Tea ceremony is a kind of life etiquette with tea as the medium, and it is also considered as a way of self-cultivation. Making tea, tasting tea and drinking tea can enhance friendship, make Xiu De beautiful and learn etiquette, which is a very beneficial beauty ceremony. 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. I also have a deep understanding of the self-cultivation function of tea. Song Huizong Evonne is a tea lover. He believes that the fragrance and taste of tea can make people carefree, quiet and interesting: "If tea is a thing, it is good at the delicacy of Fujian, the spirit of Zhongshan and the spirit of Sichuan. If it is clear and harmonious, it will not be known to young people." The lotus is carefree and clean, and the rhyme is high and quiet ... "
Integrate philosophy, ethics and morality into tea activities, cultivate self-cultivation, taste life and achieve spiritual enjoyment through tea tasting. So far, the highest-end tea ceremony service in China is provided by Yunquan of Quanming Post Office, which is close to luxury and also the highest-level 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 water quality, pay attention to the tea set, and savor it carefully when drinking. Tea art: Pay attention to environment, atmosphere, music, brewing skills and interpersonal relationships. China is the origin of tea trees. However, China is not the only origin of tea trees in the world. Local natural tea trees can also be found in other countries in the world.
But it is universally acknowledged that China has made outstanding contributions to human beings in the tea industry, mainly because tea was first discovered and utilized, and developed into a splendid and unique tea culture in China, and gradually spread to neighboring countries in China and even the whole world.
Before Qin and Han Dynasties, Bashu was the cradle of tea industry in China. Gu once said: "After Qin people took Shu, they only had tea." He believed that tea drinking began after Qin unified Bashu, and affirmed that tea culture in China and even the world was originally developed in Bashu. This statement has now been recognized by most scholars. Tea production in Bashu can be traced back to the Warring States period or earlier. Bashu has formed a certain scale of tea areas and used tea as a tribute. The prominent position of Bashu tea industry in the early history of tea industry in China was not recorded until the book "The Covenant of Children" written by Wang Bao, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, in which there are two sentences: "Make all the tea available" and "Five sheep buy tea". The former reflects the Chengdu area. During the Western Han Dynasty, not only drinking tea became a common practice, but also special utensils appeared. As can be seen from the last sentence, tea has been commercialized, and there has been a tea market like "Wuyang".
During the Western Han Dynasty, Chengdu not only became the center of tea consumption in China, but also was probably the earliest tea distribution center according to later literature records. Not only before the pre-Qin, Qin and Han Dynasties, but also before the Western Jin Dynasty, Bashu was an important tea production and technology center in China. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River became a tea industry, which spread with the economy and culture of Bashu and other places. First spread to the southeast, such as the naming of Chaling in Hunan, is a proof. Chaling is a county established in the Western Han Dynasty, which is famous for producing tea. Chaling is close to the border between Jiangxi and Guangdong, which shows that tea production in the Western Han Dynasty has spread to the surrounding areas of Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi. During the Western Jin Dynasty, with the development of tea industry in Jingchu and the spread of tea culture in the whole country, as well as due to superior geographical conditions and good economic and cultural level, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River or Central China gradually replaced Bashu in the spread of tea culture in China, which became obviously important. During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Wu occupied half of the country in the southeast, which was also the main area for the spread and development of tea industry in China. At this time, the scale and scope of planting tea trees in the south have developed greatly, and drinking tea has also spread to the noble families in the north.
