Non-Denominational Tea-ism

[TeaDidikai]

‘Ello folks,

I’m Tea. (Are we sensing a pattern yet?) I was raised in a “double faith” household and been interested in theology for as long as I can recall. I’ve been studying tea for a few years now and been enjoying it for all of my adult life.

My thread will be a three-stage course in Tea History and Culture, Secular Application and Spiritual Application.

I expect participants to answer questions posted and provide their own “study materials”- which will include items from the course list below.

My PMs are set to Friends Only, however- if you are interested, ask to be added to my friends list and I’ll respond in a timely manner and we’ll go from there.

Current Caseload:
Patches
Haloquine
Error  

[TeaDidikai]

Study Materials

This course is very "hands on".
You'll need the following tools and access to different kinds of tea as the course progresses.

A Tea Kettle
A small teapot
A strainer (Filters work but can be messy, use what works for you)
A clear wine glass (Dishwasher safe is better)
A small white cup or saucer
A note book

You may wish to take care in selecting the "perfect" tools. As we progress from the more secular understandings to personal spiritual understandings, one may wish to have "sacred" tools.

Lesson Plan

The History of Tea

A Small Time Line

A Brief Overview

Questions

Mythology of Tea

The Two Greatest Men of Tea
-Lu Yu
-Sen no Rikyu


The Culture of Tea

Tea Traditions in China
-Gung Fu Cha
-Buddhism and Tea

Tea Traditions in Japan
-Sencha
-Chanoya

Tea Traditions in Russia

Tea Traditions in The Middle East

Tea Traditions in India

Tea Traditions in Britain

Tea Traditions in the U.S.

The Drinking of Tea

The Mother of Tea

The Father of Tea

The Tea Itself

The 1, 2, 3 of Good Tea
-How to make a good cup of tea

How to Taste Tea

The Spirituali- of Tea

Meditations for Tea

Tea and Energy Centers

Tea and Elemental Systems

Personal Tea Ritual

Divination by Tea

Resource Materials

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura

Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West by Beatrice Hohenegger

The Way of Tea by Lam Kam Chuen

Chado: The Way of Tea by Sanmi

Tea Chings: The Tea and Herb Companion

All In This Tea  

[TeaDidikai]

Current Topic:
Tea History and Culture

Current Assignment:
Provided below is a small outline of Tea History. Please review it and ask questions as needed.  

[TeaDidikai]

Archive:


Folks who wish to take an active role in this course should PM me please.  

[TeaDidikai]

A Brief History of Tea:

circa 2737 BCE
The Legend of Chinese Emperor Shen Nung's discovery of Tea takes place.

circa 2000 BCE
As Agriculture becomes a foundation of cultural expression, all over the world crops are being deliberately planted. Tea amongst them.

circa 725 BCE
Within the Tang Dynasty, Tea becomes part of daily life.

206 BCE – ACE 221
The Han Dynasty improves methods of collecting leaves and brewing tea.
Tea becomes social outlet for royal subjects.

221-277 ACE
Tea replaces wine at Chinese Imperial Banquets.

618-907 ACE
Tea became the national drink in China under the Tang Dynasty

750 ACE
Dengyo Daishi takes brings tea to Japan.

780 ACE
Lu Yu first publishes Ch'a Ching, the first authoritative book on the history, cultivation and preparation of tea.

960-1279 ACE
Tea reaches it's peak of fashion under the Sung Dynasty

1191 ACE
Buddhist monk Yesai revives the cultivation of tea in Japan and publishes the first Japanese book on tea.

1368-1644 ACE
The Chinese - European tea trade begins. Chinese pottery and tea are exchanged for silver under the Ming Dynasty.

1618 ACE
Tea is given as a gift to Tsar Alexis which in turn introduced tea to the Russian people.

1644-1911 ACE
Under the Ching Dynasty, the secrets of making tea found their way into the hands of Europeans thus ending the Asian control of tea.

1648 ACE
Tea becomes fashionable in Paris.

circa 1650 ACE
Tea is introduced to America and England

1810 ACE
Formosa, now known as Taiwan begins cultivating tea.

1823-1824 ACE
Tea is discovered to be growing wild in India in a region known as Assam.
The Indian Tea Industry is born.

