The tea plant has a long history of 70 to 80 million years on the earth, and tea was discovered and utilized by humans. It is said that it originated in the Shennong era, only four to five thousand years ago. As for the monograph records about tea, they are much later and can only be traced back to the 8th century AD. China has a long history, a vast territory, and many Chinese dialects. In the early days, Chinese characters had "different pronunciations and different shapes of characters." There are more than ten Chinese characters representing the name of tea, such as tea, zhi, 荈, 槚, kutu, 茗, 茗, and tea, etc. "The Book of Songs" mentions the word "tea" nearly ten times, although not all of them refer to tea, but "Who says tea is bitter, but it is as sweet as shepherd's purse" ("Beifeng·Gufeng"), "Pick tea and firewood, and eat me" "Farmer" ("Youfeng July"), etc., are considered by some scholars to be the earliest records of tea affairs. The ancient calligraphy book "Erya" originated from the Western Zhou Dynasty, which also has the explanation of "槧, bitter tea"; "Yan Zi Chun Qiu", which was written in the Warring States period, also has Yan Ying's prime minister Qi Jinggong, "eat rice with millet, roasted for three days" "It's just Yiwu egg tea". In addition, since the Han Dynasty, books such as Sima Xiangru's "Fan Jiang Pian", Yang Xiong's "Dialect", Hua Tuo's "Shi Jing" and "Tongjun Lu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty have recorded tea events. As more and more people drink tea, the role of tea becomes more and more obvious, and the number of documents describing tea affairs increases from generation to generation.

Although the early records about tea were relatively simple, they left behind a lot of valuable information. For example, "Tea grows in Yizhou and is picked on March 3rd" ("Shen Nong's Materia Medica"), which points out that Yizhou, the origin of tea trees, is one of the earliest tea areas. "Tea is picked in Jingba and made into cakes. The old leaves are used to make cakes and made from rice paste. If you want to make tea and drink it, roast it until it is red, mash it into a porcelain pot, pour it with soup, and use onions, ginger, and orange peel. " ("Guang Ya" written by Zhang Yi in the Three Kingdoms period) is the earliest description of the method of making cakes and tea and brewing tea. Records about the tea cultivated in artificial tea gardens in the Ba Kingdom in the early Zhou Dynasty more than 1,000 BC, and which were presented to the Zhou royal family as a very precious tribute, can be found in "Huayang Guozhi·Bazhi" by Changzhu of Jin Dynasty. This record shows that at that time The tea production has reached a certain level. At that time, tea stalls selling tea, porridge and tea drinks appeared in the city. "During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, there was an old lady who would bring a cup of tea alone and go to the market to sell it, and the people in the market would bid for it" ("The Biography of the Elders in Guangling"), which reflects the idea of ??drinking tea. Tea has become popular among all classes of society. The poem "The fragrant tea is as good as the six pure ones, and the taste spreads all over the nine districts. Life is harsh and peaceful, but chatting here can be entertaining" ("Deng Chengdu White Rabbit Tower" by Zhang Zai of the Western Jin Dynasty) not only praises the pleasant fragrance of tea, but also reflects the Sichuan region Tea production and tea drinking are popular. In the early records, many texts talked about the functional effects of tea, which illustrates the ancients' understanding of the functions of tea. For example, drinking tea for a long time will make you feel refreshed: "Taking tea for a long time makes people strong and happy" ("Shen Nong Food") "Sutra"); drinking tea can help you sleep: "There is no real tea in Badong, and drinking it by decoction will make you sleepless. ... There is also melon tree in the south, which is also like tea. It is bitter and astringent. You can drink it as crumb tea and drink it all night long." Sleepless" ("Tong Jun Lu"); the ancients discovered that tea and Chinese herbal medicines can also cure diseases, so tea was listed as one of the Chinese herbal medicines together with black beak, dead stems, fritillary, lingcao, mirabilite, etc. (See Sima Xiangru "Every General"). "Tea tastes bitter, and drinking it makes people think better, lie down less, lighten their bodies, and improve their eyesight" ("Shen Nong's Materia Medica"); by the Eastern Han Dynasty, tea was even exaggerated as a panacea that could become immortals and achieve Taoism if drank: "Mingcai lightens the body and improves eyesight." The body and bones were changed, and Xi Danqiuzi Huangshan Jun took it" (Tao Hongjing's "Famous Doctors"). It is precisely because of the records and praises of the efficacy of tea in early literature that further promoted the trend of tea drinking.

