除了是一场佛系的治愈外，踩进来后，才发现喝茶竟也不无风流。
Cha （茶）derives its name from "searching for something"…
话题身材虽小，但梳理过后的通透即视，再配上雨天午后的安静，周末也值了。
视觉控，又开始了…
(橙色- Japanese tea ceremony; 绿色- Chinese tea ceremony; 红色- Differences between the two)
上图源于对Jessie昨天的演讲Tea ceremony一文的肆意拆解和cha的其他物料。
日式的茶道源于中国，现在却早已分道扬镳。我们越来越放下喝茶的身段时，它却有了“四规七则”，从喝茶的一步一步，到茶室的格调（为什么我们现在的“茶室”好像进化成了“麻将室”？oops!）都是按章可现。
中国的茶道里也不乏几张好牌：
斗茶
功夫茶
川茶
禅宗茶
差异也没有至于到非黑即白，主宾之间、配食不同，好像一个喝在仪式，一个喝在禅信。
忍不住回味下Jessie的演讲：
Tea Ceremony
China is widely known as the hometown of tea, with a tea history of around 4000 years. As the legend has it, Shennong tasted hundreds of wild plants to see which were eatable. It is said that he was poisoned seventy-two times in one day but was saved by chewing some leaves of an evergreen plant with white flowers. Since he had a transparent belly, people could see how the food moved throughout his stomach. When they saw the juice of the leaves go up and down in the stomach as if it were searching for something, they called it “cha”, meaning search in Chinese. Later the plant was named with the same sound “cha”, meaning tea in English.
Tea-drinking is a significant part of Chinese culture.Afterwards, it spreads over to Europe and to many other regions through cultural exchange. When it comes to tea culture, tea ceremony is the core of it. According to “The Book of the Tea”, written by Lu Yu, a very famous tea science scholar in history, the tea ceremony literally translated as “ art of tea”, relating to the way of making and drinking tea, the usage of tea sets and tea philosophy.
Tea ceremony originates in China, but it flourished in Japan. So when people think of tea ceremony, they first think the Japanese tea ceremony. Then what’s the difference between Chinese and Japanese tea ceremony? What’s the difference?
First, let’s see Japanese tea ceremony.
Basically, the four key principles of Japanese tea ceremony are harmony, respect, purity and loneliness. Now, let’s go to a Japanese-style tea house to experience spiritual release.
Please follow me. OK, we arrive a little earlier at a waiting room. We store unneeded items there, wash our hands, rinse mouths and then enter a tea house. At the moment, a typical tearoom layout jumps into our eyes. We can see:
Tatami
Hearth
Mizuya (water room)
Tokonoma (a built-in space in a room)
a hanging stroll (it may feature a painting or Calligraphy or a combination of both)
a simple flower arrangement (it is tea flower, the container for it is typically made from natural materials such as bamboo, metal or ceramic, but not glass).
We walk gently on Tatami to take our place in proper sitting positions. Before drinking the tea, we are served a meal and sweet cakes, which helps to counter the bitterness of the tea. Next, ritually, the host makes the tea and guests drink tea, including two parts: thick tea and thin tea. One bowl of thick tea is shared among several guests, while thin tea is served to each guest in an individual bowl. The whole tea gathering can last up to four hours, depending on the type of occasion performed and the number of guests.
My members and guests, how do you feel about this short visit? Just imagine, when we sit on the tatami, admiring the calligraphy, drinking tea and having a relaxing chat, we feel we are leaving the hustle and bustle of city life. Right?
Maybe someone would say, “ Oh, come on, this is too boring, I don’t like just drinking tea.” OK, next let’s see something interesting – Chinese tea ceremony.
Chinese tea ceremony reflects the central idea of Taoism, Confucian and Buddhism. It devotes particular care to the fine teas, clean tea water, heat control, tea sets and the peaceful environment. From the way you practice tea ceremony, you show us what kind of person you are, your manners, personality and even inner world.
There are four famous types of Chinese tea ceremony:
Tea contrast
Beginning in Song Dynasty, it was actually a kind of game poplar among scholars. The competitors took out their own tea for quality evaluation. The main criteria is the color of tea water and surface bubble. Nowadays, tea contrast is often held during Qingming Festival.
Kung fu tea ceremony
Also dating back to Song Dynasty, it is now the most famous type of Chinese tea ceremony and popular in Chaoshan area in Guangdong Province. The most important thing of kung fu tea is the tea sets.
Sichuan tea ceremony
The tea master pours boiling hot water into a tea bowl from a 1.2-meter long pot, without splashing a drop of water. When you travel to Chengdu, you can find yourself a tea house to personally experience it. It’s amazing.
Zen tea ceremony
In ancient China, Buddhist monks planted, processed tea and formed the habit of drinking tea. Many ancient famous teas were related to the Buddhist temples. For example, Lingyin Temple produced West Lake Longjing Tea. Tea can help monks to meditate all night long, to digest and to suppress worldly desires.
Which tea ceremony do you prefer? Actually, no matter which one, we can discover the romantic spirit for ourselves when enjoying a cup of tea in a peaceful setting with good company.
After seeing these types of tea ceremony, what do you see from it? Is it just a ritual? Not really. Yes, tea ceremony is about tea drinking, but at the same time, it’s a combination of philosophy and life style. Through the whole set of ceremony, body is nurtured, culture and manners are learned, the mind and thoughts are refreshed.
Dear all, pick one day, why not meet for tea? Japanese-style or Chinese-style, you decide!
