Foreword
I encountered this question a few days ago: What are the most beautiful poems related to tea, or poems that are beautiful but not vulgar?
Legend has it that our tea drinking originated more than 3,000 years ago, and some people also say that it dates back to the Zhou Dynasty, Qin and Han Dynasties, etc. Regardless of the time, it shows that the origin of tea is very early, so it is not surprising that it appears in the works of literati.
Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty was known as the "Tea Fairy and Tea Sage". Lu Yu's "The Book of Tea" was the world's first monograph on tea. He said in the "Tea Book": "Tea is for drinking. , originated from Shennong. "
At the same time, he also recorded a poem about tea.
1. What is Ming? What is tea?
A poem written by Sun Chu during the Wei and Jin Dynasties said:
Dogwood trees emerge from the peaks of fragrant trees, and carps emerge from Luoshui springs. White salt comes out of Hedong, and beautiful black soybean comes out of Luyuan.
Ginger, osmanthus, tea, and grass come out of Bashu, and pepper, orange, and magnolia come out of the mountains. Polygonum grows out of ditches, and fine barnyardgrass emerges from middle fields.
Cha 荈: chá chuǎn, meaning tea.
This is an earlier poem about tea. It comes from Lu Yu's "The Book of Tea·Seven Things". In this paragraph of text, there is also this paragraph:
"Shen Nong· "Food Classic": "Taking tea for a long time makes people strong and happy."
In poetry, tea is often mentioned, sometimes tea alone, sometimes Ming alone. But what is 荍, what is Ming, what is tea?
Guo Pu explained in "Erya Shimu":
"Those picked early are called tea, those picked late are called Ming, and the name is Cu."
< p> Laojie doesn’t understand tea. Will people who drink tea now notice whether the tea is picked in the morning or in the afternoon? Or, which tea leaves are better picked a few days earlier, or tea picked a few days later?2. Li Bai's "Answer to the Clan's Nephew Monk Zhongfu Presenting Yuquan Cactus Tea"
The great poet Li Bai also wrote poems about tea. When he visited Jinling, he met a clan member. My nephew, Zen Master Zhongfu, received a tea called cactus as a gift, so he wrote this poem:
I often hear that there are many breast caves in Yuquan Mountain. The fairy mouse is like a white crow, hanging upside down by the moon in the clear stream. Ming is born in this stone, and the jade spring flows endlessly. Sprinkle Fangjin from Genke and take it to moisturize the muscles and bones. The old bushes have green leaves and branches connected to each other. It turns into a cactus when exposed, like patting the shoulder of a flood cliff. It has never been seen in the world, who will pass on its name? Zong Ying is a Zen uncle, and he has donated some excellent chapters. There is no salt in the clear mirror and candle, and I am ashamed of Xi Ziyan. There is lingering excitement in sitting in the court, and the long chant spreads to the heavens.
Ming, this character is very distinctive. In the ancient rhyme, it has a oblique tone, which belongs to the upper tone of Twenty-Four. In the new rhyme, it has a flat tone. When Lao Cai was composing poems in the past, he made the mistake of mistakenly using Ming as the flat tone.
3. Bai Juyi wrote dozens of tea poems
When talking about Bai Juyi in "The Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty", he once mentioned his origins with tea:
Dredge the swamp, plant trees, build stone buildings, and dig out the eight-section beach for the pleasure of sightseeing. Tea, tea, and wine ladles are always there.
Li Bai wrote very few tea poems. But by the mid-Tang Dynasty, more than 60 of the poems handed down by the great poet Bai Juyi wrote about tea.
The most famous one is the song "Thanks to Li Liulang for sending tea to Xin Shu":
The old love was exchanged with Zhou Zhaxiang, and the new tea was spread and the illness was spread. There is a letter behind a book on red paper, and ten green buds before spring. Add a spoonful of water to the soup to fry the fish eyes, then add a knife and kui to stir the powder. If you don't send it to others, send it to me first, because I am someone else's tea drinker.