However, the popularity of tea drinking is a slow process. Many anecdotes recorded in early literature reflect the cultural differences in tea drinking due to the differences between the north and the south. In the "Children's Covenant" written by Wang Bao, who was an official and admonished the officials in the third year of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty (59 BC), among the tasks stipulated for the boy servants are "cooking tea with all the tools" and "buying tea in Wuyang" Two items. "Everything for making tea" means that the tea sets for making tea and tea must be prepared and washed. "Buying tea in Wuyang" means going to Wuyang to buy tea for home drinking. At that time, self-sufficient production was dominant, but tea had to be rushed to the market to buy, which shows that the commercialization of tea in the Bashu region in the Han Dynasty had reached a considerable level. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Qi issued a posthumous edict in the 11th year of Yongming in the Southern Qi Dynasty (493), saying that after his death, he did not need to kill animals in front of his soul, but only needed to offer cakes, fruits, tea, rice, wine and preserved meat. It also stipulates that nobility and inferiority in the world should be governed by this system ("Book of Southern Qi"). It can be seen that tea drinking has been generally accepted by both the government and the public in the Southern Dynasties.

But the northern nobles still do not drink tea and even despise tea drinking. Wang Su, the secretary of the Southern Qi Dynasty, returned to the Northern Wei Dynasty. When he first went to the north, he was not used to the northern diet and "did not eat mutton, buttermilk, etc." "The scholar-officials of the Northern Dynasties ridiculed him and called him "Leucao", which means "a container that is never full." A few years later, Wang Su attended a court banquet held by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but "ate a lot of mutton and buttermilk." Emperor Xiaowen was very surprised and asked: "You have a southern taste. In your opinion, which one is better, mutton or fish soup, tea or buttermilk?" Wang Su flattered him and said, "Sheep is the best land product, and fish is the best." As the leader of the Shui clan, they are all treasures. In terms of taste, there are advantages and disadvantages. The mutton is like the big country of Qi and Lu, and the fish is like the small vassal country of Zhu and Ju. But the juice boiled with Ming leaves is not suitable for drinking. Buttermilk has become a slave." Emperor Xiaowen laughed. After this word spread, people called the soup made with tea "Cheisu", so that the scholar-bureaucrats in the Northern Dynasties also ridiculed the tea drinkers, "Since it is a banquet for the royal family, even if tea is provided, everyone will be ashamed." Food.

However, the remnants of the people outside the Yangtze River who come from far away will be well-off" (Volume 3 of "Luoyang Jialan Ji"). However, this situation did not last long. After the Sui Dynasty unified the north and the south, the economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south became closer. Because Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty loved drinking tea , the ups and downs work, "from this competition, the world began to know how to drink tea" ("Book of Sui"). At that time, there was a "Ode to Tea": "In the poor Spring and Autumn Period, it is better to carry a cart with tea." "The custom of drinking tea finally spread in the north.

In the long history of development, tea-drinking culture has gradually evolved from chaos to civilization. This evolution has caused the literature and materials recording tea to continue to increase and enrich. When the records of tea become more and more colorful, we will no longer be satisfied with the past situation of being appended to other books, and a comprehensive and systematic monograph on tea will appear. This is an opportunity that history has created.

This kind of historical opportunity did not appear until the Tang Dynasty. Unprecedented unity and strength, unprecedented tolerance and uptake, created the intense life style of the Tang people and the rich and intense social style of the Tang Dynasty tea industry. Vitality and a myriad of things: the tea production is booming day by day, and there are many famous products; the trend of tea drinking is popular in both the government and the public; the tea trade is very active; the feudal tea method comes into being. The era calls for the great development and improvement of the tea industry. In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu wrote China's and the world's first tea monograph "The Classic of Tea", which summarized previous experience and guided the further development of the tea industry. This fundamentally changed the situation since the Western Zhou Dynasty. From the early days, records of tea were only fragmentary and fragmentary. The emergence of the "Tea Classic" was the most eye-catching event in the history of tea. It opened up the splendid situation of tea culture.

There are different opinions on the time when "" was written, but most scholars believe that it was engraved in the first year of Jianzhong of the Tang Dynasty (780). Although it has only more than 7,000 words, it comprehensively and systematically summarizes the knowledge and experience about tea in the Tang Dynasty and before, and describes tea vividly and concretely. The book's three volumes and ten chapters show a dazzling world of tea:

