What Is the Way of Tea?
When everything is related to the word “Tao” (Way), it seems unfathomable. Laozi said in “Tao Te Ching”: “Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things.” He described “Tao” as a phenomenon between the tangible and the intangible that encompasses all things, is omnipresent, profound and extensive, and is constantly evolving. It’s really too exquisite and profound. And it also said in “Tao Te Ching”: “Tao follows nature.” This finally makes people breathe a sigh of relief and feel a bit relaxed, but then they are at a loss again. The two words “nature” are not easy to explain either. It seems that the understanding of the way of tea varies from person to person.
For Rural Households and Ordinary Urban Residents
For rural households or ordinary urban residents, they only regard tea as a commodity. They have been tasting it for thousands of years. Besides its effects of refreshing the mind and relieving greasiness, they also take tea as a companion when sitting alone, chatting, going out or staying at home. If you ask them what’s so special about it, no one can give an answer. They just feel that they can’t do without it, and they think this is the way of tea.
Tea Purchasing and Packaging in Old Beijing
Before the 1950s in this century, when ordinary people in Beijing went to time-honored tea shops to buy tea, it was a bit difficult for them to afford Huangshan Maofeng, Yunnan Dianhong, Dongting Biluo, and West Lake Longjing. It’s said that they often bought the cheaper “Man Tian Xing” instead. In old tea shops, tea was usually packed in small packets. Each liang (a traditional Chinese unit of weight, about 50 grams) could be divided into five small packets for grocery stores, teahouses, bathhouses, inns, restaurants and so on. According to relevant records, watching the clerks in tea shops pack tea was a kind of enjoyment. Packing tea emphasized speed, accuracy and beauty. For a tea packet weighing three grams, it was required to pack about ten packets per minute. The weight of the divided tea was exactly the same. The so-called “beauty” refers to the exquisite packaging. Scholars in the packaging industry said: “Packaging is the second life of a product.” Old Beijingers straightforwardly said: “Good packaging sells the product.” It’s said that at that time, the clerks in tea shops were the fastest in packing tea. There must be no scattering, breaking or leakage, and the packets should be angular and elegant. The packaging of time-honored tea shops in Beijing was quite particular. Old customers could tell what kind of tea was inside and how much it weighed just by glancing at the packaging style. For example, one or two liang of tea was packed in a “clasped-hands packet”, named because its shape was like two arms clasped together; half a jin (about 250 grams) of tea was called a “rolled packet”; ordinary tea was packed in square packets, and only one qian (about 5 grams) of tea was packed in a “small lotus leaf packet”, which was shaped like an old flint striker and commonly known as a “flint striker slice”. Low-grade tea dust was packed in a conical shape. If you ask “old Beijingers” what the “way of tea” is, they will surely tell these stories.
The Taste of Tea in the Eyes of Literati
The literatus Ge Zhaoguang said in “Continued Talks on Tea and Zen”: “What’s the taste of tea? It’s clear. But among the five tastes of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty, there is no ‘clear’. People use ‘clear’ to evaluate the taste of tea, but they don’t know that it doesn’t come from the lips and teeth. If you really want to talk about the taste of tea, you have to say ‘bitter’.”
Regarding this “bitter” word, the ancient medical book “Supplement to Compendium of Materia Medica” said: “Tea, its taste is bitter and mild.” However, there are more comments saying that tea is bitter at first and then sweet. For example, in “The Book of Songs”, it said: “Who says the tea is bitter? It’s as sweet as maltose.” In “The Classic of Tea”, it said: “Sipping it is bitter and swallowing it is sweet. That’s tea.” There are also quite a lot of words saying that tea has a “wonderful fragrance”. For example, in “Records of Huangshan Mountain”, it said: “Cloud and mist tea is cultivated by mountain monks in the tiny soil between the cracks of stones. It has a faint fragrance and a cool charm, far better than that of Lushan Mountain.” In “Twelve Rhymes of Tea Garden”, it said: “The fragrance is different after steaming, and the fire is slightly warm when baking.” Perhaps these are the “way of tea” for literati and refined scholars? Finally, a glimmer of light was found in miscellaneous books on Zen tea: “If you drink tea with your mouth and nose, you can only taste bitterness, get a sweet aftertaste and smell the fragrance. Only those who drink tea with their hearts can experience the ‘clear’ word in the quiet tasting and careful savoring.”
It seems that when you taste the “clear” flavor in tea, you are close to the “way of tea”.
Japanese Way of Tea
It’s said that the Japanese way of tea, like Japanese Judo and Kendo, integrates the principles of being a person, personal cultivation and temperament into one. When the fragrance of tea spreads, fills the throat, and the music of stringed and wind instruments is soothing, people will have a wonderful sense of transcendence. The so-called “When you taste the flavor in it, you won’t notice the exquisiteness of the tea and utensils.”
