The Classic of Tea
The Classic of Tea or Tea Classic (simplified Chinese: 茶经; traditional Chinese: 茶經; pinyin: chájīng) is the first known monograph on tea in the world, by Chinese writer Lu Yu between 760 CE and 762 CE, during the Tang dynasty.[1] Lu Yu's original manuscript is lost; the earliest editions available date to the Ming dynasty.[2]
According to tea lore, Lu Yu was an orphan of Jinling county (now Tianmen City in Hubei Province) who was adopted by a Buddhist monk of the Dragon Cloud Monastery. He refused to take up the monastic robes and was assigned menial jobs by his stepfather. Lu Yu ran away and joined the circus as a clown. At age 14, Lu Yu was discovered by the local governor Li Qiwu, who offered Lu Yu the use of his library and the opportunity to study with a teacher. During the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellion period, Lu Yu retired to Shaoqi (now Wuxing county, Zhejiang). Lu Yu made friends with many literati, including the calligrapher Yan Zhenqing and the poet Huangfu Zheng.
For Lu Yu, tea symbolized the harmony and mysterious unity of the universe. "He invested the Ch'a Ching with the concept that dominated the religious thought of his age, whether Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian: to see in the particular an expression of the universal".[3]
In Lu Yu's hometown, Tianmen, there is an ancient styled tower named according to the classic in honour of the great writer.