Tea Read Online Free PDF Page B

hard cake, ground it into powder with a mortar and pestle, then boiled it for several minutes to make tea, which was poured into a bowl.
    As processing methods evolved from raw leaf to baked brick, the taste improved accordingly, and tea enjoyed a surge of popularity throughout China during the T’ang dynasty. Tea was served not only at the imperial court, but almost everywhere else as well. Drinking tea soon became an essential part of everyday life for many people, from emperors to peasants. At this time, the tea drunk in China was green tea. The Chinese did not drink black tea until they began to process it for export to the West, beginning in the seventeenth century.
    Those who could afford it drank only the finest teas, which at that time came from the regions of Xiashou, Guangzhou, and Huzhon and offered a complexity of flavors. Eventually, social status became associated with the type of tea one drank (or could afford). Not only did the tea itself have to meet high standards, but everything associated with it—the utensils, bowls, water, and tea caddy—all had to be of the finest quality.
    The T’ang dynasty, which proved to be one of the greatest in China history, valued quality and beauty. It was a time of great sophistication, characterized by a love of learning and the arts. Poetry, painting, calligraphy, music, and landscape gardening all enjoyed popularity during this time, and inevitably, this environment of refinement influenced the culture of tea.
    Naturally, people needed a place to get a bowl of tea, and teahouses and tea gardens soon sprang up in cities and towns across the empire. Many of these tea gardens became manifestations of the sophistication and refinement of the T’ang culture. Along with the search for the best teas came the development of the tea master, one who could find the highest-grade tea leaves from growers in the various regions, and who could prepare the most delicious teas. Tea masters were in great demand, particularly among the royalty and high officials.

    LU YU, FIRST TEA MASTER
    Of all the tea masters who lived during the T’ang dynasty, Lu Yu was the best known, so famous, in fact, that he has been called the “father of tea,” “deity of tea,” “sage of tea,” and the “immortal of tea.”
    Although there is some question as to the exact date and place of his birth, Lu Yu was probably born in the district of Chin Ling some time between 728 and 733 . There are countless stories and legends about him, most of which say that he was abandoned as a baby and adopted by the Buddhist monk Zhiji, spending his early years in the monastery.
    In spite of the surroundings of his youth, however, Lu Yu proved to be temperamentally unfit for the life of the priesthood. He was in a state of constant rebellion that caused the monks to punish him by assigning him difficult and menial tasks. The monks hoped that as Lu Yu performed these tasks, he would learn the necessary discipline and humility to continue with his priestly studies, but it was all to no avail. At the age of thirteen, Lu Yu ran away to join an opera troupe and fulfill his dream of becoming a clown. He seemed perfectly suited to this life and delighted audiences wherever he went, playing the fool and making people laugh.
    In spite of his restlessness, however, Lu Yu exhibited an unusually keen intellect, and he soon became bored with performing with the troupe. Although he did not miss the austerity and simplicity of the life of the monks, he did miss his life as a student. Fortunately, one of Lu Yu’s greatest admirers was an official who became aware of the young man’s intellectual yearnings. His patronage allowed Lu Yu to further his education by studying the ancient writings while he continued with his profession.
    Then, in 760 , an armed rebellion forced Lu Yu to leave the district where he was performing with the opera troupe. Along with many others, he took