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, drinking tea, enhancing friendship, beautifying Xiu De and learning etiquette are very beneficial beauty rituals. Drinking tea can calm the mind, help to cultivate sentiment and eliminate distractions, which is in line with the oriental philosophy of advocating "quietness"

The history of tea ceremony

Although the word "tea ceremony" has a history of more than 1000 years since the Tang Dynasty, there is no such entry in Xinhua Dictionary, Cihai and Etymology.

Tea ceremony belongs to oriental culture. The difference between eastern culture and western culture is that there is often no scientific and accurate definition of eastern culture, and it is up to individuals to approach it and understand it with their own understanding. The word "tea ceremony" appeared in China as early as the Tang Dynasty, such as "Ji Jian, Feng Shiwen": "Because of Hung-chien's theory, tea ceremony became popular." Liu wrote in the Tang Dynasty.

Tea ceremony originated in China. At least before the Tang Dynasty or Tang Dynasty, people in China first regarded tea as a way to cultivate one's morality. In Wen Jian Ji written by Feng in Tang Dynasty, "All the ministers drink tea", which is the earliest record of tea ceremony in existing literature. In the temples of the Tang Dynasty, monks and nuns meditated by chanting scriptures, all of them drank tea to clear their hearts and nourish their spirits. At that time, tea banquets were very popular in society. Enjoy tea and scenery, and express your thoughts. In the preface to the tea banquet on March 3, Tang Luwen vividly described the elegant atmosphere and wonderful charm of tea tasting. 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. Evonne of Song Huizong is a tea drinker. He believes that the fragrance 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 beyond the knowledge of ordinary teenagers."

In the second year of Shaoxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (AD 1 19 1), Japanese monk Rong Xi brought tea seeds back to Japan for the first time from China, and then Japan began to plant tea all over the country. 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 learned the ceremony of tea banquet and made China for the first time. Become the earliest disseminator of China Tea Ceremony in Japan. There is a clear record in the Japanese Textual Research on Famous Things: "Since the tea ceremony, Nanpu Zhaoming introduced Chongfu Temple and built Jacky." It is also recorded in the Biography of Monks in Japan that "Nanpu Zhaoming returned to China from the Song Dynasty and brought tea tables and tea props to Chongfu Temple in one form". It was not until Toyotomi Hideyoshi's time in Japan (AD 65438) that Morino became a monk of Japanese tea ceremony in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, holding high the banner of "tea ceremony" and summing up the four principles of tea ceremony: "harmony, respect, purity and silence". Obviously, this basic theory was influenced by the essence of China Tea Ceremony, and its main etiquette framework still originated from China.

The tea ceremony in China is hundreds or even thousands of years earlier than that in Japan, but unfortunately, although China first put forward the concept of "tea ceremony" and made great achievements in this field, he failed to develop this cause in the name of "tea ceremony" with a clear-cut flag and standardize the traditional tea ceremony etiquette. So many people mistakenly believe that tea ceremony originated in other countries. China's tea ceremony can be said that the spirit is greater than the form. Some scholars believe that the necessary ceremony is more important for the flag of "tea ceremony". Although it is not impossible to claim to have a "tea ceremony" without a ceremony, it seems to be generalized and will eventually be "Tao Tao" and "extraordinary".

Making tea is a very simple thing, as simple as two actions: putting tea leaves and pouring water. But in the tea ceremony, the ceremony is too complicated or too elaborate, and the average person will certainly not make such a trivial matter so complicated.

In fact, China Tea Ceremony is not only satisfied with the invention of self-cultivation with tea and the standardization of ceremonies, but also dares to explore the true meaning of tea to human health, and creatively combines tea with natural raw materials such as Chinese medicine, which greatly enhances the role of tea in medical care and obtains greater development space. This is the most practical aspect of China Tea Ceremony, and it is also the charm that people have been paying attention to and loving for thousands of years.

Tea ceremony experts said

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, morality, beauty, honesty and happiness, 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. The core of China's tea ceremony spirit is harmony. China Tea Ceremony is a way to guide individuals to complete their character cultivation in the process of enjoying beauty, so as to realize the harmony and happiness of all mankind. Mr. Chen's tea ceremony theory can be summarized as "seven arts and one heart".

Mr. Zhou Zuoren casually said that his understanding of the tea ceremony is: "In popular terms, the meaning of the tea ceremony can be called giving up work, having fun while suffering, enjoying a little beauty and harmony in an incomplete reality, and experiencing it forever in an instant."