The development of tea industry in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the Western Jin Dynasty can also be proved by the Book of Jingzhou in the Western Jin Dynasty. It says "Tea is the first in seven counties of Wuling", which shows that the tea industry in Han Jing has developed obviously, and the advantage that Bashu is the only champion in China seems to have disappeared. After crossing the Western Jin Dynasty, the northern giants crossed the river and settled abroad, and Jiankang (Nanjing) became the political center of southern China. During this period, due to the prevalence of tea worship in the upper class, tea drinking and tea culture in the south, especially in Jiangdong area, developed greatly, which further promoted the development of tea industry in China to the southeast. During this period, tea was planted in the southeast of China, from the west of Zhejiang to the coastal areas of Wenzhou and Ningbo. Not only that, as recorded in Scout, "Xiyang, Wuchang and Jinling all produce good tea". Jinling is Changzhou and its tea is Yixing. It shows that the tea industry in Yixing in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River became famous in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties. After the Three Kingdoms and the Jin Dynasty, the trend of the tea industry's center of gravity moving eastward became more obvious. Before the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River became the center of tea production and technology in the Tang and Six Dynasties, tea production and drinking in the south had developed to some extent, but there were not many tea drinkers in the north. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the chef's manual recorded that "Kansai, Shantung and Lv Yan villages are all eating now, but they don't eat for several days, and there is no tea in China Tea Ceremony." Both the Central Plains and the northwest minority areas are addicted to tea, so the tea production in the south has achieved unprecedented development. Especially in Jiangnan and Huainan tea areas with convenient transportation in the north, the production of tea is particularly developed. After the middle Tang Dynasty, the tea production in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River increased greatly, and the tea-making technology reached the highest level at that time. Huzhou purple bamboo shoots and Changzhou Yangxian tea become tribute tea, which is a concentrated expression. The center of tea production and technology has shifted to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and tea production in the south of the Yangtze River is in full swing. At that time, according to historical records, tea was planted everywhere in Qimen, Anhui Province, and within a thousand miles of Fiona Fang, and there was no soil in the mountains. Nine times out of ten, the tea industry. At the same time, as tribute tea is located in the south of the Yangtze River, it greatly promotes the improvement of tea-making technology in the south of the Yangtze River, and also promotes the production and development of China's tea areas. According to the Tang Dynasty's "Tea Classic" and other documents, tea-producing areas in this period were all over Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan and other 14 provinces and regions. , almost reached the same situation as the modern tea-producing areas in China. From the Five Dynasties to the early Song Dynasty, the national climate changed from warm to cold, which made the tea industry in the south of China develop faster than that in the north, gradually replacing the tea areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and becoming the focus of the tea industry. It is mainly manifested in the change of tribute tea from ancient bamboo and purple bamboo shoots to Fujian Jian 'an tea, and the tea industry in Minnan and Lingnan areas, which have not yet formed a climate in the Tang Dynasty, has developed actively. The main reason why the center of gravity of tea industry moved south in Song Dynasty was climate change. The temperature along the Yangtze River is low in early spring, and the germination of tea trees is delayed, so it is impossible to ensure that tea leaves will be delivered to Kyoto before Qingming. The climate in Fujian is warmer, as Ouyang Xiu said, "Jian 'an is three thousand miles away, and the capital tastes new tea in March. "Jian' an tea, as a tribute tea, will inevitably strive for Excellence and become more and more famous. It has become the main technical center for making group tea and cake tea in China, which has promoted the rise and development of tea areas in southern Fujian and Lingnan. Therefore, by the Song Dynasty, tea had spread all over the country. The tea areas in Song Dynasty are basically the same as those in modern times.
After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the tea area was basically stable, and the development of tea industry was mainly reflected in the tea-making methods and the rise and fall of various teas. Tea has fresh and elegant natural characteristics, which can calm the nerves, help cultivate sentiment, eliminate distractions and cultivate body and mind. This is in line with the oriental philosophy advocating "quietness" and the "introspection and practice" thoughts of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Therefore, celebrities, literati, businessmen, officials and Buddhists in China throughout the ages are all proud of worshipping tea.
1. The original author of Hundred Tea Couplets, a master of tea couples, thinks in heaven: "Tea ceremony is a way to appreciate the beauty of tea.
2. Mr. Wu Juenong believes that 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."
3. Mr. Chen believes that China Tea Ceremony includes seven principles: tea art, 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: "In ordinary words, the meaning of tea ceremony can be called taking a little time from busy schedule, enjoying a little beauty and harmony in an incomplete reality, and experiencing it 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."
6. 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.
7. Mr. Yukiyama Kurazawa, President of the People-oriented Tea and Soup Culture Research Association, believes that XI's profound tea ceremony philosophy is his ideological background and 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."
8. Mr. Zhuang Wanfang believes that tea ceremony is a kind of 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." "Sincerity, beauty, harmony and respect" put forward by Professor Zhuang Wanfang. Zhuang Lao explained: "Honesty and frugality cultivate morality, beauty and happiness, live and work in peace and contentment, and love others as yourself."
9. 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.