"The Origin of One" introduces the origin of the tea tree, the characteristics, name, quality and efficacy of tea, etc. The author affirms that tea trees are native to southern my country, and there are shrub types one or two feet tall, and some that are tens of feet tall. In the Bashan Gorge, there is a big tea tree hugged by two people. The book gives a vivid metaphor for the shape of the tea tree, describing the characteristics from the whole to each part: the tree is like a melon, the leaves are like gardenias, and the flowers are like gardenias. White roses are like palms, with stems like cloves and roots like walnuts. The names of tea are diverse, firstly due to different dialects, and secondly, due to different picking times and different tea tree cultivation methods. Like planting melons, they can be harvested at the age of three. "Tea trees are very strict about the selection of land. The ones grown in rotten rocks are the best, those grown in gravel soil are worse, and those grown on loess soil are the worst. The wild ones are the best, and the ones grown artificially are the worst. Tea trees that grow on Xiangyang cliffs and are shaded by trees are better if their buds and leaves are purple, while green ones are worse; those with spring bamboo shoots are best, and short buds are worse; those with rolled leaves that are not unfolded are worse. It is better, but the leaves are worse. Tea trees on shady hillsides and valleys are not worth picking, because the tea is cold and cool, so it is most suitable for people with good moral character and simple taste. When you feel thirsty, boredom, headache, tired eyes, weak limbs or joint discomfort all over the body, drinking four or five sips of tea can be comparable to Daigo and nectar. However, if the tea is picked at the wrong time, if the tea is not made carefully and mixed with other weeds, drinking such tea will make you sick. Finally, taking ginseng as an example, it shows that its efficacy varies greatly depending on where it is produced.

"Two Tools" introduces various utensils for picking and making tea. Lu Yu summarized the production technology of steamed green pressed tea that was popular in the Tang Dynasty, listed more than ten utensils related to picking, preparing and storing tea in the production process, and detailed the specific shape, requirements and usage of each utensil. These utensils are: Rui, also called basket, cage, and 筥, a tea-holding tool made of bamboo; stove, a tool for making and drying tea; steamer, a drawer used for steaming tea; pestle and mortar, also called 碓, a pounding tool; gauge , a mold made of iron; the bearing, also called a platform, or anvil, is made of stone, and some are half-buried in the ground with locust trees and mulberry wood to prevent it from shaking; the eaves, also called clothes, are made of old silk, Made of raincoats, single clothes, etc., that is, tarpaulin; Pili, a drawer-shaped tool for drying tea; Ji, a tapered blade for stringing tea leaves; Pu, a braided bamboo rope for stringing tea; Bao, a pit stove for roasting tea; Guan, cut from bamboo , two feet and five inches long, used for tea baking; Shed, a shed for drying tea, divided into two levels for baking, the fully dry one is on the upper shed, and the semi-dry one is on the lower shed; Wear, a utensil for packaging tea cakes, eastern Jiangnan It is made of split bamboo in Huainan and Bashan and Xiachuan areas. It is made of tough tree bark; Yu uses wood as a frame, the outside is woven and papered, and the storage and maintenance tools are separated inside, similar to cupboards. Nowadays, these utensils used in Lu Yu's era have basically been replaced by other semi-mechanical and mechanized utensils, but the records in the "Tea Classic" are of great help to us in understanding the evolution, innovation and development of tea-making machinery.

"San Zhizao" discusses the types of tea and the methods of harvesting and processing. Lu Yu pays attention to the timing of picking tea. Spring tea should be picked on sunny days during the second, third and fourth months of the lunar calendar, but not on rainy or cloudy days. The young leaves have just emerged and the few branches are the best, and they need to be picked with dew in the early morning. After picking the tea, the production process is: steaming, pounding, beating, baking, threading, sealing and other procedures.

There are many shapes of tea. To identify the quality of tea, you will not get the correct answer just by looking at the appearance, color, and whether the tea is good or bad. In addition to seeing and smelling, you also need to taste it with your mouth. Lu Yu also dialectically put forward some reasons for the appearance and color of tea based on the drinking habits at that time, the requirements for tea quality, etc., which is also valuable for evaluating and improving the quality of tea.