Xin Ming's body is divided into flat and flat. Ming is a flat sound. Tea and Ming in poems mostly have the same meaning. When the oblique tone is used, the poet will use the word Ming, and when the flat tone is used, the word tea will be used.
If you don’t send it to others, send it to me first, because I am someone else’s tea lover. Bai Juyi was good at identifying tea, and he was also particular about tea drinking, and he drank tea frequently. He drank tea in the morning, at noon, at night, after drinking, and after waking up:
After eating, he went to sleep, and when he got up, he drank tea. Ou tea. "After eating"
After drinking wine, I raised my hand to ask for tea. ""Hanshikeng Meeting with Yang Tongzhou"
4. Su Shi tried new tea with new fire
In the autumn of the seventh year of Xining (1074), Su Shi moved from Hangzhou to Mizhou (now Zhucheng, Shandong) ). The following year, the old platform in the north of the city was repaired, and Su Che named it "Transcendence".
In the late spring of the ninth year of Xining (1076), Su Shi ascended the Chaoran Terrace and wrote "Looking at Jiangnan·Transcendence". "Taiwan Works":
Spring is not yet old, the wind is soft and the willows are slanting. Try to look up from the transcendent stage, half a trench of spring water is full of flowers. After a cold meal, I am sober and sighing. The old man thinks about his homeland, and uses new fire to test new tea.
New fire is used to test new tea, cold food is forbidden, and new fire is used to brew new tea.
Su Shi also has a saying. The first "Xijiang Moon (Tea Ci)" describes the characteristics of Longbao tea:
Longbao is the best this year, and Gulian has treasured springs since ancient times. The Miao descendants came from Beiyuan. . The soup is plump and plump, and the floating milk is light and round. Who dares to fight for the red window noodles?
The method of making tea in the Song Dynasty is also recorded. :
The living water needs to be boiled over a live fire, and the deep clear water is taken from the fishing stone. The big ladle is stored in the spring pot, and the small ladle is divided into the river and poured into the night bottle.
The snow milk has been boiled. When I was at my feet, the wind in the pine tree suddenly made the sound of diarrhea. I couldn't stop drinking three bowls with my withered intestines. I sat and listened to the long and short updates in the deserted city.
5. The poet who wrote most about tea
It is said that the great poet Lu You (1125~1210) of the Southern Song Dynasty was the poet who wrote most about tea. More than 300 poems contain the word tea. .
Lu You wrote Qilu on his eighty-third birthday:
The white-headed man at the foot of Shifan Mountain will see the spring of grass in the eighty-third time. Love yourself and forget loneliness. God will reward you with strength and poverty.
Kutong has been seeking knowledge? My broom is a donation but I treasure it. Mr. Feng of the Sangju family suddenly smiled, and he was still able to become the god of tea in his old age.
Lu You, like Bai Juyi, loved drinking tea throughout his life. He compared himself to the tea god Lu Yu many times in his poems. Lu Yu's nickname is Sang Ramu Weng, and Lu You and Lu Yu have the same surname, so it is said that the family tradition is Sang Ramu.
Conclusion
When visiting Laoshan Mountain in Qingdao, you will see tea gardens all over the mountain along the way. The reputation of Laoshan Tea has become more and more famous in recent years. I heard poetry friend Mu Taogong say that most tea farmers are engaged in small-scale planting and processing, and the output is not high and the cost is not low. In fact, most tea farmers do not earn much income.
Lao Jie also wrote a poem about the Five Rhythms about tea, "Laoshan Tea":
Spring tea comes from the sea market, and it is collected by the immortal family. The soil beside the dew spring and the buds above the clouds on Mount Laofeng. If you don’t eat jujube during the safe period, you will eat clouds by mistake if you are too white. The fragrance of a product is far away, and the heaven and earth are luxurious in the pot.
As for the most beautiful poems related to tea, it is a matter of opinion. I prefer Su Shi's "Wang Jiangnan: Transcendent Taiwanese Works", although this is not a work specifically about tea.
@老街 Flavor
Are there any modern poets who, although not famous, have written poems that you will never forget?