Ep. 140-6 | Camellia sinensis, Superstar

In the post-Lu Yu world, tea starts to take off like a rocket. It will take a little longer for tea to get the needed traction in Japan but during the Tang, Japanese get to see it and appreciate it up close. We'll also look at one of the early "Tea Persons", the poet and recluse Lu Tong, as well as one of his most famous tea poems, "Seven Bowls of Tea". Now that tea had caught on in society, people needed the various tea accouterment. This is where teaware starts to evolve and we'll look at Yue ware and Xing ware, two of the earliest styles of teacups.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Chámǎ Gǔdào	茶马古道	The Ancient Tea Horse Road
Emperor Guāngwǔ of Hàn	汉光武	Eastern Han Emperor who reigned 25-57 CE
Qiǎn Táng Shǐ	遣唐使	Kentoshi, from the 7th to 9th centuries….607 to 838….Japan sent nineteen embassies to China
Saichō	最澄	Japanese Budhhist Monk who lived 767-822. His visit to China in 804 was instrumental in bringing some aspects of Chiense culture to Japan, including tea and the Tiantai school.
Dézōng	唐德宗	Tang Dynasty emperor who reigned 779-805
Emperor Saga	嵯峨天皇	The 52nd Emperor of Japan who reigned 809 to 823. He's famous, among many other things, for being the first Japanese emperor to drink tea.
Mt. Hiei	比叡山	Mountain in Northeast Kyoto where the Enryakuji is located
Enryaku-ji	延暦寺	Established by Saichō himself in 788. It was a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei, overlooking Kyoto.
Tiāntái Zōng	天台宗	Tiāntái sect of Buddhism that developed in sixth century China. The school emphasizes the Lotus Sutra's doctrine of the "One Vehicle"
Eisai	栄西	A Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing both the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often known simply as Eisai/Yōsai Zenji (栄西禅師),literally "Zen master Eisai".
Chá Jīng	茶经	The Classic of Tea, Lu Yu's masterpiece that explained tea to the masses
Cháng’ān	长安	Ancient capital of several past imperial dynasties, most famously the Han and Tang. Located in present day Xian
Luòyáng	洛阳	Another ancient capital of many dynasties in China. Located in Henan province
Kāifēng	开封	Another ancient capital of China, located in Henan province east of Luoyang. Most famously it was the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Lú Tóng	卢仝	790-835, perhaps the most famous "Tea Person" in Tang Dynasty China, other than the Tea Saint himself.
Qī wǎn chá	七碗茶	Seven Bowls of Tea, one of Lu Tong's more famous tea poems
Yù Chuānzǐ	玉川子	Lu Tong's pseudonym
Shàolín Temple	少林寺	Temple at the foot of Mount Song in Henan where Chan Buddhism and Chinese kungfu was born
Tài Hú	太湖	Lake Tài, ithe third-largest freshwater lake entirely in China, after Poyang and Dongting.
Yángxiàn Zǐsǔn cha	阳羡紫笋茶	Yangxian Purple Bamboo Tea, one of the earliest true Tribute Teas of China
Zǐsǔn	紫笋	Purple Bamboo
Tang Daizong	唐代宗	Tang emperor who reigned 762-779
Yángxiàn	阳羡	Former name of the city of Yíxìng, located in Jiangsu Province
Mount Gùzhǔ		Located near Changxing in Zhejiang Province, it was the site of both Jinsha Spring and the famous tribute tea Purple Bamboo.
Sūzhōu	苏州	City in Jiangsu province famous for many things
Húzhōu	湖州	Located in Zhejiang province on the south side of Lake Tai
Chángxīng	长兴	a county in Huzhou prefecture on the southwest shore oif Lake Tai
Yíxìng	宜兴	City in Jiangsu province famous for their clay tea pots. Formerly known as Yangxian.
Wúxī	无锡	City in Jiangsi located in between Suzhou and Changzhou
chárén	茶人	A "tea person," someone knowledgeable and expert about all things tea and whose passion for tea knows no bounds
Jīnshā Spring	金沙泉	A fresh water spring located at Mount Guzhu, where Purple Bamboo tea was grown
Yuèqì	岳器	Yue ware, an early kind of tea ware prized among aficianados and those who could afford it.
Yuèzhōu	岳州	near present day Shàoxīng, just a little east of Hángzhōu. Yue ware came from here
mìsè	蜜色	A "secret color"
Xíng ware	邢窑	a type of Chinese ceramics produced in Hebei province, during the Tang dynasty. Xing ware typically has a white body covered with a clear glaze. It was named after Xingzhou in southern Hebei where it was made
Wénchéng Gōngzhǔ	文成公主	Princess Wénchéng, niece of Tang Emperor Taizong. Chinese tradition says she brought tea and Buddhism to the Tibetan people following her marriage to their great king Songtsen Gampo
Táng Tàizōng	唐太宗	The Tang Taizong emperor who reigned 598-649
Zàng	藏族	The Zang ethnic minority, better known as the Tibetans
Qiāng	羌族	One of the ethnic monority people of China, who live mainly in a mountainous region in the northwestern part of Sichuan on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
Míng	明朝	The Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644
Qīng	清朝	The Qing Dynasty, China's final imperial dynasty 1644-1911

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