The above three chapters are the first volume of "The Classic of Tea". There is only one chapter in the volume, namely "Four Utensils", which specifically introduces the utensils for making and drinking tea, explaining the advantages and disadvantages of tea utensils in various places, the rules of use and the influence of utensils on the quality of tea soup. This chapter lists 28 types of utensils in detail, which can be roughly divided into 8 categories according to their uses: fire-making utensils, including 5 types: stoves, ash racks, 筥, charcoal and fire-making utensils; tea-making utensils include 鑍, hand bed, etc.; There are 6 types of utensils for roasting tea, grinding tea and measuring tea, including clips, paper bags, grinders, whisks, and Luoheheze; utensils for holding, filtering and taking water include water cubes, water filter bags, ladles and cooked tea utensils. There are 4 types of bowls and other bowls; utensils for holding and collecting salt, including gui and tea cups; utensils for drinking tea, including bowls and tea cups; utensils for holding utensils and furnishings, including dustpans, utensils, and baskets; cleaning utensils, including washcloths Fang (for storing washed water), Chufang (for holding tea leaves) and towel (a washcloth made of coarse cloth for wiping tea sets). The most noteworthy thing is that the wind stove made of copper or iron is shaped like an ancient tripod. The three holes between the three legs are inscribed with "Yi Gong", "Geng Lu" and "Shi Cha" respectively. "6 characters, the so-called "Yigong soup, Lu's tea". Yi Gong is the legendary minister Yi Yin in the early Shang Dynasty. He assisted Shang Tang in conquering Xia Jie and governed the country for three dynasties. He was also good at cooking and was praised as Yi Gong's soup by Lu Yu. Lu Shu dared to use "Lu's tea" with " "Yi Gong Soup" is comparable, which shows that he is full of confidence in his contribution to tea.

"Five Cookings" introduces the methods of making tea and the quality of water. Before cooking, the dumpling tea must first be roasted and crushed so that the aroma and taste can be fully exerted. The best fuel is charcoal, followed by hardwood. Good tea needs to be cooked with good water. Mountain water is at the top, river water is at the middle, and well water is at the bottom. The degree of boiling is as follows: if the fish eyes make a slight sound, it is a first boil; if the edges are like spring beads, it is a second boil; if there are waves and drums, it is a third boil. After three boils, the water becomes too old to be eaten. Really good tea should be "sip bitter and swallow sweet".

"Six Drinks" introduces the customs and methods of drinking tea. It is said that tea became a drink starting from Shen Nong, and it became known to everyone only after Duke Zhou of Lu drank tea. Tea includes crude tea, loose tea, powdered tea and cake tea. There are nine problems to be solved in drinking tea: one is production, the other is identification, the third is utensils, the fourth is fire work, the fifth is water, the sixth is baking, the seventh is grinding, the eighth is cooking, and the ninth is drinking. Drinking tea requires knowledge and culture. You need to know what kind of tea you are drinking, how to drink it, what effects it will have, etc. Tea not only plays physiological and pharmacological functions, but also is a kind of spiritual enjoyment. These issues were not discussed in detail until the "Tea Classic".

"Seven Things" quotes ancient stories about tea drinking, prescriptions, etc. This is the longest chapter in the "Tea Classic", accounting for about 1/3 of the whole book. The author collects and arranges the tea-related information before the Tang Dynasty according to dynasty, and comprehensively and systematically introduces the history of ancient tea. First, a "Character Index" is listed, involving 41 celebrities who drank tea. Then, 48 examples of reference value are excerpted from ancient documents such as "Shen Nong Shi Jing" to "Zhen Zhong Fang" and "Ru Zifang", which are attached. back. Some of these materials and the cited bibliographies have now been lost. Fortunately, they have been preserved thanks to the "Tea Classic". Even though they are just a few pieces of good luck, they are extremely precious.

"Eight Out of Eight" discusses the origin of famous tea in the country and the quality of tea. According to the "Tea Classic", the tea-producing areas of the Tang Dynasty included eight provinces, including Shannan, Huainan, western Zhejiang, eastern Zhejiang, Jiannan, central Guizhou, Jiangnan and Lingnan, 43 prefectures and counties, and 44 counties. The author does not introduce the three Tao-producing areas in central Guizhou, Jiangnan, and Lingnan in detail. He only lists the names of the tea-producing states, collectively saying "it is often available, and its taste is excellent." For the five roads of Shannan, Huainan, western Zhejiang, eastern Zhejiang, and Jiannan, the names of tea-producing states, counties, or places are listed, and the quality of tea is also divided into four grades: upper, second, lower, and lower again.

"Nine Strategies" discusses how to omit tea picking tools and tea drinking utensils under certain conditions. The previous sections talk about the standardization of tea picking, tea making, and tea drinking utensils, but this 170-character section talks about the flexibility of using tea sets and tea utensils.

The "Ten Pictures" teaches people to write the "Tea Sutra" on silk and hang it so that the whole book can be read at a glance.

The reason why we take the trouble to retell the main contents of the "Tea Book" is that we hope that more people will have a deeper understanding of this tea book. Lu Yu's "The Book of Tea" can be called an encyclopedia of tea science and the first work on tea culture. It systematically and comprehensively summarizes the historical experience of the development of tea culture before the mid-Tang Dynasty, and promoted the transformation of tea from medicinal and drinking to For the sake of drinking, it has been sublimated from a habit, hobby and physiological need to a kind of cultivation and culture, entering a new realm.

