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Difference in Living Tea vs. Cha Dao

茶有道俗之分吗?

LuYu said

Tea, the essence for health cultivation, it helps to unthirst, release stressful energy, ease headache, brighten vision, calming worries, good for joints, cast way tireness; regularly drinking tea for a longer period of time helps to bring joy to mind, improve and refreshing thinking…..Besides those basic health benefits, tea lovers who truly into tea would also appreciate 5 (five) beauties in life, which are:

  • The beauty in Taste
  • The beauty in Tea Ware
  • The beauty in Fire
  • The beauty in Drinking
  • The beauty in Mind

Mental state in tea actually is not that differ from the daoist mind in poem or other arts. Only those who respect tea and consciously embrace the calm, peaceful energy can bring out the taste of harmony !

陆羽说:“茶,乃养生之精,可以解热渴、驱凝闷、缓脑痛、明眼目、息烦恼、舒关节、荡昏寐,长期饮用可以有利悦志、增益思考……这些对身体健康的益处还在其次,善茶之人必有五美,即
味之美、
器之美、
火之美、
饮之美、
境之美。

茶的境界与诗情道心并无分别,境界高的人才能泡出天人合一的滋味!

What can we learn from tea?

What can we learn from tea?

Tea leaf has limit in size, tea cup has limit in capacity

the learning through tea in life is unlimited

Mei Lan hsiao

What we can learn are more than various types of tea drinking or performing of various tea arts or tea ceremonies.

Tea leaf.has limit in size, tea cup has limit in capacity per cup, but the learning through tea in life is unlimited.

When we are willing to open our minds and taking actions to implement basic morals in life through tea, it’s not difficult to enhance the learning by doing to improve the living quality:

  • learn to respect to the Nature, community and the planet
  • learn to respect and accept the own responsibilities with clear consciousness
  • learn the values of humanity with respect to those hard working nameless people
  • learn what and how to practice of equality without preconceived judgement
  • learn to appreciate from heart to self, learn to show earnest respect to others and to the world
  • learn when and how to lay down egoism, enjoy and appreciate the simplicity and tranquility from the moment
  • learn to put priority right by recognizing own responsibilities to the Nature, people, cultures and the world.

Of course there are more than the list, perhaps you can add on some based on your learning journey with tea. Let the carpet of tea full of kindness, love, respect and harmony.

#lifetimelearning #love #respect #people #kindness #learning #culture #quality #equality #ecobalance #earnest #tranquality #purification

©Mei Lan Hsiao, Belgium Chinese Tea Culture Association, Antwerp, Belgium 13/8/2022

From Tea to Know a Person

In the modern world. trust is critical for any kind of relationship, in either personal or professional environments.

Here is a simple tip for you to consider:

One who can not even distinguish whether tea is authentic or flavored, what’s her/his ability to identify truth from false?

One who does not know how to appreciate authentic flavors and tastes from mild and gentleness, how would s/he value honesty in relationship?

One who likes to show her/his ability to tell which tea is ‘the best’ or not without knowing there are plenty ‘good teas’, the best is not judged by own judgement but based on other’s perception and acceptance, how can be a fair leader if s/he has impulsive prejudgement attitude?

One who can’t even demonstrate respectful behaviors in preparing or drinking a cup of tea, what make you think that person knows the essence of ‘respect’? Without respectful mind, how can that person be a good leader?

What is Dao? What is Consistency?

The first sentence from the #DaoDeJing (道德经)that we normally know is:

道 可道 非常道 (dào  dào fēi cháng dào)

Way, one can be named is an extraordinary way.

(the challenge to translate traditional Chinese scripts to other languages, it’s underable that the meaning often can be narrowed by respective interpretation)

1973 many ancient scripts were discovered in the MaWangDui,an archaeological site located in Changsha from West Han Dynasty (206 BC – 9 AD); a Dao De Jing was among discovered ancient scripts. In the MaWangDui DaoDeJing, the first sentence starts differently:

道 可道, 非恒道 (dào kě dào , fēi héng dào)
Way, one can be named, is not consistent way.

The discovery of MaWangDui DaoDeJing enlightens a new window of learning, not only some differences in the Chinese text, but there are also some texts are even against the text from the normal version that we learned before.

Before struggleing to think what is Dao (the way), perhaps we can explore why not-consistency is hard to understand, to comprehend and to accept.

Even though we named two parts as DaoDeJing (道德经)but according to the knowledge, LaoZi first wrote the DeJing (德经, 德 means Morals)before the DaoJing (道经,道 can also means path in life). To those who are interested to learn DaoDeJing, suggest to start from Chapter 38 (the beginning of DeJing 德经).

Chinese Tea Arts

What is Chinese Tea Arts? In short we can consider “Tea Arts” as different forms of “Tea Ceremony”.

The essence in learning Chinese tea arts is more than deepening the learning of different types of tea, it is more than how to arrange the tea setting nicely in elegant way, you learn much deeper and more when enjoying the unique fine and nature authentic flavors and taste in tea, moreover you learn how to engage the inner peace with a cup of tea.

