Thursday, November 29, 2012

Contents of the Classics of Tea - Cha Jing


Lu Yu's Cha jing was the earliest treatise on tea in the world. The Ch'a Ching is divided into the following 10 chapters:

Chapter 1.
Origin
This chapter expounds the mythological origins of tea in China. It also contains a horticultural description of the tea plant and its proper planting as well as some etymological speculation.
Chapter 2.
Tea Tools
This chapter describes fifteen tools for picking, steaming, pressing, drying and storage of tea leaves and cake.
Chapter 3.
Manufacture
This chapter details the recommended procedures for the production of tea cake.
Chapter 4.
Tea Wares
This chapter describes twenty eight items used in the brewing and drinking of tea.
Chapter 5.
Brewing
This chapter enumerates the guidelines for the proper preparation of tea.
Chapter 6.
Drinking Tea
This chapter describes the various properties of tea, the history of tea drinking and the various types of tea known in 5th century China.
Chapter 7.
Anecdotes
This chapter gives various anecdotes about the history of tea in Chinese records, from Shennong through the Tang dynasty.
Chapter 8.
Places
This chapter ranks the eight tea producing regions in China.
Chapter 9.
Omission
This chapter lists those procedures that may be omitted and under what circumstances.
Chapter 10.
Diagrams
This chapter consists of four silk scrolls that provide an abbreviated version of the previous nine chapters.
The Classic of Tea

By Explore Cultural China

1 comment:

  1. Hi, I did a youtube video where I quote an excerpt from Lu Yu's Cha Jing on the "best quality tea." You can watch it here if you are interested: http://youtu.be/_iH3n7xpmzo

    Thank you for posting this. Would be very interested if you can post other translations of interesting quotes from the book. Thank you.

    Judy

    ReplyDelete

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