"Top Ten Tea People of the Song Dynasty".
Third place: Cai Xiang
Wen Xiaoyao.
Cai Xiang, a generation of tea masters, is one of the representatives of tea culture in the Song Dynasty.
Cai Xiang, minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, was a famous calligrapher, politician, tea scientist, botanist, and writer. At the age of 18, he served as a military judge in Zhangzhou, a left-behind magistrate in Xijing, a pavilion proofreader, a Zhizhi Yuan, a Zhishi Museum, a Zhizhi Yuan, a direct bachelor of Longtu Pavilion, a direct bachelor of the Privy Council, a bachelor of Hanlin, a third envoy, a bachelor of Duanming Palace, a transfer envoy of Fujian Road, and a governor of Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Kaifeng and Hangzhou. The poems are extremely rich, and the merits are especially important.
Its calligraphy, and Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, known as the "Song Four". His book "Lychee Spectrum" is known as "the world's first work on fruit tree taxonomy". He presided over the construction of the earliest existing large stone bridge across the sea in China - Quanzhou Luoyang Bridge, and was the founder of Luoyang Bridge, one of the four ancient bridges in China.
Cai Xiang's "Tea Record" is a classic of tea books in the Song Dynasty and one of the most influential monographs on tea after Lu Yu's "Book of Tea". With a "Tea Record", he became a tea master in the Song Dynasty, which had a far-reaching influence and could be called one of the top ten tea people in history. Cai Xiang was one of the main promoters of Beiyuan tea culture in the Song Dynasty and one of the leaders of the tea industry in the Song Dynasty.
Cai Xiang wrote "Tea Record", creating a style of tasting tea through the ages. The comprehensive tasting method of color, aroma, taste and shape created by him is still used for reference today. It laid the theoretical foundation for the artistic tea drinking in the Song Dynasty, and had a great influence on the development of the Japanese tea ceremony and the world tea industry with aesthetic art in later generations.
Ouyang Xiu said in the preface to Cai Xiang's "Tea Record": "Tea is the essence of things, and the small group is its essence. Renzong is especially precious, although he is a minister who is a minister, he has not tasted it. However, on the eve of the southern suburbs, the Privy Council of the Chinese Book gave a cake to each other, and the palace people pasted it on the dragon and phoenix flowers and plants. The two mansions and eight families are divided to return, do not dare to try, the Xiang family hides as a treasure, and there are good guests from time to time, and they come out to play. In the seventh year of Jiayou, he enjoyed the Mingtang fast, and the founder gave a cake, and the rest was also predetermined, and it has been hidden so far. ”
Cai Xiang created the "Little Dragon and Phoenix Group Tea", leading the Song Dynasty to pursue the tribute tea frenzy. Cai Xiang personally developed the top tribute tea "Xiaolong Tuan" in the Song Dynasty, which was famous throughout the Song Dynasty, and the literati and scholars were all diligently pursuing. Between 1044 and 1048 A.D., Cai Xiang developed and founded the "Little Dragon Regiment", and was immediately ordered to pay tribute.
Ouyang Xiu's "Returning to the Field" has a cloud: "The quality of tea is more expensive than the dragon and phoenix, and it is called group tea." All eight loaves weigh one pound. In Qingli, Cai Junmo was the Fujian transit envoy, and began to make a small piece of dragon tea to enter, and its product was exquisite, which was called a small group. Where twenty loaves weigh one pound, they are worth two taels of gold."
How expensive is the ** of the Little Dragon Regiment? A small cake (each slice) is worth about two taels**. Ouyang Xiu, who was an important minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, only got the coveted "Little Dragon Group" for more than ten years.
Su Dongpo was given the "Little Dragon Regiment", which is also regarded as a treasure. He praised it in "Huishan Qian Daoren Cooking Xiaolong Tuan Climbing to the Top of Taihu Lake": "Walking all over the mountains on the south bank of the south bank of the Yangtze River, it is inevitable to stay in the mountains." Alone with a small group of moons in the sky, come to try the second spring in the world. The stone road lingers back to the Nine Dragonspool, and the water turns the five lakes and the sky. Sun Deng returned speechlessly, and the sound of Banling was spreading. ”
Cai Xiang's tea poems are also wonderful. In 1050 A.D., Cai Xiang set off from the Beiyuan Tea District of Fujian Province to return to Bianjing to report on his work, passing through Wuxi. Hereby, we go to the legendary "second spring in the world" - Huishan Spring, draw clear mountain spring water, take out the small dragon group developed by ourselves, and leisurely fry water and order tea, the ultimate delicacy makes Cai Xiang intoxicated.
The poem was written, and the masterpiece "Instant Huishan Boiled Tea" was born, and then compiled into his "Self-written Poetry Volume". And when a good tea has to meet a good spring, it is even more interesting and delicious. Cai Xiang wrote a wonderful picture of Huishan drinking tea alone with a hearty pen. As a result, between the fragrance of tea, he expressed his thoughts and feelings about the tea ceremony and described his own way of drinking tea.
Song tea must talk about Beiyuan, and Beiyuan must say Junmo.
Cai Junmo, a romantic figure in the tea industry.
Cai Xiang's "Tea Record".(Excerpt).
