envy the evening stage; Thousands of miles to the Xijiang River, down to Jingling City. " It fully shows that his character is as pure as tea.

The contents of the Book of Tea

The Book of Tea was written by Lu Yu. Written in the 8th century, it has a history of 1200 years. It is the first monograph on tea science in the world, an important symbol of the development of tea culture in China, a need and product of the development of tea industry in Tang Dynasty, and a summary of the experience of people in China at that time. The author collected the historical data of tea in past dynasties in detail, recorded personal investigation and practical experience, and expounded the history, origin, efficacy, cultivation, collection, boiling and drinking knowledge and technology of tea before and after the Tang Dynasty. It is the most complete tea book in ancient China, which provides a relatively complete scientific basis for tea production and plays a positive role in promoting the development of tea production. The Book of Tea Classics has more than 7,000 words, divided into three volumes and ten parts: Volume I, Volume II and Volume II. Its main contents and structure are: 1. Sources; Two tools; Sanchuang; Four kinds of instruments; 5. Cooking; Six glasses of wine; Seven things; Eight out of eight; Nine strategies; The picture of ten. The first volume consists of three parts: the first source discusses the origin, name and quality of tea. This paper introduces the morphological characteristics of tea tree, the relationship between tea quality and soil, and points out the relationship between soil, tea producing area, topography, varieties and fresh leaf quality, as well as the cultivation methods, and the physiological health care effect of drinking tea on human body. It also mentioned the big tea trees found in Badong, Hubei and Southeast Sichuan. Second, talk about the tools for picking tea. The names, specifications and usage of 19 tools for making cake tea are introduced in detail. Third, talk about the types and methods of tea. The importance and requirements of tea picking are pointed out, and the theory of timely tea picking is put forward. This paper describes six processes of making cake tea: steaming, mashing, molding, baking, stringing and packaging, and divides cake tea into eight grades according to the uniformity of appearance and color. The fourth device is an appliance for making tea. The names, shapes, materials, specifications, manufacturing methods and uses of 28 kinds of tea cooking and drinking utensils are described in detail, and the influence of the utensils on the quality of tea soup is discussed. The quality and usage rules of tea sets in different places are also discussed. The fifth is tea cooking, which describes the methods and water quality of tea cooking in various places, describes the production of cake tea and tea soup, and focuses on the methods of baking tea, the fuel for baking tea and cooking tea, the water and temperature for making tea, and the influence of boiling degree and method on the color and flavor of tea soup. It is pointed out that the white thick foam in tea soup is its essence; Six drinks, talk about the custom of drinking tea, describe the origin, spread and custom of drinking tea, and put forward the ways and means of drinking tea; The seventh thing is to describe the story, origin and efficacy of ancient and modern tea. This paper describes the historical materials, legends, anecdotes, poems, essays and prescriptions related to tea before the Tang Dynasty. Eight out, comment on the advantages and disadvantages of various local teas. This paper describes the origin and quality of tea in Tang dynasty, and divides the tea producing areas in Tang dynasty into eight tea areas, and the tea produced in each tea area is divided into four grades according to the quality. Nine, talk about which tea sets can be omitted from tea sets, under what circumstances which tea-making processes can be omitted, and the tools or appliances for cooking and drinking tea. If you go to the deep mountain tea farm to pick tea and make it with you, you can simplify seven tools; In Ten Pictures, it is proposed to write the contents of the Tea Classic on a plain silk and hang it next to the seat, so that the contents of the Tea Classic can be seen at a glance.

Lu Yu's Tea Classic is the product of extensive development of tea production, and drinking tea became a custom at that time. China's tea was introduced to Asian neighbors in the 5th century, and to Europe and America in the17th century, making valuable contributions to the world.