Contrary to the high admiration of the "Tea Classic", its author Lu Yu was promoted to a high status only after his death. However, he experienced ups and downs during his lifetime and was very frustrated. Although "The New Book of Tang" contains his biography, "The Biography of Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty" contains his historical summary, and even the "Complete Book of Tea" written by American Ux also contains his introduction, there are still many things about his life that remain unexplained. A mystery to solve.

There is no strong basis for the birth and death dates of Lu Yu. It is generally believed that he was born in Jingling, Fuzhou (now Tianmen, Hubei) in the 21st year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (733), and died in the last year of Zhenyuan (804). . According to legend, he was an abandoned baby.

Zen Master Zhiji of Longgai Temple (later renamed Xita Temple) got up and took a walk in the morning. On the shore of the West Lake outside Jingling City, he heard the noise of a group of wild geese. He went to find three wild geese guarding a baby with their wings, so he hugged him. Return to the temple for adoption. It is unknown who the orphan's parents are and why they were abandoned. Later, when the orphan grew up, he divined the fortune teller according to the "Book of Changes" and got the seal saying "Hongjian came to Lu, and his feathers can be used as rituals", so he took Lu as his surname, Yu as his given name, and Hongjian as his courtesy name.

When he was 9 years old, Master Zhiji asked Lu Yu to study Buddhist scriptures. The precocious and stubborn Lu Yu refused to obey, insisting on reading Confucian classics and was punished with hard labor for several years. But even though he was tortured by hard labor, Lu Yu did not change his original intention and often rode on the back of an ox to recite and compose poems. In this way, he will inevitably be criticized, even beaten and scolded. Lu Yu couldn't bear it anymore, so he ran away from the temple at the age of 13 and joined a troupe, playing a clown and making a living by singing and performing. During this period, he wrote three pieces of "Jiaotan", showing his extraordinary talent, and he quickly became famous among "actors".

The God of Destiny finally smiled at Lu Yu. Soon, his talent was discovered by Li Qiyang, the prefect of Jingling, who presented him with some poems and books and introduced him to study at Master Zou in Huomen Mountain northwest of Tianmen. Later, he was appreciated by the new Sima Cui Guofu, and he had been friends with Cui for three years, "making fun of him forever, and comparing tea with each other." Under the influence of Cui Guofu, his literary attainments deepened and he studied tea art diligently. By the time he was in his 20s, he had become a scholar with extensive knowledge and proficiency in tea art.

In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), the "Anshi Rebellion" broke out. The Tang Dynasty ended the Kaiyuan and Tianbao prosperity and entered a period of turmoil. Lu Yu followed the refugees swarming south across the river and traveled throughout the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River Basin. During his wanderings, he also investigated and collected information on tea production, and met a group of poetic friends such as Jiao Ran and Liu Changqing. Around AD 760, Lu Yu lived in seclusion in a cottage in Tiaoxi, Huzhou, which is rich in famous tea. He would chat with like-minded people about tea, discuss Zen theory, exchange poetry and wine, and talk about banquets forever; or he would walk alone in the mountains and fields, knocking trees and doing things with his hands. The flowing water is still wandering, from dawn to curtain. He devoted all his time and energy to studying knowledge, drinking tea and fighting tea, combining tea art with Zen Buddhism, raising tea drinking to the height of aesthetics and culture, and wrote the "Tea Classic" that will shine through the annals of history. After that, the emperor heard about his name and issued an edict to recruit him as the Prince of Literature and move to Taichang Temple as Taizhu. However, he refused to take up the post, preferring to live his secluded life, drink tea and compose poems with like-minded famous monks, celebrities and some officials. I spent my later years in leisurely travels. In the winter of the 20th year of Zhenyuan (804), Lu Yu completed his 72-year life course, died of illness in Huzhou, and was buried in Zhushan.

Throughout Lu Yu's life, he has suffered from a difficult life since he was a child, but he is stubborn and persistently pursues his own interests. He has many interests, talents, and unique ideas. Speculation and extraordinary insights finally bore fruitful results. In addition to the "Tea Classic", according to historical writings, Lu Yu also wrote two volumes of "Tea Records", one volume of "Gu Zhu Mountain Records", one volume of "Shuipin", "Tea Theory", "Tea Destruction Theory", "Tea Theory", "Tea Song" and other tea science works and poems, as well as other works including seven kinds and sixty-two volumes, but unfortunately none of them have been handed down.

