Bitter Bamboo Shoots is a tea note written by Shen Xiu, a monk in the Tang Dynasty. This note records the scenes of several Buddhist monks drinking tea in the Zen forest, and Shen Xiu himself is one of them. In his notes, he vividly described the way of making tea, the skills of making tea, the shape of tea set and the taste of tea.
The full text of Bitter Bamboo Shoots is in poetic style, with 48 poems of different lengths. Its elegant and concise writing, fresh and natural language make people feel cool and comfortable, which is quite interesting. In the book, Shen Xiu tells the story of talking about Zen and sharing famous tea with several other Zen masters in the teahouse, and describes in detail the utensils and materials for making tea, the cooking technology, the evaluation of tea quality and taste, and the significance of self-cultivation in the tea ceremony. The content is rich and the explanation is simple. Shen Xiu studied tea ceremony very deeply.
Shen Xiu described the process of making tea in his letter, and he specifically mentioned natural boiling, because he thought that if the teapot came into contact with the fire source too early, the aroma of tea would disappear. He also described the color, aroma, taste and taste of tea, and made a detailed evaluation of tea products. He believes that the aroma and taste of tea should make people feel comfortable and pleasant, not too strong or exciting.
The significance of tea ceremony self-cultivation is also discussed in bitter bamboo shoots. Shen Xiu believes that tea tasting is not only beneficial to the health, but also can increase the cultivation ability of spiritual practice and abstinence mentality. In meditation, drinking tea is also an excellent way to help the Tao, which can enhance the effect of meditation and reduce fatigue in meditation. Bitter Bamboo Shoots is a very important note on tea ceremony culture, which not only retains many details of tea culture in Tang Dynasty, but also guides people to think and study tea ceremony cultivation, leaving a valuable historical and cultural heritage of tea ceremony culture.
Buddhist Notes on Tea Stories
Besides bitter bamboo shoots, there are many similar Buddhist notes about tea. For example, Gu's "Hundred Chicory Tongue Roots" in Tang Dynasty is a poem about tea ceremony, which mainly describes the tea ceremony life in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Falan's "Sage Tea Tasting" recorded some skills of Zen monks in the Tang Dynasty when cooking tea, and how to integrate tea ceremony into meditation. These Buddhist books played a great role in promoting the development of tea ceremony at that time, and still have certain research value in the study of modern tea culture.