Diamond, a tea ceremony scholar, pointed out that tea ceremony is a way to express the direction or method of life given by tea, and also pointed out the truth or reason that people know in the process of tea tasting.

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, which includes four factors: artistic factors, social factors, etiquette factors and practical factors.

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

Mr. Xiongcang Kung Fu proposed from a historical perspective that tea ceremony is an indoor artistic ability, which can make people's culture become a unique artistic group, cultivate people's sentiment and perfect people's personality through the cultivation of the human body.

Mr. Yukiya Kurazawa of the Institute of Humanities Tea and Soup Culture believes that the profound philosophy of the Eleventh Tea Ceremony is the ideological background, which combines life culture and 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."

Japanese tea ceremony

Japanese Tea Ceremony-Harmony, Respect, Purity and Silence Since the Tang Dynasty, the custom of drinking tea in China was introduced to Japan. In the Song Dynasty, Japan began to plant tea trees and make tea. But it was not until the Ming Dynasty that Japan's unique tea ceremony really took shape. Among them, Mori Norikyo (1522-1592) is a master. He clearly put forward "harmony", asking people to reflect on themselves by drinking tea in teahouses, communicate with each other, and get rid of inner dirt and bad emotions in silence, so as to achieve the purpose of harmony and respect. "Harmony, respect, purity and silence" are called "four tea ceremony" in Japan. Harmony and respect are the guidelines for dealing with interpersonal relationships. By drinking tea to regulate interpersonal relationships, we can live in harmony and respect each other. Qing and silence refer to the environmental atmosphere, which creates an ethereal and quiet artistic conception and edifies people with elegant and quiet environment and simple furnishings. However, Japanese tea ceremony has a strong religious color (especially Zen) and forms a strict organizational form. It realizes the "four tea ceremony" through very strict, complicated and even tedious performance procedures, and lacks a relaxed and free atmosphere.

North Korea tea ceremony

Qing, Jing, He and Yue Korea have close relations with China since ancient times. China's Confucian etiquette thought has a great influence on North Korea. The Confucian doctrine of the mean was introduced into the Korean tea ceremony, forming the spirit of "righteousness". The spirit of "Zhongzheng" was created by a monk named Zhang Yiyong (A.D. 1786- 1866). It means that tea people should not be too much or too late in everything. In other words, we should persuade them to be self-aware, not too vain, not to show off themselves with a little knowledge, and not to pretend that they have a lot and nothing. People are grumpy or extreme, which is not in line with the spirit of Zhong Zheng. Therefore, Zhong Zheng's spirit should be the most important factor to form a person's personality, thus transforming a negative lifestyle into a positive lifestyle. Turn a pessimistic attitude towards life into an optimistic attitude towards life. Only this kind of person can be called a tea man, and the spirit of Chiang Kai-shek should also become the principle of life in human effect (Yin Bingxiang: Korean tea culture and the creation of new values, published in the second issue of Agricultural Archaeology, 1997). Later, the tea ceremony in Korea came down to "purity, respect, harmony and joy" or "harmony and respect"

Chinese tea ceremony

Cheap, beautiful, harmonious and respectful, like Korean tea ceremony, the spirit of tea ceremony in China has different manifestations. Although China has a Taoist saying since ancient times, it is not a religion. It is a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, leaving room for people to choose and play. People at all levels can choose different tea ceremony forms and ideas from different angles according to their own situations and hobbies, and keep creating. So there is no strict organizational form and discipline. Only after the 1980s, with the upsurge of tea culture, many people felt that we should sum up the spirit of China's tea ceremony and several "cha de" which are convenient for tea people to remember and operate. The late Professor Zhuang Wan Fang, a tea expert of Zhejiang Agricultural University, clearly advocated "carrying forward cha de" in the article On Tea Culture published in the second issue of 1990 Cultural Exchange. Proper use of tea art is the way for tea people to cultivate themselves. " He proposed that China's cha de should be "sincere, beautiful, harmonious and respectful" and interpreted it as: sincere and virtuous, beautiful and true, harmonious and sincere, loving. The details are as follows:

Cheap-advocating honesty, diligence and virtue. Respect guests with tea, replace wine with tea, reduce foreign drinking and save foreign exchange.

Beauty-mainly famous products, * * tastes delicious food, * * smells fragrance, * * makes friends, and lives a long life.

