Tea Classic

Author: Lu Yu
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-10-01
Features: This book is a concise edition of The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu, known as the "Sage of Tea," and The Continuation of the Classic of Tea by Lu Tingcan, known as the "Immortal of Tea." It features a bilingual (Classical Chinese and Modern Chinese) format with illustrations, making it a treasure for every tea enthusiast. Chinese tea culture has a long and profound history. With the continuous improvement of people's living standards and quality of life, tea culture has experienced a resurgence in China, becoming an essential part of enriching one's life interests and elevating one's lifestyle. For this reason, we have compiled and published this The Classic of Tea, on one hand to help people understand the origins and achievements of Chinese tea culture, and on the other to increase modern people's, especially the younger generation immersed in coffee culture, understanding of traditional Chinese culture. This allows our nation's long-standing historical and cultural heritage to be passed down through generations and flourish. Throughout China's dynasties, scholars and literati have written extensively about tea, making it an integral part of cultural arts intertwined with poetry, calligraphy, music, painting, and more. This book selects only two representative works: Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea from the Tang Dynasty and Lu Tingcan's The Continuation of the Classic of Tea from the Qing Dynasty. Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea from the Tang Dynasty is the world's first specialized book on tea. It is divided into three volumes, covering ten categories such as the origin of tea, tea utensils, tea preparation, tea vessels, etc., documenting the characteristics of tea plants, the quality of tea leaves, the types of tea and their cultivation methods, the techniques of brewing tea, and tea drinking utensils. It introduces the origins of tea drinking and related knowledge, as well as tea-related affairs before the Tang Dynasty and the production areas of tea in the Tang Dynasty. This book pioneered the genre of tea books in China. Since then, over one hundred tea-related books have been published in China. Lu Tingcan's The Continuation of the Classic of Tea from the Qing Dynasty is one of the most famous sequels. The structure of The Continuation of the Classic of Tea closely follows that of The Classic of Tea, also divided into three volumes, with the same titles as The Classic of Tea, covering ten categories such as the origin of tea, tea utensils, tea preparation, etc. However, over the centuries from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty, significant changes have occurred in tea production areas, tea-making methods, and brewing utensils, etc. This book extensively collects and examines tea-related information after the Tang Dynasty, though named "Continuation," it is an entirely independent work. The General Catalogue of the Siku Quanshu describes this book as "meticulously revised and supplemented, highly practical, and rich in references," which is a fair assessment. To enhance reading enjoyment and enrich the content of this book, we have selected exquisite illustrations related to tea. In fact, tea culture has been intertwined with other cultural arts since ancient times...