Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Teaparker's National Palace Museum Cha Xi

August 13, 2009



The 3 Cha Xi are Sung dynasty, Ming dynasty and modern era.

10 comments:

Split/Gender said...

it was interesting to see the various teas of each dynasty. Is the first guy Teaparker then?

Rich said...

I bet the National Palace Museum has a fairly extensive collection of tea items, but I haven't seen many of them before. Have you been to any special tea exhibits that they've had?

Great video.

TeaMasters said...

Kat,
No, Teaparker was on the side of the stage making the presentation and commenting on what's going on. All 3 are his students.

Did anybody notice that Ming and modern era brewers used their bare hands to put the leaves in the teapot? They didn't use a porcelain Cha He or a bamboo scoop. Why?

TeaMasters said...

RTea,
See my April 17, 2009 article. I recommend the book of that (past) exhibition.

Paul Dray said...

interesting stuff Stephane.
i enjoyed it just for the playing of Rubinstein's Melody in F lovely :)

Rich said...

Wow, that is really beautiful - I didn't know the NPM had so much info on their site. Thanks for the link.

Anonymous said...

Hi Stephane, yes i did notice that both ladies used their hands to put the tea into the teapot. I also do this, not sure why but i feel i get a better measure for how much is needed i guess. Very cool video. Thanks
Elton

TeaMasters said...

Lastcoyote,
Glad you liked the music.

RTea,
Yes, NPM has a nice site and it's a must see for all travelers to Taiwan.

Elton,
Not just that. It's also to have a good feel on where to drop the leaves. Also, this allows the leaves to be one with the brewer's body. This makes the sensorial experience more complete (adds the sense of touch).

Of course, this means you need to have clean hands! But hands are very natural tea 'tools'. Pickers use them to harvest, farmers use them to feel them during various stages of their process. (For wine, they even used to press with their feet). So, using hands doesn't mean we don't treat tea with respect. On the contrary, a direct touch is like removing a glove before shaking a hand. It shows a willingness to become intimate.

Joel Dietz said...

There were a few differences between the Japanese style tea ceremony and what I learned at Urasenke. Do you know what form exactly Teaparker teaches?

TeaMasters said...

Joel,

Teaparker teaches neither Japanese ceremony. He teaches the Chinese Sung dynasty technique! This is the technique that inspired the Japanese.