Modernized tea ceremony is simple and pleasant

Tea and tea culture began from China more than 4000 years ago,  tea ceremony has gone through different cultural evolutions in China history, we can briefly define the Chinese tea arts in following styles

  1. Eating tea – some ethnic groups in China are still keeping this ancient tea traditions today
  2. Boiling tea – the fashionable tea ceremony in Tang Dynasty
  3. Whisking  tea – the fashionable tea ceremony in Song Dynasty which Japanese monks brought back to Japan, further refine and practice in Japanese Cha Dao today
  4. Brewing in small tea pot – Began popular since Ming Dynasty (porcelain small teapot and Yixing teapot)
  5. Brewing with Gaiwan – one simple tea ware allow us to brew all tea types
  6. Brewing tea in Gongfu tea style (ChaoZhou style and Taiwan style)
  7. Traditional brewing tea in a glass – highly recommended for premium quality green or yellow tea
  8. Simplified daily easy tea ceremony – it is about how one can take time to enjoy a quality tea time

Chinese culture emphasizes the humane values through self disciplines, appropriate social behaviors with good and respectful manners that embed the collectural beauty in the society.

Mei Lan Hsiao
One planet for all, appreciate what we have and to share while we can!

It’s hard to separate the development of tea arts with various developments in art, literal, phyilosophies, living wisdom and social behavior teachings… all of these have enriched the cultural development in China history.  It’s hard to say whether it was tea influenced art developments or art developments stimulated the variety development in different types of tea and tea arts in Chinese culture. No matter what the relationship of tea with the mother Nature, shaping the human values, stimulates the sustainable culture development, living wisdom from calming individual to shape the peace in the society is like a circle that has neither beginning nore end. The question is from which point you like to pick up the life time learning with a cup of tea.

How well to manage the choice of tea type and tea quality are critical for specific tea ceremony.  Through the learning of tea arts, it refreshes the learning of tea; the practice of Chinese tea arts (Chinese tea ceremony) facilitates the practice of Chinese Cha Dao that eventually leads to the practice of mindfulness in body and mind while enjoying fine flavours and taste in a cup of tea.

What Can Tea Do For You

This is what Lu Xun, a famous Chinese writer, essayist, poet, and literary critic writer in the early 19th century, said about what can tea do for us:

Drinking tea helps to improve IQ, EQ and sense of happiness in life almost by 86.4%.

In other words, a critical thinker as Lu Xun also confirmed what we can profit from drinking tea based on his personal mexperience. Drinking tea not only helps to improve health conditions by serving the needs for healthy lifestyle; a tea time also means we are giving ourselves a quality moment to enjoy the tranquility and calmness with a cup of tea that helps to elaborate the level of thinking and feeling in more peaceful and joyful manners without being impulsed.

But Lu Xun left us a silent smile to the question : Where to purchase the good quality tea.

©copyrighted Mei Lan Hsiao, 16/11/2019

Human, The Heart of Heaven and Earth

There is time from the Heaven to stimulate the growth of the Nature

There are plenty of minerals in Earth to neurite the growth of the Nature

Only those People who are wise know how to adapt and mange the Nature.

The interpretation of the meaning of universal based on the humane values by great Confucian scholar in Ming Dynasty, Chen Lai of Li Ji (禮記, 禮運篇), he wrote “Human, the heart of heaven and earth; the beginning of five elements”.

Can his interpretation be applied to understand problems that we are facing today in the world? The answer definitely is positive.  When we examine the cause of those global warming chaos that we are facing today from the Nature and in the world, it all points directly to the source of decayed hearts – Greediness﹑Insanity﹑Idiotic; Jalousie﹑Hates and Desires.  

If the heart beholds respect, believes in the greater good, then Buddha is in his/her heart, why bother to search from far?  If we could treat the Nature and people with kindness and beholds greater love in our heart, then love is in everywhere.

If we could open our mind to embrace universal humane values and without differentiative minds, we all respect morals and willing to follow the boundary of laws and orders, in this case, there will be peace in the family and society, then eventually we can think of peace in the world.

The removal of the devil from heart can only be dealt with by finding peace in heart, by controlling egoism and shaping behaviors. Starting from self but not expecting from others.

Those people say they know but can’t act based on what they know are actually not knowing.

The greatest stupidity in the world is driven by egoism and selfishness.

When we look at the mirror everyday what and who do we see? 

Before pointing finger towards others, perhaps should first examine the self that the other three fingers are pointing at. Therefore, before trying to correct other people’s wrong doing, we should first examine if we also made the same mistakes; before preaching good manners and morals, should first ask ourselves if we have been acting according to morals with good manners, to who, when, where and how. Still today, I remember what my late father said to me repeatedly in my upbringing:

You can connect with the best teacher from within if you could examine own deeds at least three times a day.

