第 4 节
作者:      更新:2022-06-15 11:21      字数:9322
  lips    and   throat;   the   second    cup    breaks    my   loneliness;     the   third  cup
  searches my barren entrail but to find therein some five thousand volumes
  of   odd   ideographs。      The   fourth   cup   raises   a   slight   perspiration;all   the
  wrong   of   life   passes   away   through   my   pores。        At   the   fifth   cup   I   am
  purified;   the   sixth   cup   calls   me   to   the   realms   of   the   immortals。    The
  seventh cupah; but I could take no more!                I only feel the breath of cool
  wind that rises in my sleeves。            Where is Horaisan?          Let me ride on this
  sweet breeze and waft away thither。〃
  The remaining chapters of the 〃Chaking〃 treat of the vulgarity of the
  ordinary methods of tea…drinking; a historical summary of illustrious tea…
  drinkers; the famous tea plantations of              China; the possible variations of
  the    tea…service      and    illustrations    of   the   tea…utensils。       The     last   is
  unfortunately lost。
  The   appearance   of   the   〃Chaking〃   must   have   created           considerable
  sensation   at   the   time。    Luwuh   was   befriended   by   the   Emperor   Taisung
  (763…779);      and   his   fame    attracted    many     followers。     Some      exquisites
  were said to have been able to detect the tea made by Luwuh from that of
  his disciples。  One mandarin   has his name   immortalised by his   failure to
  appreciate the tea of this great master。
  In the Sung dynasty the whipped tea came into fashion and created the
  second school of Tea。          The leaves were ground to fine powder in a small
  stone   mill;   and   the   preparation   was   whipped   in   hot   water   by   a   delicate
  whisk made of split bamboo。 The new process led to some change in the
  tea…equippage   of   Luwuh;   as   well   as   in   the   choice   of   leaves。     Salt   was
  discarded forever。         The enthusiasm of the Sung people for tea knew no
  bounds。      Epicures vied with each other in discovering new varieties; and
  regular tournaments were held to decide their superiority。                    The Emperor
  Kiasung   (1101…1124);   who   was   too   great   an   artist   to   be   a   well…behaved
  monarch;  lavished   his        treasures   on   the   attainment   of   rare   species。   He
  himself wrote a dissertation on the twenty kinds of tea; among which he
  prizes the 〃white tea〃 as of the rarest and finest quality。
  The tea…ideal of the Sungs differed from the Tangs even as their notion
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  of life differed。     They sought to actualize what their predecessors tried to
  symbolise。      To the Neo…Confucian mind the cosmic law was not reflected
  in the phenomenal world; but the phenomenal world was the cosmic law
  itself。   Aeons      were   but   momentsNirvana   always   within   grasp。         The
  Taoist conception that immortality lay in the eternal change permeated all
  their   modes   of   thought。    It   was   the   process;   not   the   deed;   which   was
  interesting。     It was the completing; not the completion; which was really
  vital。   Man came thus at once face to face with nature。               A new meaning
  grew into the art of life。       The tea began to be not a poetical pastime; but
  one   of   the   methods   of   self…realisation。   Wangyucheng   eulogised   tea   as
  〃flooding his soul like a direct appeal; that its delicate bitterness reminded
  him of the aftertaste of a good counsel。〃           Sotumpa wrote of         the strength
  of   the   immaculate     purity   in  tea   which    defied    corruption     as  a  truly
  virtuous     man。    Among       the  Buddhists;     the   southern    Zen   sect;  which
  incorporated so much of Taoist doctrines; formulated an elaborate ritual of
  tea。    The monks gathered before the image of Bodhi Dharma and drank
  tea out of a single bowl with the profound formality of a               holy sacrament。
  It was this Zen ritual which finally developed              into the Tea…ceremony of
  Japan in the fifteenth century。
  Unfortunately       the  sudden     outburst    of  the   Mongol      tribes   in  the
  thirteenth    century    which    resulted   in  the  devastation    and   conquest     of
  China   under   the   barbaric   rule   of   the Yuen   Emperors;     destroyed   all   the
  fruits   of   Sung    culture。    The     native   dynasty     of   the    Mings    which
  attempted   re…nationalisation   in   the   middle      of   the   fifteenth   century   was
  harassed by internal troubles; and China again fell under the alien rule of
  the Manchus in the seventeenth century。              Manners and customs changed
  to leave no vestige of the former times。             The powdered tea is          entirely
  forgotten。     We find a Ming commentator at loss to recall the shape of the
  tea whisk   mentioned in one of the Sung   classics。             Tea   is now   taken   by
  steeping the leaves in hot water in a bowl or cup。                The reason why the
  Western world is innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained
  by the fact that Europe knew it only at the close of the Ming dynasty。
  To the latter…day Chinese tea is a delicious beverage; but not an ideal。
  The long woes of his country have robbed him of the zest for the meaning
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  of life。    He has become modern; that is to say; old and disenchanted。                   He
  has lost that sublime faith in illusions which constitutes the eternal youth
  and   vigour   of   the   poets   and   ancients。     He   is   an  eclectic   and   politely
  accepts the traditions of the universe。 He toys with Nature; but does not
  condescend to conquer or worship her。                His Leaf…tea is often wonderful
  with     its  flower…like    aroma;    but   the   romance      of  the   Tang    and   Sung
  ceremonials are not to be found in his cup。
  Japan; which followed closely on the footsteps of Chinese civilisation;
  has known the tea in all its three stages。           As early as the year 729 we read
  of the Emperor Shomu giving              tea to one hundred monks at his palace in
  Nara。     The   leaves     were   probably  imported   by  our   ambassadors   to   the
  Tang   Court   and   prepared   in   the   way  then   in   fashion。    In   801   the   monk
  Saicho brought back some seeds and planted them in Yeisan。                       Many tea…
  gardens are heard of in succeeding centuries; as               well as the delight of the
  aristocracy and priesthood in the           beverage。       The Sung tea reached us in
  1191 with the return of Yeisai…zenji; who went there to study the southern
  Zen   school。      The   new   seeds   which   he   carried   home   were   successfully
  planted in three places; one of which; the Uji district near Kioto; bears still
  the   name     of   producing   the   best   tea   in  the   world。   The    southern     Zen
  spread with marvellous rapidity; and with it the tea…ritual and the tea…ideal
  of the Sung。      By the fifteenth century; under the patronage of the Shogun;
  Ashikaga…Voshinasa; the tea ceremony is fully constituted and made into
  an    independent      and   secular    performance。      Since    then   Teaism     is  fully
  established   in   Japan。      The   use   of   the   steeped   tea   of   the   later   China   is
  comparatively recent among us; being only known since the middle of the
  seventeenth       century。     It   has   replaced    the   powdered      tea   in  ordinary
  consumption; though the latter still continues to hold its place as the tea of
  teas。
  It is in the Japanese tea ceremony that we see the culmination of tea…
  ideals。    Our   successful   resistance   of   the   Mongol   invasion   in   1281   had
  enabled us to carry on the Sung movement so disastrously cut off in China
  itself   through   the   nomadic   inroad。       Tea   with   us   became   more   than   an
  idealisation of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life。               The
  beverage grew to be an excuse for the worship of purity and refinement; a
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  sacred   function   at   which   the   host   and   guest   joined   to   produce   for   that
  occasion   the   utmost   beatitude   of   the   mundane。           The   tea…room   was   an
  oasis in the dreary waste of existence where weary travellers could meet to
  drink from the common spring of art… appreciation。                       The ceremony was
  an   improvised   drama   whose   plot   was   wo