Harmony-pay attention to tea ceremony, get along sincerely and improve interpersonal relationship.

Respect-respect people, love people, help others, pure and sweet.

Almost at the same time, Cheng Qikun, director of the Tea Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Yao Guokun, a researcher, argued in the article "Talking about China and cha de from the Traditional Tea-drinking Custom" published in China Tea 1990, that China and cha de can be expressed by "rationality, respect, purity and harmony":

Li-"Li, tea, reasonable and amiable. Two people drink and introduce tea to promote mutual understanding; Negotiate business, treat guests with tea, get along with courtesy, be reasonable and friendly, and create an atmosphere of peace talks; Solve contradictions and disputes, face a cup of tea, convince people by reasoning, reason, be calm and promote reconciliation; Write articles, engage in creation, take tea as the ideal, puzzle and refresh, and have quick thinking. "

Worship-"worshippers, guests come to worship tea, and tea is a gift. Fairness fully reflects the respect for serving tea, whether in the past or now. We are friends who meet again after a long separation. Welcome to have tea, catch up with the past and enhance friendship. Guests visit, meet for the first time, worship tea as a gift, take tea as a medium, and chat while drinking to enhance mutual understanding; Friends get together, express their feelings with tea, love each other and have fun. This is civilization and respect. The elders and superiors have come, and it is a noble expression of modern life to worship tea, celebrate birthdays, congratulate each other and take beautifully packaged tea as a gift. "

Qing dynasty-"a person is honest and clean, which means keeping fit. A cup of tea, replacing wine with tea, is an honest behavior in ancient Qing dynasty, and also a noble expression of advocating spiritual civilization in modern times. 1982 Spring Festival group meeting in the capital, everyone has a cup of tea in front, which shows its noble civilization. " The tea on the table is still there, and the national scenery is always new. "The spiritual civilization of' a cup of green tea' is worth carrying forward. The word' Qing' also has another meaning of clearing the heart and keeping fit, and there is a scientific basis to advocate drinking tea for health preservation. The late President Zhu De once wrote: "Lushan Wuyun Tea shows its strong and spicy nature. If you drink it for many years, you can prolong your life. The profound experience is admirable. "

Harmony-"Harmony, harmony and friendship are harmony. At tea parties, people often get together and hold fragrant tea. Talking and laughing is fun; Friends and relatives get together, have a cup of tea, exchange feelings and have a harmonious atmosphere. Group discussion and consultation, in a harmonious atmosphere, can often promote mutual understanding and accommodation, be conducive to joint and cooperation, and make exchange activities more effective. It can be seen that the role of tea as a bridge group in friendship cannot be underestimated. "

The two experts also believe that China's tea "can be used to cultivate temperament, friendship, display talent, convey feelings and cultivate morality until it cultivates sentiment and beautifies life.". The reason why tea can adapt to all classes and many occasions is that its taste and nature conform to the national spirit of the Chinese nation, such as being ordinary, simple, hospitable, hardworking, virtuous, respecting the old and loving the young.

Prior to this, Mr. Fan Zengping of Taiwan Province Province proposed in 1985 that China's "the fundamental spirit of tea art lies in harmony, frugality, quietness and cleanliness" (On Taiwanese Tea Culture, page 43, published by Bishan Publishing Company of Taiwan Province Province). The fundamental spirit of Mr. Fan's tea ceremony is the spirit of tea ceremony, which is the cha de mentioned above. Although not explained in detail,

Earlier in 1982, a large number of Chinese scholars in Taiwan Province Province, Professor Lin Jingnan, summarized the spirit of tea ceremony as "beauty, health, sex and morality", which was called "four meanings of tea ceremony". The specific explanation is as follows:

Beauty-"beauty is a matter of tea, and law is the order of tea." If people wait for tea, they must clean themselves first, but if they are right, they must be respectful and sincere, so as to build a cha de. The requirement for cleanliness is reflected in appearance and tolerance. The so-called things, things that belong to tea, such as the environment of tea tasting, must be beautiful and harmonious. "

Health-"Health is the foundation of treatment of tea. Tea must be carefully selected, inferior tea can not be used, and it can not be drunk if it has deteriorated; There is no dirty water, and we should pay attention to the water temperature. We must grasp the time when making and pouring tea. The parties involved in treatment of tea must be healthy, light as the wind, have a aversion to cold, and cannot make tea to entertain guests. As a stopgap measure, a third party must do it for them. Tea is a healthy drink, which is undoubtedly beneficial to people's health. To promote tea drinking, we should start with family style, thank tea, thank healthy families, healthy families and healthy countries. Tea has the meaning of' self-cultivation, family harmony, governing the country and calming the world'. "

