Tea Art of Lu Yu in China

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Tea drinking could be simply divided into tea drinking and tea tasting.Drinking tea was to quench thirst，while tasting tea was to heighten the tea affairs onto aspiritual and artistic level.In detail，tea tasting first needed to choose tea and select water，and then choose tea utensils according to the kinds of tea.Generally，tea tasting emphasized the simplicity and gracefulness of tea utensils，and also the harmony of drinkers’moral character and the environment in the process of tea tasting.Developing to this step，the highly artistic tea tasting was no longer thesimple means of thirst quenching，but should be seen as a kind of art.After a longtime，there formed the unique Chinese art of tea drinking，i.e.the Chinese tea art.

The”Tea Sage”Lu Yu’s Mode of Tea Art

Lu Yu was reputed as the”Tea Sage”in the Tang dynasty.The Tea Classics he wrote had much pioneering contribution in many aspects of the Chinese tea culture.

In the respect of tea tasting and tea art，Lu Yu recorded an intact process of tea art of the ancient people in detail，which had an epoch-making significance.Firstly，in tea drinking process，tea utensils were one of the most important requirements，emphasizing the division and specialty of the tools and containers.

Therefore，in the Tea Classics，there enumerated 26 kinds of utensils from stove to utensil container，each of which was further divided into many ranks and styles.

Secondly，the ways of distinguishing good tea from the ones of low quality were also emphasized，such as the skills of distinguishing teas by color，tactility，sound，aroma and taste.

Thirdly，choose water strictly.In fact detailed and meticulous water-choosing principles were set down.Generally speaking，spring water was the best，then water in the river and lastly water from wells.

Fourthly，the book recorded the standard procedures and the superb skills of tea steaming，such as the notices in observing the tea water during the process of steaming，the skills of putting tea leaves and the requirements in pouring tea into bowls etc，which indicated that people in the Tang dynasty had already paid much attention to the exquisite tea art.

Fifthly，the way of tea drinking was emphasized.In the tea drinking process，people should pay special attention that tea of high quality should be chosen，teautensils should be clean and the way of drinking should be the right one，and even the tea drinkers should share the same ideals，thoughts and tastes.

Sixthly，tea drinking emphasized graceful environment，harmonious atmosphere and lofty artistic mood.