Sunday, we start the study of the first chapter of Lu Yu's Cha Jing. So, if you didn't watch my introduction to Lu Yu, you may read the text I had prepared below:
Chinese history is taught as a repeating cycle: chaos/division and war, unification, powerful founder, apogee, decline, chaos...
Thus, with the Tang, China relives a golden age after 4 centuries of division. At the same time as Lu Yu, in Europe, we also have the reconstitution of unity with Charlemagne's Holy Frankish and Germanic Kingdom (768-814) after Charles Martel and his army halted the Muslim advance at Poitiers in 732, one year before Lu Yu's birth. But while we're still in the early Middle Ages, China is experiencing one of its most flourishing periods. With a population of around 50 million, China traded with the whole world, thanks in particular to the Silk Roads. Among the treasures of a Tang prince at the end of the dynasty was a glass bowl from Europe, demonstrating the existence of international trade already back then.
But this Chinese golden age was nevertheless fragile. The Tang Dynasty was to experience the An Lushan Rebellion from 755 to 763, between the 22nd and 30th years of Lu Yu. It was an internal war orchestrated by An Lushan, a barbarian general. The introduction to the book, published by Belles Lettres, describes him as a Turk, but this adjective is a little clumsy, as it does not correspond to modern-day Turkey. In fact, he hails from the steppes of Central Asia, and his origins as half-Sogdian (a province of Iran) and half-Gokturk make him difficult to classify.
Let's just say that, like many generals, China at the time called on mercenaries to ensure its defense. However, An Lushan rose rapidly through the military ranks and even became intimate with the Chinese emperor Xuanzhong. He practically became an adopted son of the concubine Yang GuiFei. The story of the rebellion also includes a certain Yan Zhenqing, who opposed An LuShan and was a leading Tang resistance fighter.
The Tang dynasty thus managed to find sufficient resources to put an end to this rebellion, which could have been fatal. That, too, is an exciting era! Another characteristic of a great era is the presence of great men! The 2 greatest Chinese poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, were contemporaries of Lu Yu. And Lu Yu was even close friends with Yan Zhenqing, the An Lushan resistance fighter and outstanding calligrapher whose calligraphy style continues to be taught today!
Before turning to Lu Yu's life, I'd just like to add 2 little geographical details that are important to the world of tea. During the Tang period, the borders of China were not yet those of today. Two regions were not included:
- Yunnan. It was only annexed by the Mongol (Yuan) Empire in 1276.
- Nor was Taiwan part of Tang China.
Having said that, let's move on to Lu Yu's life.
He was born an orphan or abandoned child in 733 in Jingling, west of Wuhan in Hubei province, central China. A monk named Zhiji (whose surname would be Lu) raised him in a Buddhist monastery. According to the New History of the Tang, when he reached adulthood, he made a divination using the Book of Changes and came upon the character Jian by means of the corresponding hexagram. He then read the following sentence: The cranes (hong) one after the other (progression = jian) land on the ground (Lu), with their wings (Yu) they perform a dance.
He would have taken Lu as his surname, Yu (wing) as his first name and Hong Jian as his customary name.
Lu Yu left the monastery where he had grown up, as he was reluctant to be a good novice. In 746, he was a strolling player in a theater troupe, and the governor of Jingling noticed him and became his patron.
When the An Lushan rebellion broke out, Lu Yu fled to Wuxing in Zhejiang and became friends with the monk Jiaoran (730-799). From there, he travelled to Nanjing and explored the tea plantations near the Qixia monastery on Lake Tai.
Lu Yu lived more or less like a hermit in a thatched cottage on the banks of the Tiaoxi, the river of reed flowers, near Wuxing. His many trips to Jiangsu and Zhejiang kept him away from the fighting during the An Lushan rebellion. He began writing Cha Jing and often visited Jiaoran.
Details of his peregrinations can be found in the poems of his literary friends.
Huangfu Ran, 758:
"For Lu Hongjian picking tea at Qixia monastery >>".
Tea is not picked like any other plant,
He goes far and wide, climbing steep slopes.
He spreads its leaves in the gentle spring wind,
And fills his basket in the waning sun.
Familiar with the paths of mountain monasteries,
Sometimes he spends the night with peasants.
May I ask this noble, carefree grass:
When then will I see the foam in the bowl again?
Jiaoran:
"A man from Yue offered me tea from the Shan Valley,
Whose golden buds are cooking in the metal cauldron.
In the snow-white stoneware bowl, the scent of its water-green foam exhales,
More fragrant than the immortal drink of jade buds.
The first sip dispels all torpor,
My well-being extends to the whole universe.
The second sip purifies my soul,
Like rain cleansing fine dust.
The third sip awakens me:
No need to strive to break passions!"
Huangfu Zeng:
"To Lu Yu, tea-picking at Mount Hui"
The thousand mountains welcome the stroller,
Where fragrant tea grows in abundance.
He knows the valleys where to pluck it,
Alone in the mist, he loves to walk.
In this time of retreat, far from the temple,
He makes a frugal meal by the cool spring.
All is silence; he lights a lamp in the night,
Sadly, he thinks of the song of the sounding stones.
Around 766, Lu Yu traveled to Mount Jun in the Changzhou region to taste the tea. He found it so refined that he inspired the governor to send the tea as tribute (gift) to the emperor. From then on, a Tea Tribute Bureau was set up and 10,000 ounces were sent to the court every year.
In 773, Lu Yu returned to Wuxing and befriended Yan Zhenqing. A pavilion of the 3 Gui (scholars) was built to celebrate the trio they formed with the monk Jiaoran. His 2 friends will also build a house for Lu Yu. It's located a little outside town, along a small river and surrounded by fields of mulberry, bamboo and tea trees, and has a magnificent view of the mountains in the distance!
He began writing the Cha Jing in the years 760-61, during the rebellion, but continued to add to it until the first edition came out in 780. The success of this book was rapid.
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