Early History of Tea Culture in China

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Early History of Tea Culturein China Japan
Metropolitan Club, August 20, 2009 John R.
Wallace, UC-Berkeley www.sonic.net/tabine/

• Today I will
• briefly cover some basics of the tea plant,
• give an overview of some of the highlights of tea
  culture history in China and Japan from its
  inception to about 1600
• focus on two specific threads of history, one in
  China and one in Japan.

• Version date 11/9/2009 1157 PM

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Handout A
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Handout B
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Handout C
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Probable origins of the tea plant northern
Myanmar and the Chinese districts of Yunnan and
Sichuan

• As proposed by Yamamoto, Kim and Juneja in 2007

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Camelia sinensis,new growth andolder, mother
leaves
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Tea fields, Japan
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Tea tree, Africa
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Old tea tree. Lu Yu Some tree trunks can only
be embraced by two people.

• http//www.yeyoungtea.com/tea-and-tiequanyin.php

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Nomenclature of brewed tea, English/Chinese

• Green tea probably refers to Japanese green
  tea.
• Jasmine tea refers to Chinese green tea that
  has been flavored with jasmine blossoms.
• Herbal tea is tea made through the same
  infusion process but with a plant that is not the
  tea plant, such as spearmint, ginger root,
  whatever.
• Blended tea is probably a green or red tea that
  has an additional element(s) to add interest,
  anything from little rosemary clippings to
  kernels of popped rice.

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Tang Dynasty Traveling Bronze Tea Pot

• http//www.albertomanuelcheung.com/back_to_miscell
  aneous6.htm

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Tang Dynasty Traveling Bronze Tea Pot

• http//www.albertomanuelcheung.com/back_to_miscell
  aneous7.htm

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Royal Tea Set, Tang Dynasty

• http//www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/Hist
  ory248bye946.html

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Yuan Zhao Mengfus Tea Drinking Competition
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Zhao Mengfu detail (top)
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Zhao Mengfu detail (bottom)
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Ru ware crackled glaze
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Song, Ru ware

• This is a typical cup and saucer shape for tea
  cups of the time and earlier.

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Song, tenmoku (a Japanese term)

• The darkness of this Jian ware was thought to set
  off nicely the white froth of whipped tea that
  was judged at tea competitions.

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Roasting tea bricks (Yuan dynasty painting but
similar to Tang practices)
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Ball tea it is almost surely the primary form
that first arrived to Japan
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Ochamori (???) at Eison

• The origin of the Ochamori ceremony dates back
  to 1281, when the Mongols invaded Japan. At that
  time Eison prayed for deliverance from the
  foreign threat, and on the first New Year
  following the destruction of the enemy fleet, he
  held a special celebration. He worships
  Hachiman, conducts tea service for shrine priests
  and) Finally, he served tea to the assembled
  guests. This is though to be the earliest
  tradition of tea service to the public at large.
  (Sen, 81)

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A banquet-room (??) tea gathering

• Monks and aristocrats sit together contemplating
  and composing poems. The hosts collection of
  paintings are on display as well.

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the kitchen area where tea and food is being
prepared.
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Zuo Si / Tso Ssu (d. circa 306)
In my house is a charming lady, Her face, the
whitest of white. So fair we call her Fine
Silk. Each feature, her mouth, her teeth, so
pure. She has an elder sister, Fragrant
Grace, With fine-carved eyes and brow, like a
picture. They fly about field and forest, Finding
fruit, ripe to pluck, Searching for flowers in
the wind and rain. Suddenly they grow impatient
and race back. Wanting to drink tea, they quickly
return. To sit before the kettle and blow to fan
the flames.
Excerpt from "Poem on my Lovely Daughters"
("Jiaonii shi," Lu 1735-6)
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Shi Jiaoran, Poem to Lu Yu on Drinking Tea with
Him (756)
Ninth day at a temple in the mountains, By a
hedge on the east, yellow chrysanthemums in
bloom. Ordinary people drink too much wine. Which
of them know how fragrant tea could help?
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Wang Wei (699-761)
IN THE GARDEN In the garden, I sit alone and
drink tea. ?Either play lute or snore whatever
may be. ?Many bamboos encircle, no one comes to
see ?It is only moonlight shines upon me.
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Wang Wei (699-761)
I am kept busy at this government post Not many
return to this poor village Occasionally I ride a
wicker sedan Not trying to avoid white clothing I
don't know how to cook No wife do I have to lift
my spirits There is no one here to pour me tea I
may as well go back to my hometown
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Lu Tung (Lu Tong, 790-835) Song of Tea excerpt
The first bowl moistens my lips and throat. The
second bowl banishes my loneliness and
melancholy. The third bowl penetrates my withered
entrails, finding nothing except a literary
core of five thousand scrolls. The fourth bowl
raises a light perspiration, casting lifes
inequities out through my pores. The fifth bowl
purifies my flesh and bones. The sixth bowl makes
me one with the immortal, feathered
spirits. The seventh bowl I need not drink,
feeling only a pure wind rushing beneath my wings.
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Yan Liben, Tang dynasty painting of tea brewing