Sex-"'nourishing' is the wonderful use of tea, and human nature is similar to tea, but because human beings are polluted by the living environment, their nature is getting worse and worse, and they lose their goodness; Fortunately, the tea tree was born in Lingshan, nourished by rain, dew, sun, moon and brilliance. The spirit of peace has been passed down from generation to generation and is known as a fairy bud outside the dust. Therefore, tea people must follow the nature of tea, cultivate self-cultivation from pure interest, cleanse dirt, restore their original goodness, play tea art, prolong life, persevere, understand Zen and make use of the sum of heaven and earth. The so-called other side of the stone can be found in a pot with a bright window. "

Lun-"Ming Lun is the treasure of Confucianism and the eternal culture of China for 5,000 years. The function of tea is a bridge between the two: in ancient times, there was tribute tea to serve the monarch, and the monarch gave tea to respect the minister; At home, the daughter-in-law serves tea soup to her parents; When the husband sings with the woman, he drinks for the couple; Brother is a friend of tea, brother is a brother of tea; Friends come and go, and get together for tea. Today, drinking tea is in line with the Five Permanent Principles (father's kindness, son's filial piety, husband's singing, woman's obedience, brother's friendship, brother's respect, friend's trust, friend's respect and minister's loyalty), so tea has the power to spread all over the world and can't be replaced. " (Modern Tea Art by Cai, 200 pages, Taiwan Province Culture Company.

In addition, in recent years, Mr. Zhou Yu of Taiwan Province Province also put forward the words "positive, quiet, clear and round" as the representative of China's tea ceremony spirit. (Zhou Yu: Exploration and Cultural Regeneration from Nature to Individual Subject, Agricultural Archaeology No.2 +0999)

Although the basic spirit of China Tea Ceremony summarized by the above schools is not the same, its main spirit is still close, especially purity, quietness, harmony and beauty, which conforms to the spirit of China Tea Ceremony and the characteristics of tea art, and is also interlinked with the basic spirit of Japanese Tea Ceremony and Korean Tea Ceremony. According to Professor Chen's research, he thinks that the core of China's tea ceremony spirit is "harmony". "Harmony" is the harmony between heaven, earth and people. Thus, the beauty of harmony after the realization of the unity of man and nature came into being. The connotation of "harmony" is very rich. As the embodiment of China's cultural consciousness, "harmony" mainly includes: respecting harmony, being pure, being sincere, being quiet and trusting, being frugal, being beautiful and loving, being neutral, being tolerant, being different, being different, being different (being different, being different, being different, being different, being different. Harmony without difference (harmony without difference, harmony without difference, harmony without difference), harmony without difference, harmony without difference, harmony without difference, harmony without difference, harmony without difference (harmony without difference, harmony without difference, harmony without difference), and harmony (in ancient times, it was said that Han people and ethnic minorities were allied and friendly), and harmony (2) not only included ". Please believe that among all Chinese characters, there is no one that can highlight "China Tea Ceremony" better than "He". It is believed that "harmony and purity of heart" is the essence of tea culture and the core of tea ceremony (Tea Art Newspaper, 19, published by Hong Kong Tea Art Center, 1993).

Tea ceremony and tea ceremony

Tea ceremony is an art of drinking tea for the purpose of cultivating monasticism, which includes four elements: tea ceremony, etiquette, environment and practice. Tea ceremony is the foundation and necessary condition of tea ceremony, which can exist independently of tea ceremony. Tea ceremony is based on tea ceremony and depends on it. Tea ceremony focuses on "art" and obtains aesthetic enjoyment by learning tea art. Tea ceremony focuses on Tao, aiming to cultivate the mind and realize Tao through tea ceremony. The connotation of tea ceremony is less than that of tea ceremony, and the connotation of tea ceremony includes tea ceremony. The extension of tea ceremony is greater than that of tea ceremony, and its extension is between tea ceremony and tea culture.