The True Connotation of the Way of Tea
In fact, “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.” The so-called “way of tea” is definitely not something to be talked about casually, something in form, or a self-proclaimed topic. Nor is it the tea art that emphasizes the environment, utensils, tea varieties and tea sets. Once something material is related to the word “Tao”, it will give birth to endless mysteries and reveries, which cannot be encompassed by culture, skills or preaching. Li Rihua said in “Notes of Liuyanzhai” that “Those who are not truly in harmony with Tao cannot easily evaluate the charm of tea.” That’s exactly what it means. When tasting tea reaches the level of “tasting tea with the heart”; when there is the feeling of “bitterness turning into sweetness” in drinking; when the taste of tea is only known in one’s heart, perhaps it is close to the “way of tea”.
Tea, Scenery and Tourism
Tea and scenery, tea and tourism, tea and profound philosophy are like a freehand brushwork painting. Adding more strokes would be redundant, and fewer strokes would be insufficient. Although it’s far from the “Tao”, it’s close to the “feeling”. Famous tea-producing areas must have beautiful scenery. For example, West Lake Longjing is produced in the scenic area of “Hangzhou is the most memorable”; Taihu Biluo is produced on Dongting Island where “everywhere in the mountain is green”; Putuo Buddha Tea is produced on Putuo Foding Mountain where “the sound of the South China Sea tide, the water and the moon form a halo around the Buddhist land, and the scenery of Putuo Mountain, with green pines and bamboos reaching to the sky”; Junshan Yinzhen is produced in the Junshan scenic area in Yueyang where “lightly sweeping the clear lake like opening a jade mirror, and the beautiful scenery is painted as Junshan”. After careful consideration, there are many places in the country with beautiful scenery and famous tea, but the characteristic tourism projects such as “tea-tasting tour” and “tea-appreciating tour” that integrate with tea culture don’t seem to be prosperous. Nowadays, people often talk about “organic tea” and “green and pollution-free tea”, and then it has occupied an important position in the hearts of countless tea lovers. If we combine enjoying the scenery, expressing emotions, knowing the taste and purchasing into one, and vigorously carry out “famous tea and beautiful scenery” tours with the theme of green consumption, so that Chinese and foreign tourists can start from visiting tea fields, participating in picking, watching the frying and processing, and then taste, buy and enjoy the scenery until the end. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing of “consuming clearly”?
In a sense, these are also the contents of the “way of tea”, a three-dimensional way of tea.
Teahouses and Their Charm
Nowadays, teahouses are scattered everywhere and have strong vitality. The consumption level of some teahouses is much higher than that of bars and restaurants. This is the charm of the “way of tea”. And it’s not just because there are elegant rooms, famous paintings, beautiful music and tea art in teahouses. People who taste tea often don’t focus on the tea itself but on communication, exchange and sharing ideas. People who drink wine often focus on the wine itself, are often picky about the brand of wine, take getting drunk by drinking freely as pleasure, and usually gather together after achieving something. Careers, business, learning and human relationships can’t be achieved just by a few cups of tea. The longer the journey of life is, the more fragrant the taste of tea is. The more you taste it, the more you want to taste it. It can clear the mind and refresh the spirit, and make people elegant and handsome. While wine, although it makes people feel pleasant and sweet at first, seems to have after-effects. Often, holding a glass of wine may lead to mistakes and miss opportunities. But wine is a “test solution” to verify a person’s self-control, wit and self-awareness. From this perspective, there is also a certain “Tao” in it.
An old literatus wrote in “After Tea and Wine”: “Wine is romantic, tea is classic; one is unrestrained, one is reserved; one is bold and unrestrained, one is introverted; tea can relieve troubles, wine can make you forget your worries.” That’s exactly what it means.
The reason why teahouses attract many people to visit and people always feel new about each cup of tea is that wine can be used as tea, but tea can’t be used as wine. “Offering tea instead of wine when guests come on a cold night” is just a helpless choice. In fact, treating friends with tea can completely express emotions.
Conclusion
To sum up what we have seen, understood, heard and felt, how to explain the way of tea is like clouds in the sky and cranes in the wild. We can only hear its sound and see its shape, but don’t know its principle and emotion. People at different consumption levels, with different educational backgrounds and different appreciation psychologies have different understandings of the way of tea. The tea that can be tasted for half a life indeed has its extraordinary and refined aspects. Looking at the names of tea shops in Beijing, I just feel that the name “Zhang Yiyuan” is wonderful. The implication of “The beginning of a new cycle and everything is renewed” is very close to the way of tea. The ancient philosophical thought of “Getting one and everything is accomplished” is even more integrated and echoed with the way of tea. In ancient times, someone asked a senior monk about Tao, and the monk only said “Go and drink tea”. There was no mention of where to drink, what tea to drink and when to go. It’s said that the wise man who sought Tao had a deep understanding of these three words. It can be seen that the origin of the way of tea is in China. Ancient Chinese sages had a profound interpretation of it.