Lu Yu is another bloody character, sensitive and stubborn. It is said that Li Jiqing, the royal censor of the imperial court, went to Jiangnan for inspection and summoned Lu Yu. Lu Yu was seen in a wild uniform. After Li Jiqing drank the tea cooked by Lu Yu, he ordered his slaves to pay Lu Yu. Lu Yu felt that he had suffered great humiliation, so he wrote "On Tea Destruction". However, Lu Yu is an honest and extremely emotional person. He became friends with the poetess Li Jilan, became an irreversible acquaintance with the poet monk Jiao Ran, and fell in love with Yan Zhenqing, a great calligrapher and former governor of Huzhou. He went on dates with people, even though the ice and snow were thousands of miles away, or there were tigers and wolves in the way, he still went there resolutely.

Lu Yu once wrote a poem "Six Envy Songs", which said: "I don't envy the golden lei, I don't envy the white jade cup, I don't envy the province in the morning, I don't envy the stage in the evening, I envy the water of the West River. , once came down to Jingling City. "He said that he did not seek high positions and riches, he did not like glory and wealth, he was willing to be indifferent, pursued freedom and ease, and devoted himself to the study of tea drinking art and tea science. This was Lu Yu's devoted inner world.

Since the mid-Tang Dynasty, Lu Yu has been regarded as the tea god, and is worshiped in tea workshops, tea warehouses, tea shops, and teahouses. In some places, Lu Tong and Pei Wen are also worshiped as accompanying gods. Lu Yu's name is written in the forehead banner and couplets, such as "Lu Yu's music is passed down by Lu Tong to quench his thirst, Wuyi's selection of Gu Zhu is fragrant", "The price of the spring boiled by live fire increases by Lu Lu, the spring breeze sips the tea's music and the flag gun" and so on. In the eyes of tea industry operators, Lu Yu's divine power is enough to ensure their prosperity. As for the legend of Lu Yu, it spread like wildfire and is astonishing. The worship of tea god Lu Yu, which has lasted for thousands of years, has also merged into the vast ocean of contemporary tea culture craze. "I have been a poet all my life, and I have been a tea fairy for several generations." (Tang Gengwei couplet.)

After Lu Yu, tea books continued to appear in the Tang Dynasty, and the compilation of tea books became a common practice, but there was no one who loved tea as deeply and had such insights as Lu Yu. There are no comprehensive encyclopedia-style works like the "Tea Book" by all wise men. Most of them are expositions on a certain topic, and most of them are personal opinions.

Around 825 AD, Zhang wrote a new volume "Jiancha Shui Ji". Also named Kong Zhao, he was a native of Luze, Shenzhou (now Shenxian County, Hebei Province), and the son of Zhang Jian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry. During the Yuanhe period of Tang Xianzong and as a Jinshi, he successively served as Zuo Buque, Tingzhou governor, Zhongzhou governor, and finally Zuo Si Langzhong.

Zhang Youxin has a self-narration about the writing process of "Jiancha Shuiji". In the self-narration, he said: In the spring of the ninth year of Yuanhe (814), he and his friends met at the Jianfu Temple in Chang'an City for a gathering. He and Li Dechui arrived first, and while resting in the Xuanjian Room in the west wing, they met a Jiangnan monk. The monk had several volumes in his backpack. Zhang took out a volume and browsed it, and saw that "the writing is detailed and detailed, and there are miscellaneous notes". The end of the volume was titled "Tea Cooking Notes". The book records an anecdote: During the reign of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty, Li Jiqing, the governor of Huzhou, passed by Yangzhou and met Lu Yu. Li Jiqing believed that Lu Yu was world-famous for being good at tea, and Lingshui in the south of the Yangtze River was unique. This was the unification of the "two wonders" that happened once in a thousand years. So, the sergeant was ordered to go to the south bank to get Nanling water. After returning from fetching water, Lu Yu scooped up water to make tea and found that it was not Nanling water but Yangtze River water. The sergeant refused to admit it and said, "I rowed a small boat to get water. I saw hundreds of people. How dare I tell lies?" Lu Yu didn't answer, poured out half of the water, scooped it out with a ladle, and said, "This is the southern part of the country." Zero water!" The sergeant knelt down and begged for mercy: "After I took the Nan Ling water, the boat shook on the way back, and when I got to the north bank, there was only half a tank left, so I filled it up with river water. Unexpectedly, my husband saw through it. Yes." Li and dozens of guests were very surprised and asked Lu Yu to talk about his views on water quality in various parts of the world. Lu Yu divided the world's water into twenty levels, ranking the Chu River first and the Jin River the lowest. Li Jiqing asked people to record Lu Yu's words and called it "Tea Cooking Notes". Zhang Youxin copied out Lu Yu's insights and listed them together with the water appreciation literature of Liu Bochu, who was "a well-educated and knowledgeable person". Together with his own experience, Zhang Youxin compiled it into "Jiancha Shui Ji" with more than 950 words.

