China boasts a sophisticated tea culture: tea was first discovered and drunk in China several thousand years ago and drinking tea has become a daily habit of the Chinese people. A complicated tea ceremony has developed. When we talk about Chinese tea culture today, we shouldn’t miss an important figure in Chinese history—Lu Yu, who was respected as a “ Tea Sage ” for his contribution to Chinese tea culture.

Born in 733 AD in the Tang Dynasty (618-907AD), Lu Yu was an orphan adopted by a monk in modern day Hubei Province.  At that time, drinking tea became a nationwide tradition. (Tea drinking originally appeared in Southern China, and until the mid-Tang Dynasty it started to gain favor with Northern Chinese). The widespread distribution of tea can be attributed to the extensive practice of Zen Buddhism in the whole country. Because sleeping and eating were strictly prohibited for Buddhists practicing meditation, they could only drink tea.  Many monks were tea connoisseurs at the same time.

The monk who adopted Lu Yu was a tea lover and Lu Yu prepared tea for him from childhood. As the years passed, Lu Yu’s skill at preparing tea improved and he developed a great interest in the brew. In his late years, Lu Yu withdrew from the outside world and concentrated on research into tea. The fruits of his research were written down in his masterpiece—the Classic of Tea.

In the book, Lu Yu tried to comprehensively present all known information about Chinese tea culture. It is divided into three sections and ten chapters, including the origin of tea, tea tools, tea picking, tea cooking, tea ceremony and famous tea producing areas. Perhaps of most historical value is the seventh chapter, entitled “ Tea events” and records incidents concerning tea over thousands of years, from legendary times to the Tang Dynasty.

According to the seventh chapter, the origin of tea can be traced back to legendary times. Emperor Yan, also named Shen Nong discovered tea around today’s Sichuan and Hubei province. At first, tea was used as a medical treatment. Over the following centuries, tea spread from Sichuan to southeast China, becoming a fashionable drink among the upper class. In the beginning, tea art was rather simple: making tea was no more complicated than making a vegetable soup. A refined tea ceremony first appeared in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-420AD) and serving tea became a popular way of entertaining guests.

Lu Yu also records various tea activities in his own time. To make tea, people in the Tang Dynasty steamed tea leaves first, then smashed them into tea pies and then stringed them together to dry. Tea pies would be grinded before they were cooked. There were two ways of cooking tea: decocting and infusing. Decocting involved boiling water first and then throwing in the tea leaves and stirring. Infusing, which began in the Late Tang Dynasty, was a major innovation, with boiled water added to tealeaves in a bowl. The infusion slowly gained ground and by the Northern Song Dynasty had become the most popular way of preparing tea.

In other chapters, Lu Yu elaborates on the art of making and drinking tea. He wrote that water plays a vital role in determining the flavor of tea. Water from mountain springs is the best, after which comes water from nearby rivers. He said water drawn from wells was the worst for tea, having already been disturbed by people. To make good tea, one must be meticulous when cooking. When the border of the water begins to boil and you see bubbles, one should be patient. Wait until the whole body of water seethes and immediately use it to pour tea, for after this moment, water is already “old” and can’t be used for drinking. When drinking tea, the first and second cups are the best. The third one is less good and after that the leaves should be discarded.

Modern day enthusiasts could do worse then return to this classic for the secrets of the perfect cup!