• Painting of Lanting Picture Obtained by Xiao Yi
  drawn by Yan Liben was a precious reference about
  tea cooking by people of the Tang Dynasty, were a
  typical scene of tea cooking by people of the
  Tang Dynasty is shown. (http//www.teamuseum.cn/Vi
  ewContent.aspx?contentId372 )

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Yan Liben, Tang dynasty painting of tea brewing,
detail
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Song Emperor Huizongs Literary Gathering
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Huizong detail
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Huizong greater detail
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Ming Dynasty Tang Yins Tea Drinking Painting
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Tang Yin detail A
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Tang Yin detail B
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An example of a Noh mask, with the
Buddhist-informed aesthetic of yugen (??).
Often translated as mysterious beauty, it is a
type of elegant beauty that recognizes a
spiritual, mostly Buddhist sense of otherness
but retains a heightened sense of aristocratic,
elegant beauty.
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The Dojojin of the Silver Pavilion in the Eastern
Hills of Kyoto. A shoin-style tea room, one of
the first.
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Chinese vase for flowers, Song dynasty
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Wabi-style Japanese vase for flowers, 15th c.
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A vase designed by Rikyu intended to hold only
one flower. 16th c.
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Black raku ware by Chojiro, 16th c.
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Scene showing a Noh stage that only minimally
portrays a womans hut.
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U Flower Fence, Shino Ware, 16th c.
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Title for text page
Text here
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Vertical graphic
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Horizontal graphic
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Song teahouse. Detail from a scroll titled Along
the River During Qingming Festival by Zhang
Zeduan (1085-1145)

• http//reference.findtarget.com/search/Restaurant/
  

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Tea types
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Types of tea
White a very delicate tea with very little
processing, looks like little dried leaves often
still on the stem Yellow, green next to no
oxidation but the leaves are twisted into shapes
or powdered. Yellow tea is not very common on the
market. Green tea as a general term often means
Japanese tea though in Japan there are actually a
number of types of tea. Green tea in Japan is
either loose leaf or powered. There are many
green teas in China as well though rarely will
the term green be used. White and green teas
are generally held to have the best health
benefits. Red tea (called black tea in the west)
is red because of the oxidation process. The more
oxidation, the deeper the color tends to be but
of course tea leaf quantity and brewing times
will have a huge effect on tea color density as
well. Oolong teas are the most complex in
crafting techniques and, depending on the tea
might be regarded as a green tea with minimal
oxidation or a red tea with considerable
oxidation. Teas that include fermentation as
well as oxidation are called black teas in China.
Pu-erh is an example.
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1986 china/Australia article that argues for the
likely development of tea in the Yunnan area
because of its biodiversity.

• Li Xiwen and D. Walker The Plant Geography of
  Yunnan Province, Southwest China Journal of
  Biogeography Vol. 13, No 5 (Sep 1986)

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Shen Nong
The origin of tea is lost among history and
legends. What can be roughly confirmed is that
tea originated in the southwest of China. It is
said that the first man to discover what tea can
do is Shen Nong the father of agriculture and
herbal medicine in China. Shen Nong tasted
various kinds of plants to find out their
features as food or medicine. The ancient
Chinese medical book called Shen Nong Herbal,
which is attributed to Shen Nong, says that tea
tastes bitter. Drinking it, one can think
quicker, sleep less, move lighter, and see
clearer. That is the earliest book to put down
the medical functions of tea. (from Liu Tong,
Chinese Tea, trans. by Yue Liwen. Cultural China
Series (China International Press, 2005.)
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A side note Plants with punch
"The most famous native South China crop is the
tea plant, Camellia sinensis. Its earliest
cultivation was in western China around Szechuan,
and it probably spread eastward to northern China
in the Warring States period, 5th to 3rd Century
B. C. Thereafter, its cultivation gradually
extended to the central and southeastern region,
including Anhwei and Fukien provinces. The use of
plants as stimulating beverages is common all
over the world. But most of these numerous plants
are only used in a limited way by the natives.
Only three have won world- wide acclaim, namely,
tea, coffee, and cocoa.
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Royal Tea Set in the Tang Dynasty

• The royal gilt silver tea set, unearthed from the
  underground palace of Famen Temple in 1987 and
  now preserved in the Famen Temple Museum, is the
  earliest tea set of the highest rank discovered
  in the world, which has become the greatest and
  most significant discovery for archeological
  study on the world tea culture.
• The tea set includes a tea caddy woven out of
  metallic yarn, a gilt silver tortoise-shaped tea
  box, a tea roller and a silver stove for cooking
  tea.
• Each piece of the set is a fine work with its
  gorgeousness constituting a rare state-of-the-art
  set with high artistic value, and a proof that
  China is the origin of tea culture.