Liu Bochu once served as the Minister of Justice. His life story is unknown, and he was active around the same time as Lu Yu. He listed the water suitable for making tea and divided it into seven grades: Yangtze River South Zero Water, first; Wuxi Huishan Spring Water, second; Suzhou Huqiu Temple Spring Water, third; Danyang County Guanyin Temple Water, fourth; Yangzhou Da The Mingsi River is fifth; the Wusongjiang River is sixth; the Huai River is the lowest, seventh. Zhang Youxin personally tasted and compared these seven kinds of water wherever he traveled, and felt that it was exactly what Liu Bochu said. Someone familiar with the Zhejiang and Zhejiang areas told Youxin that the search and investigation mentioned by Bochu had not been completed. So Zhang Youxin went to Liang Zhejiang, which Liu Bochu had never been to. He went to Yanling Beach in Tonglu where Yan Ziling fished in the Han Dynasty. He saw that "the color of the stream was extremely clear and the taste of the water was extremely cold." , and fried tea, which is "indescribably fresh and fragrant". The water here far exceeds the Yangtze River South Lingshui that Liu Bochu regarded as the first. When he arrived in Yongjia, he took tea from Xianyan Waterfall. The water quality was also better than Nanling Water.

According to "Jiancha Water Record", Lu Yu divided the water in the world into twenty grades: the water curtain water of Kangwang Valley in Lushan Mountain is the first; the stone spring water of Huishan Temple in Wuxi County is the second; the stone spring water of Lanxi in Qizhou is the second. Third; at the foot of Fanzi Mountain in Xiazhou, there is a sudden rock, and the water is cool and cool, shaped like a turtle, and the common saying is that shrimps and toads saliva, fourth; the stone spring water of Huqiu Temple in Suzhou, fifth; the water in the bridge pond below Zhaoxian Temple in Lushan Mountain, sixth ; Yangtze River South Lingshui, seventh; Hongzhou Xishan Xidong Waterfall, eighth; Tangzhou Baiyan County Huaishui Source, ninth; Luzhou Longchi Mountain Water, tenth; Danyang County Guanyin Temple Water, eleventh; Yangzhou Daming Temple water, 12th; Lingling water in the upper reaches of Jinzhou, Han River, 13th; Xiangxi water under Yuxudong, Guizhou, 14th; Wuguanxi Luo water in Shangzhou, 15th; Wusongjiang water, 15th Sixteenth; the Qianzhang Waterfall on the southwest peak of Tiantai Mountain, the seventeenth; the round spring water in Chenzhou, the eighteenth; the Yanling Beach in Tonglu, the nineteenth; and the snow water, the twentieth. Compared with Liu Bochu, Lu Yu's scope of tasting water was much wider. In addition to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, it also reaches Shangzhou in the west, now Shang County in Shaanxi Province; Liuzhou in the south, now under the jurisdiction of Guangxi; and the source of the Huai River in Baiyan County, Tangzhou in the north, now Tongbai Mountain District in western Henan. Lu Yu and Liu Bochu had different specific views and evaluation standards on water for sencha, and their evaluations of water were also very different. However, it is said that Zhang Youxin personally tasted the water that the two people reviewed and thought it was undoubtedly a good product.

It is recorded in "Sencha Water Chronicles" and is widely rumored. However, Ouyang Xiu, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, pointed out in "Da Ming Shui Ji" that the order of Lu Yu's water tasting recorded by Zhang Youxin was "all contrary to the "Tea Book"". It is possible that Zhang Youxin was just talking and randomly appended the evaluation of twenty grades of water to Lu Yu's head. superior. Some people also think that Lu Yu can clearly distinguish the Lingshui in the south, and the Xueshui is at the bottom, which is weird and unnatural. Today, Wan Guoding puts forward a different opinion: There are good and bad waters in the world, because the minerals they contain are different; however, the world is so big that it is not easy to list them one by one. The water from rain and snow is pure. Although it is not as sweet as the famous mountain springs, it is far more bitter than ordinary well water. Moreover, snow water ranks at the bottom, which is why Chen's "Shu Lu Jie Ti" denounced it as "especially unknown". The new record of Lu Yu's Biannan Lingshui incident is particularly bizarre. When the two waters are put together in one vessel, there is no insoluble mixture, but the upper half is the water near the shore, and the lower half is the south water, which is contrary to the logic of things.

