Old Art of Tea – Sequel ІІІ

Tea-producing areas grew more extensive in the Tang Dynasty. The plant was cultivated in 43 prefectures and sub-prefectures scattered in the eight major tea habitats of Shannan, Huainan, Zhexi, Jiannan, Zhedong, Qianzhong, Jiangnan and Lingnan in southern china. In Changxing County, Zhejiang Province, an area was set aside to produce tea for the exclusive use of the imperial court. The first of its kind in Chinese history, the base grew and processed one of the most famous teas at that time: Guzhu Purple Bamboo Shoots. As the tea industry continued to grow, the government began to tax the product, and tea taxes thenceforth became an important source of revenue for the following dynasties. Under the reign of Tang Emperor Suzong (756-762), the government started to exchange tea for horses with the Huihu (ancient name for the Uygur people of northwest China). This trade continued into the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

"Since Lu Yu came into the world, people have  with each other to learn how to make fresh tea." two lines of a poem remind us that no history of a s tea culture is complete without mentioning Lu (733-804), who influenced posterity in a most profound way by exalting tea drinking to a lofty cultural artistic activity. Lu was from Tianmen, in central   china's Hubei Province. Despite the hard life in his early years, he devoted most of his life to studying how tea should  be cultivated, processed, prepared and drunk. He summarized the experiences of his precursors and wrote the first monograph on tea in the world, The Classic of tea. Venerated as the "god of tea" and the "saint by posterity, Lu laid a solid foundation for tea ~the coming years by his systematic theory of science and culture.

The Classic of Tea consists of three volumes and ten chapters: Chapter One, Origin, describes the physical qualities and features of tea, the ideal environment for tea plants' growth, and the natural functions of tea; Chapter Two, Instruments, introduces the instruments for picking and processing tea; Chapter Three, production, gives the best time for picking tea leaves, the standards for selecting tea and the methods of processing it; Chapter Three ,Four,Utensils lists tea wares used and drinking tea designed by Lu himself,51 and their functions; Chapter Five, Preparation, describes how to prepare tea; Chapter Six, Drinking Tea, discusses his investigation into the history of tea drinking, and ex- plains the methods of tea drinking in his day; Chapter Seven, Stories, relates legends and anecdotes about tea from prehistoric times to the Tang Dynasty; Chapter Eight, Sources of Tea, introduces the eight major tea- producing areas in the Tang Dynasty; Chapter Nine, Simplification, introduces some simplified ways of processing and preparing tea, and some simplified instruments for doing so; and Chapter Ten, Diagrams, records the contents of the whole book in diagrams, which serve as a guide for the entire process of producing, brewing and drinking tea.