The gilt silver tea box is exquisitely worked out
in a height of 17.8cm. It is a compact
four-footed tea box put with cattail leaves
against dampness. Its estimated that it can hold
bunches of tea breads weighing half a kilogram or
so. The silver stove is 56.0cm high weighing 3920
grams. It is plain and neat made of sheet metal
and consists of a cover and a stove frame. The
tea groove in the Tang Dynasty is in the same
shape of todays medicine grinder groove, which
resembles a boat with a V-shaped transect, curved
bottom and upturned ends designed in
consideration of roller movements. The gilt
silver tortoise-shaped tea box features the
tortoise back as its lid with the four legs and
its head being hollow for the purpose of keeping
tealeaves. As a part of the tea set, the Tiao Da
Zi (a kind of container for mixing tea) is used
for tea mixing and drinking, since in ancient
China, the tea drinking activity is to some
extent just like having food. First you need to
put tea into the container with appropriate
spices. Then, pour in some boiled water and mix
the tea into paste lastly, you can add more
water to make it into tea soup. The salt plate is
something used for placing salt, pepper and other
spices by ancient people when preparing tea.
http//www.cultural-china.com/chinaWH/html/en/Hist
ory248bye946.html
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Yue ware bowl with carved lotus petal motif, 10th
century
some say Yuezhou ware is best (Cha jing)

• Link to the source of this image, where there is
  also a full article on this ware
  http//www.seaceramic.org.sg/articles/cirebon_carg
  o.html

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Bowl, Yue ware, 9th c.

• Bowl, Five Dynasties period (907960), 10th
  century
• Probably the vicinity of Shanglinhu, Zhejiang
  province, China
• Stoneware with carved and incised design under
  celadon glaze (Yue ware) Diam. 10 5/8 in. (27
  cm)
• http//www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_d
  atabase/asian_art/bowl/objectview.aspx?page1sort
  0sortdirasckeywordfp1dd16dd20vw1coll
  ID6OID60006667vT1

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White glazed bowl, Xing ware
There are those who argue that the bowls of
Xingzhou are superior to Yue ware. That is not at
all the case. It is proper to say that if Xing
ware is silver, then Yue ware is jade. Chajing,
The Tea Bowl

• http//www.dpm.org.cn/english/e/e22/E22b-1.htm

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Lu Tung brewing tea (painting by Ch'ien Hsüan
(ca. 1235-1307), Sung dynasty)

• http//www.npm.gov.tw/exh98/form9801/en_page_02.ht
  ml

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An Emperor Saga poem that ties tea closely to
(exotic) China
Rice harvested, fields as still as Xuanpu of the
sages, From the pond pavilion we gaze in peace at
the autumn sky Surprised by the cries of wild
geese on wing. The last cicadas sing in the
growing cold. Willows on the bank make me long
for Chinas River of Willows. I yearn to see the
lotuses there. I regard the scene in
tranquility The sky behind filled with the smoke
of roasting tea.
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One of the most complete pictures of tea in Heian
period poetry a poem by Koreuji (who I think was
one of the imperial consorts), ca. 827
Song of tea for the Governor of Izumo Early
spring, the branches of the tea plants sprout
buds. We pluck them to make tea. An old man near
the temple loves it as a treasure. Alone he faces
the golden flames and roasts his gems. Beneath a
wood of bare branches limpid waters flow. He
strains it into his silvery vessel. With finest
charcoal the fire soon glows. The kettle boils in
flowery waves. Like Pan of ancient Shang in
China Blending in the best salt to bring out the
flavor, In essence it is mysterious and
pure, Nothing could excel it. After roasting the
fragrance lingers. To drink is to be in white
clouds, cares vanished. Like a Taoist mystic one
is pure and brisk.
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Old tea tree. Lu Yu Some tree trunks can only
be embraced by two people.

• http//www.yeyoungtea.com/tea-and-tiequanyin.php

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Basic history chart