("Twenty-Nine Types of Inscriptions on Tea Books") Wan Guoding's words are indeed the ultimate theory. However, "Senchancha Water Chronicles" still has its own unique value. First, he put forward some opinions on the water used for tea tasting that are higher than others. As mentioned in the book, the quality of the tea soup is related to the water in which it is soaked. Different properties of the water will affect the color, aroma and aroma of the tea soup. However, you don’t have to be too particular about famous springs and water when making tea. Use water from the place where the tea is produced to cook it. If you get the right water and soil, you can brew good tea flavor. No matter how good the water is transported to a distant place, its effectiveness will only be half. It also pointed out that the quality of tea soup is not completely affected by water, and being good at cooking and cleaning utensils is also a very important condition. If you are good at making tea and cleaning utensils, you will be able to better utilize the effects of good water.

The book also emphasizes "appreciating principles and discerning things", that is, theory must be combined with reality; we cannot be superstitious about the ancients, because there are things that the ancients did not know that people today can know; there is no end to learning, and a scholar-minded gentleman should continue to study, so as to not only "see the wise and think alike" ". These wise sayings are of great inspiration to future generations. Second, "Jiancha Shui Ji" pioneered the ancients' theory of tea drinking water. Before the Tang Dynasty, the water used for sencha had not attracted sufficient attention, and naturally no written records were left. It was "Jiancha Shui Ji" that first recorded the water suitable for tea, and informed future generations with the opinions of Liu Bochu and Lu Yu, enriching and supplementing it. The Book of Tea talks about water for making tea. Since then, people have become more and more particular about the color, aroma, and flavor of tea, and have higher and higher requirements for water. More and more texts have been written to evaluate water quality. There are also systematic works on tea water use such as Tian Yiheng's "Zhuquan Xiaopin" in the Ming Dynasty.

Most of the tea books from the Tang and Five Dynasties only have fragments or lost editions. Wen Tingyun, a poet of the late Tang Dynasty, wrote "Tea Picking Records" in one volume (three volumes in one volume) around 860 AD, which was lost around the Northern Song Dynasty. Although "Shuo Yong" and "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" include "Tea Picking Records", there are only six chapters in five categories: differentiation, addiction, Yi, bitterness and Zhi, totaling less than 400 words. The records are as follows: Lu Yu distinguished Nan Lingshui near the bank, Li Yue distinguished tea, Lu Guimeng was addicted to tea, Liu Yuxi used tea to sober up, Wang Meng liked tea, and Liu Kun and his younger brother wrote to seek true tea. "Sixteen Soups" written by Su Xian (first author of Yu) was probably written around 900 AD, that is, at the end of the Tang Dynasty or the beginning of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms. This book was originally a short article in the ninth volume of Su Xian's "The Story of Immortal Ya". Later, Tao Gu extracted it and included it in the fourth volume of "Qing Yi Lu". The discussion is related to the current tea soup evaluation technology, and the contents include: the third grade of sencha is classified as old and young, the third grade of tea is classified as slow and urgent, the fifth grade is classified by the classification of tea utensils, and the fifth grade is classified as fuel wood. The names of the sixteen soups are: Deyi Soup, Baby Soup, Baishou Soup, Zhong Soup, Duanmai Soup, Dazhuang Soup, Fugui Soup, Xiubi Soup, Pressed Soup, Maokou Soup, Reduced Price Soup, Law Soup , noodle soup, Xiaoren soup, thief soup, magic soup. Fei Wen wrote "Records on Tea", which strongly advocated tea drinking and denounced the nonsense that "drinking too much makes the body weak and sick." He said that tea has a clear nature and clean taste, and has the effect of washing away troubles and harmonizing. He never tires of taking it. If you get it, you'll be safe, but if you don't, you'll get sick. Its effects will only show up after decades. Unfortunately, the book "Tea Description" has been lost. Today, only Lu Tingcan of the Qing Dynasty's "Xu Jing" contains the preface to "Tea Description". However, Wu Xuan didn't like drinking tea, so he wrote the "Preface to the Remaining Tea", mistakenly believing that drinking tea was harmful to the human body, and advised people to drink less. In addition, Wen Congyun and Duan Zhi of the Tang Dynasty wrote more than ten sections of "Cha Shi", Jiao Ran wrote an article of "Tea Jue", and Mao Wenxi of Shu after the Five Dynasties wrote "Tea Book", but they have also been lost.

The evolution of tea-drinking customs from chaos to civilization has gone through a tortuous journey for thousands of years, and finally performed a vivid "drama" in the "Tang Dynasty". The compilation of tea books in the Tang Dynasty moved from rudimentary creation to rationality, ushering in the grand scale of the following millennia, thus becoming an impressive prelude to the history of Chinese tea books.