The connotation of tea ceremony is greater than that of tea ceremony, and the extension of tea ceremony is greater than that of tea ceremony. "Art" refers to the art of making tea, making tea and tasting tea. The' Tao' we are talking about here refers to the spirit that is carried out in the process of artistic tea tasting. Art has no way, art has no essence and no spirit. Tea art, named but tangible, is the external expression of tea culture; Tea ceremony is spirit, truth, law, origin and essence. It is often invisible and intangible, but you can fully understand it through your heart. The combination of tea art and tea ceremony is the result of a high degree of unity of matter and spirit. The connotation and extension of tea ceremony and tea ceremony are different, which should be strictly distinguished and not confused.

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.

Personally, I think there is no tea ceremony in China, only the "tea culture" in China! The reason for this is the following：

1. In China, "Tao" is a very serious thing, not a branch of life. On the other hand, some fur it took away from China was publicly called "Tao"! The root of Chinese and Japanese tea culture is in China, but its development has gone in two different directions, which has its inevitable factors.

The main body of China tea culture is people, tea exists as the object of people, and tea exists for people. China's tea culture is called the philosophy of beauty for five reasons:

1. The roots of China's tea culture aesthetics can be traced back to the pre-Qin, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The master who laid the foundation of China's classical aesthetic theory is a great philosopher.

2. Its theoretical basis stems from some philosophical propositions.

3. In the development process, China tea culture aesthetics mainly absorbed the philosophical theories of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, and benefited from the promotion of a large number of thinkers and philosophers.

4. China's tea culture aesthetics emphasizes the harmony between man and nature, exploring the mysteries of the universe from a small teapot and appreciating the tastes of life from a light tea soup.

5. China's tea culture aesthetics has a profound and extensive influence on tea people from a philosophical point of view, especially in thinking mode, aesthetic taste, artistic imagination, personality formation and so on.

In a word, the aesthetic thoughts in China's classical philosophy sneaked into the night with the wind, silently nourishing the wonderful flower of China tea culture. In China tea culture, there are both the ethereal beauty of Buddhism, the mysterious and broad-minded beauty of Taoism and the elegant and implicit beauty of Confucianism.

On the other hand, Japanese tea ceremony emphasizes the following three points.

(A) respect and silence

"Harmony, respect and silence" are called the four truths, four rules and four rules of tea ceremony. It is the most important concept in Japanese tea ceremony thought. Mention these four words, people will immediately think of tea ceremony. The main idea of tea ceremony thought is that the "yuan" of subject is an absolute negation of subject. The main idea of this tea ceremony is intangible. As the embodiment of "nothing", the tangible concept is harmony, respect, purity and purity.

(2) The first phase will be held for a while.

"One session" in "one session" means "one life at a time", "one life at a time" and "one life at a time". One session means meeting once in a lifetime, and there will be no second meeting. This is the mentality that Japanese tea people should hold when holding tea parties. This view comes from the impermanence of Buddhism, urging tea people to respect every minute and take it seriously.

(C) the concept of sitting alone

The term "the idea of sitting alone" also comes from Jing Yi's Collection of Tea and Soup. "Sitting alone" means sitting alone in the teahouse after the guests leave, and "thinking" means "pondering" and "meditating". Facing a teapot, sitting alone in the teahouse, thinking about this day's tea, thinking that this day will not happen again, the tea man's heart is at a loss.

It can be seen that in the Japanese tea ceremony, people are deliberately downplayed and tea is blindly emphasized. This is the biggest difference in tea culture between the two countries, and also reflects the differences in culture and value orientation between the two countries from one side.

To sum up, we can draw the following conclusions:

The development of tea culture in China is from bottom to top, so it is characterized by broadness. The so-called tea culture has an indissoluble bond with Confucianism. It can be said that it is unrealistic to separate China's tea culture from Confucianism. It is precisely because of the free and easy literati in China that China's tea culture is in a state of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend. At the same time, because in China culture,

In contrast to Japan, from the beginning, the spread of tea was from top to bottom. The upper class has elevated tea to an inexplicable religion. For their own needs, the ruling class put tea into a sacred aura and was meticulous about affairs. It can't be said that they are simplified into shapes by insisting on appearance. In the tea ceremony, people become slaves of tea, which seems to be suspected of putting the cart before the horse.

In this way, we can draw a conclusion: from the appearance, tea culture in China tends to decline in modern times, but it is not as good as that of Japanese latecomers; But from a deeper perspective, this is determined by the national mentality and cultural heritage of the two countries: in China, tea is just an art and a cultural phenomenon subordinate to people; Japan, on the other hand, is a sacred and serious Tao.