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BORN TO THIS EARTH are three kinds of creatures. Some are
winged and fly. Some are furred and run. Still others stretch their
mouths and talk. All of them must eat and drink to survive.
There
are times, nonetheless, when the meaning of "drink" becomes obscure. If
one would merely slake his thirst, then he can drink rice and water.
Should melancholy, sadness or anger strike, he can turn to wine to
drink. But if one would dispel an evening's unproductive lassitude, the
meaning of "drink" is tea.
Now tea, used as a drink, was first discovered by the Emperor ShenNong (神农) . Among other great tea drinkers, we have heard that in the State of Lu
there was the Duke of Chou while the State of Ch'i had Yen Ying. During
the Han Dynasty there were Yang Hsiung and Ssu-Ma Hsiang-ju. During the
Wu, there was Wei Yao. During the Chin there were Liu Kun, as well as
Chang Ts'ai, my distant ancestor Lu Na and Hsieh An among others pulled
out of memory at random. All of them drank tea.
Tea has been
traditionally taken so extensively that it is immersed in our customs
and flourishes in the present Dynasty both North and South. From Ching
to Yu, it is the common drink of every household.
The beverage
that the people take may be from coarse, loose, powdered or cake tea.
It can be chopped, boiled, roasted and then tamped down into a bottle
or pottery vessel where it awaits only hot water.
Sometimes such
items as onion, ginger, jujube fruit, orange peel, dogwood berries or
peppermint are boiled along with the tea. Such ingredients may be
merely scattered across the top for a glossy effect, or they can be
boiled together and the froth drawn off. Drinks like that are no more
than the swill of gutters and ditches; still, alas, it is a common
practice to make tea that way.
In the ten thousand objects which
Heaven nourishes, there is supreme perfection. It is only for ease and
comfort that man works at things. He sequesters himself in a house. So
the house he refines to the perfection of his own taste. He covers
himself with clothing. The clothing he refines to perfection. He
consumes to satiety both food and drink. These also he cultivates and
refines to the utmost.
Thus with tea. There are nine ways by which man must tax himself when he has to do with tea.
He must manufacture it.
He must develop a sense of selectivity and discrimination about it.
He must provide the proper implements.
He must prepare the right kind of fire.
He must select the suitable water.
He must roast the tea to a turn.
He must grind it well.
He must brew it to its ultimate perfection. He must, finally, drink it.
There
are no short cuts. Merely to pick tea in the shade and dry it in the
cool of the evening is not to manufacture it. To nibble it for flavor
and sniff at it for fragrance is not to be discriminating. To brinks
along a musty tripod or a bowl charged with nose-insulting odors is not
to provide the proper implements. Resinous firewood and old kitchen
charcoal are not the stuff for a seemly fire. Water from turbulent
rapids or dammed-up flood water is not suitable water. Tea cannot be
said to be roasted when it is heated on the outside and left raw
underneath. Reducing it to jade powder and green dust is not grinding
tea. Manipulating the instruments awkwardly and transitions from
instrument to instrument dial attract attention are not brewing tea.
Finally, taking prodigious amounts of tea in summer and none at all in
winter are not drinking tea.
For exquisite freshness and vibrant
fragrance, limit the number of cups to three. If one can be satisfied
with less than perfection, five are permissible. If one's guests number
up to five rows, it will be necessary to use three bowls. If seven,
then five bowls will be required. If there are six guests or fewer, do
not economize on the number of bowls.
But if even one guest is missing from the assemblage, then the haunting and lasting flavor of the tea must take his place.
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