Chinese Tea Ceremony

Drinking tea is an elegant pursuit, a reflection of a cultivated and refined character, but it should not become an ostentatious disguise.

At times, an overly formalized tea-drinking process can feel exhausting.

When one focuses too much on the ritual and ceremony of drinking tea, the essence of introspection and tranquility during the act is lost.

In the past, Chan Master Fayan was once asked by a student:
“Master, what is the Way of Life?”
He replied:
“First, I tell you to practice. Second, I tell you to practice.”

Similarly, what is the Way of Tea?
“First, I tell you to drink. Second, I tell you to drink.”
Why should there be so many ceremonies and profound doctrines?

The Way of Tea

In its narrow sense, the art of tea corresponds to what we now call tea ceremony. Lu Yu's Tang dynasty Classic of Tea primarily discusses boiled tea, while Song dynasty works like Cai Xiang's Tea Record and Emperor Huizong's Treatise on Tea in the Daguan Period focus on whisked tea. Ming dynasty texts such as Zhang Yuan's Tea Record and Xu Cishu's Comprehensive Guide to Tea describe the loose-leaf brewing method common today. Broadly interpreted, the Way of Tea elevates drinking from daily sustenance to cultural practice, emphasizing aesthetic refinement. It encompasses a complete system of requirements governing utensils, preparation methods, tearoom arrangement, etiquette, and conversation topics. Particularly in Japanese tea ceremony, this develops into extreme formalism, with rigid prescriptions for every movement and gesture.

Regarding tea's significance, even from life's perspective, it remains what Okakura Kakuzō described in The Book of Tea: "a tender attempt to approach perfection." Yet ritualization only serves to confine human spirituality.

Tea as Spiritual Cultivation
As recorded in Tao Hongjing's Liang dynasty Miscellaneous Records: "Bitter tea lightens the body and transforms the bones, as Danqiuzi and Huangshan Jun of old discovered," claiming tea could facilitate spiritual transcendence. Through tea practice, one cultivates virtue and apprehends cosmic principles. Emperor Huizong's Daguan Tea Treatise characterizes tea as medium: "As for tea's essential nature - purifying and harmonizing - this cannot be understood by vulgar minds." This Daoist monarch saw tea embodying clarity, harmony, simplicity, purity, rhythm, and tranquility, believing its consumption refined character through moral sublimation.

Zhu Quan's Ming dynasty Tea Manual states: "Raising eyes to azure heavens while drawing spring water to boil over living flames, this communion with nature expands the mind's capacity. The alchemy of water and fire aids internal cultivation - is this not mental wandering by the tea stove? Truly beneficial to self-cultivation, surpassing mere refreshment." As the seventeenth son of Zhu Yuanzhang and progenitor of Ming tea philosophy, Zhu redirected tea practice toward "cultivation principles," shifting Chinese tea philosophy from sensory appreciation to cosmic enlightenment - from tasting nature to comprehending its laws. Chinese tea tradition remains simple yet profound, never constrained by rigid formalisms.

Tea as Dao
Laozi taught: "The Dao follows nature," operating through effortless action. Zhuangzi declared the Dao exists "in ants," "in weeds," "in excrement" - omnipresent in all things. Chan Buddhism holds "verdant bamboos whole embody Dharma-body; golden chrysanthemums perfectly manifest prajñā." The Dao permeates daily life; cultivation requires no special practices beyond natural living. Fetching water, gathering fuel, dining, washing utensils, boiling water, brewing tea - all manifest Dao. Drinking tea becomes spiritual practice; tea itself becomes Dao.

Chan master Yangshan Huiji versified:
Torrential, yet upholding no precepts
Solitary, yet practicing no meditation
Three bowls of strong tea
Intent rests by the hoe's edge

No need for monastic rules or seated meditation - tea drinking and farming themselves constitute cultivation. Zhao Zhou Congshen's famous "Go drink tea" injunction inaugurated the "tea and Chan share one flavor" tradition. The supreme Dao simplifies - true cultivation is non-cultivation. Lighting fire, heating water, brewing tea - all express Dao. Tea practice should neither cling to rigid protocols nor boast of rustic excess, but value natural simplicity. Following instinctive spontaneity, ordinary tea activities harmonize with primal truth.

Each tea cup and tea pet embodies the essence of Chinese culture—not just a tea companion but a collectible work of art. Click to explore: [Website Link]