Color: The brown color is precious and white, and the cake and tea are mostly made of precious anointing oil to sound its face, so there is a difference between green, yellow, purple and black. Those who are good at tea, just like the people of Xianggong, are also observed, and they are hidden inside, and the flesh is moisturized. Since it is over, the yellow and white people are drowsy by the water, and the green and white people are clearly affected by the water, so the Jian'an people fight and try, and the green and white are better than the yellow and white.
Incense: Tea has a real fragrance, and the tribute is slightly kepterocarp and ointment to help its fragrance. Jian'an folk tea test, all of them are not fragrant, I am afraid of taking away the truth. If you cook it, you will mix it with fruits and herbs, and it will be very beneficial and should not be used.
Taste: The tea flavor is mainly sweet and smooth, but the Beiyuan Phoenix Mountain is even produced by the roasters. The mountains across the stream, although they are made in time, the color and taste are heavy, and they can't be reached. There are also water springs that are unwilling, which can damage the taste of tea, and those who talk about water in the previous life are based on this.
Tea: If there is less tea and more soup, the clouds and feet will be scattered; If there is less soup and more tea, the porridge will be gathered. The builder called it cloud foot porridge noodles. Banknote tea is a penny seven, first inject the soup, adjust the order very evenly, and then add it, and the ring blows back. The soup is on the cup, but it can be stopped in four minutes, and it is excellent to regard its face as bright and without water marks. Jian'an Dou tried to take the water mark as the first to lose, and the durable one to win, so the victory and defeat are said to be one water and two waters.
Cai Xiang's calligraphy "Great Research Post".
Cai Xiang "Instant Huishan Boiled Tea".
How can this spring be precious, suitable for meeting with real tea.
In the two things are unique, so that they are uniquely interesting.
The fresh fragrance is under the clouds, and the dew is sweet and slippery.
When it can become vulgar bones, it is not especially dusty.
The day is quiet and breezy, and the trees are fluttering into the garden.
It contains the meaning of the ancients, and the comer is enlightened.
Translation:
How rare this Huishan Spring is, I happened to meet the top tea "Xiaolong Tuan".
Both of these are the best in the world, and I have the best of both worlds.
The fragrance is as fragrant as a cloud, and the luscious lubrication is like nectar in a cup.
When it can purify the mortal dust and bones, is it not just to wash away the slumber and vulgar thoughts?
In the quiet of the day, the breeze blows, and the leaves in the courtyard flutter lightly.
This contains the profound artistic conception of the ancients, and tea drinkers should close their eyes and meditate and comprehend.
*From the web.
A selection of original articles by Brother Xiaoyao
1.A blockbuster article in the tea world: "On the Tea Ceremony".
2.Popular science article on tea culture: "Tea".
3.The Holy Land of Tea: Huzhou.
4.Who is the next Important Agricultural Heritage of China?
5.Blockbuster Release: Tea War Model! It is expected to be a milestone in the study of international tea culture.
6.Tea is a national strategic force.
7.Su Dongpo, the transcendent life of a generation of prodigies.
8.Su Dongpo's attitude towards life! Wonderful interpretation of the famous tea poem "Wangjiangnan, Transcendent Taiwan".
9.Zhang Dai, the first genius in the late Ming Dynasty, wrote about the quiet beauty of drinking tea on an autumn night.
10.The first tea poem through the ages: Lu Tong's "Seven Bowls of Tea Song".
Brother Xiaoyao, a scholar of tea culture. The first batch of four tea books in the "Great Tea" large-scale tea culture book series: "A Brief History of Human Tea", "Ask the Tea Record: A Superstar of Tea History Illuminating Human Civilization", "The Book of Tea Ceremony" (two-in-one version, including "The Core Idea of Tea"), and "The Most Beautiful Tea Poems in History", all have complete copyrights and will be published soon.
A Brief History of Human Tea: The "first book" for tea drinkers around the world. In this book, you can get a glimpse of thousands of years of vast and magical human tea civilization, known as the most popular and historical tea history book. From birth to origin, from development to prosperity, from ordinary drinks to the spiritual world, from extreme to simplified, from weak to global, a glimpse of the great and magnificent history of tea development for thousands of years.
The Book of the Tea Ceremony: The first tea ceremony monograph in history that shows the history of the formation and development of human tea ceremony philosophy in a panoramic way, with a total of more than 150,000 words, including several ancient texts. The book deeply excavates the foundation, prototype, birth, and development of human tea ceremony thought and philosophy, tea ceremony thought and tea aesthetics, and is an original work that deeply explores the essence of tea ceremony philosophy and the connotation of tea ceremony thought at each stage.
"The Most Beautiful Tea Poem in History".: This is a collection of tea poems that includes the world's classic tea poems, with a total of 280,000 words and 700 pages. The book selects the 100 most representative tea poems from more than 10,000 tea poems in the world, including classic tea poems from China, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries. Each tea poem is annotated, translated, and appreciated, and the background of the creation, the journey of life, and the glorious knowledge of tea culture are explained. And romance and poetry are the unique charm that this collection of tea poems is born with.
"Ask Tea: A Superstar of Tea History Illuminating Human Civilization".: In-depth excavation of the ten shining tea history superstars in the history of human tea, looking for a vivid life process, but also trying to discover the loneliness and exploration in the life of superstars. The book looks for and analyzes the important explorations of historical figures in the field of tea, and tries to tell them from an interesting perspective. Interesting history, interesting exploration.