Most flowers are gone, the grass is getting rusty dried, trees are getting bold and the wind breeze is getting colder, the re-examination of those old moral learning in this cold greyish afternoon keeps my heart warm.  Even though I am more than ten thousand miles away from my birthplace for many years, but the family rules and Chinese traditional moral teachings are always crystal clear as Autumn moon in heart.  People probably will forget me one day, but I will never forget who I am, and I will continuously walk on the path that I chose cheerfully.

copyrighted Mei Lan Hsiao, 15/11/2019

Chinese Tea Ceremony

Tea and tea culture began from China thousands year ago. When tea entered different countries via the first ancient Grand Silk Road in Han Dynasty to the West and another connection to the East, Korea and Japan, tea integrated in different cultures and influenced the change of lifestyle nicely without impulsing.

Image result for 點茶法

In the 12th century, Japanese Zen monk Eisai  brought tea seeds and the whisking method Chinese tea ceremony that they learnt in the process of learning Buddhism in the Buddhist temple on Tian Tai Shan in Zhejiang Province back to Japan. The Cha Dao culture has further refined in Japan, the steamed green and whisking method tea ceremony are well preserved and refined further under the Japanese cultural discipline for being perfect.

Meantime in China migrations and expansions of tea plantation continued and more tea types gradually created. With the introduction of more fine quality teas, from steamed-green to wok-fired green and more varieties were born and more various tea types were introduced. Chinese tea ceremony methods gradually changed to loose leaves with gaiwan or small-teapot brewing. What remains same in Chinese culture from all those exciting changes are :

  • The “Dao” in Daoism is more than Daoist philosophy or limited to specific forms of exercise, it meant an on-going learning process and one has to his/her own responsibility to find his/her path to move forwards in life.
  • Chinese culture is closely linked with the teaching and wisdom from Confucianism, Daoism and Chinese Buddhism. Indeed there are plenty of temples in China, but what’s important in life is not about religion but is about
  • How to discipline and strength the inner-self
  • How to live by facing self
  • How to maintain a peaceful, respectful and harmony relationships in 360 degree, from family, working and society.
Image result for 煎茶法

In tea, there is I, there is s/he, most importantly there are Us.

Tea reveals wisdom in life, the flavors and tastes in tea reflect the various unexpected things to happen in life. Tea is as life; life is as tea.

For thousands of year the meaning of Chinese tea ceremony maintains the same in Chinese culture that influence the Chinese lifestyle:

  • Fun and fine quality pleasure to enjoy in life
  • Tea is about taking time to enjoy a moment of peace and tranquility
  • Fine and warm friendship that interchange in silence by showing respect each others and self

So far, China is still the homeland for 6+1 tea types. Therefore there are different forms of process to present in the Chinese tea ceremony, despite differences, it again covers ONLY all aspects to enjoy:

  • Create a pleasant physical environmental ambiance
  • Prepare your mind
  • Evaluating the quality of tea
    • The color from tea leaves (dried and wet) and tea liquor
    • The natural and multiple layer of notes in flavors
    • The charming multiple layers of transformation from the taste and after taste
    • The number of brewing indicate the quality and strength
  • Respectful attitude and good manners in the serving, receiving and tasting tea
Image result for 煎茶法

Making a cup of tea is easy, simply let’s have a cup of tea!

Zen is You, is How You Live

People like to talk about Zen, often many people think Zen is an exclusive philosophy of Buddhism, or meditation means zen…… there are many different interpretations, but actually what is Zen?

I was first enlightened in the year of 1984 or early 1985 by the wisdom in Zen, two particular experiences helped me to open my mind and brought me, a Catholics to become a Chinese Buddhism Zen practitioner.

Instead of telling you what Zen is or isn’t, let me tell you my stories:

Tea, a cup of fine tea

When talking about tea, often people like to compare which tea is better than the other tea by tea type, country by country, region by region, by altitude or even by the aging…… But actually which criteria define the basic quality differences in tea and what does a cup of tea do with your health?

In short, tea is more than a cup of delicious and healthy beverage; it reveals how do you care about your health and how well you know what and how to manage your energy in this fast changing and stressful reality today.

The answer to a cup of fine tea should be explored in the follow fundamental question areas:

  1. How much do you really know about tea?
  2. Are you really following tea or lead by preconceived decisions?
  3. Which processes are important to you to think about how to sustain health through tea?
  4. Do you know what and how to select tea before brewing tea in the cup?
  5. How well can you manage the tea brewing?
  6. Do you know what and how to consume tea per day?
  7. Last but no least, is tea just limited to a cup of tea?

Of course, there are typical parameters to define a fine cup of tea, but through the tranquility, purity and clarity in tea, we can deepen the learning in life.

I will be more than happy to share my experience and learning with tea lovers in the Berlin Tea Festival ( http://berlin-tea-festival.de/ ) on 23/11/2019.

Looking forwards to having a cup of tea with you in Berlin.

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