1832-1833 ACE
Dutchman J.I.L.L. Jacobson brought seven million tea seeds, fifteen Chinese Tea Planters, Tea Makers and box makers from China- the Chinese authorities were angered to the point of putting a price on his head.

1869 ACE
The Coffee blight in Ceylon devastates the crop. Compounded with the infestation of 1877 ACE, Ceylon returns to planting tea.

1900 ACE
The final camel caravan transporting tea to Russia leaves Beijing just before the Trans-Siberian Railway is completed.

1904 ACE
Richard Blechynden invents iced tea at the Worlds Fair in St. Louis.

1908 ACE
Tomas Sullivan invents the tea bag by offering tea in small silk pouches to his customer.

Mostly drawn from the book The Way of Tea by Lam Kam Chuen.  

[TeaDidikai]

Of particular interest within the history of Tea is how long the Chinese managed to maintain a strangle hold on it's production and cultivation.

The processing of tea leaves is incredibly complex and the harvesting methods remained unchanged for hundreds and hundreds of years until the process was mechanized. Even then, many Tea Gardens have not changed due to the decreased quality machine harvested tea provides.

Europeans were kept at their ports. Walls were built and traders were not allowed beyond these walls for fear they would steal the secrets.

Europe's prime trading resources included silver and broad cloth. The Chinese, with finer textiles, had no use for the cloth, so instead tea was bought with silver.

The outflow of silver into China and only tea returning threatened to bankrupt parts of Europe, especially England.

Thus began the Opium Wars.

The English were able to provide Indian Opium to the Chinese in exchange for tea and silver. This became an epidemic and when the Chinese Emperor lost his son and heir to an Opium addiction, Opium was banned.  

[patch99329]

How would the collction of tea via mechanic means affect the taste?

Thanks for posting. ^_^  

[TeaDidikai]

In Liquid Jade it talks about how the Emperor's tea was plucked by a virgin's finger tips. How this was done at a certain time of the day- when it was cool, to avoid perspiration from spoiling the leaves.

The ideal of plucking tea- the best tea, was measured by what some people call "Two Leaves and a Bud", that is to say, the only part of the plant picked was the top two leaves and the bud of the tea branch.



The mechanical tea pickers often grab old leaves and twigs. This in tern bitters the infusion.


Image from http://www.stassen.com and hosted via Photobucket to avoid using their bandwidth.  

[patch99329]

Ahh, that makes sense.

Is alot of tea picked by hand anymore? I'm assuming no xD  

[TeaDidikai]

A fair amount of it is actually!

Granted, mostly in some parts of China and Japan- where the kind of tea grown has a more delicate flavor that is easier to overwhelm.

It varies from Tea Garden to Tea Garden however. And sometimes from crop to crop.  

[TeaDidikai]

Final call for questions before this is transitioned into the next topic.  

[patch99329]

I'd like to hear the legend about the discovery of tea, if thats ok!  

[Haloquine]

Hello Tea,
If this class is still running I would very much like to learn about the history and spirituality of tea. I haven't had more than a passing interest in tea before now, although I have occasionally thought it a good thing to learn more about with regards to magical practice, but this looks very interesting and it would be nice to actually begin learning about it.

I can see there hasn't been anything in-thread for a couple of months, I was wondering if you were planning on continuing and if so, if I may join in?

Thank you!

 

[TeaDidikai]

Life got... difficult. Back on track now. On with Patches' questions and yes, Haloquine, you're more than welcome.

The Quan Yin Legend:

In the Fujian Province of China, an iron statue of Quan Yin, the Goddess or Bodhisattva (depending on who you ask) of Mercy, stood in an empty temple on the outskirts of a village where famine and poverty had tarnished those living there. The temple was in disarray as neglect of the starving villagers had taken their minds and actions elsewhere. One man decided to clean up the temple and offer incense.

As the man was cleaning, the statue came to life and plucking a small plant from between the stones of the temple, she gave it to him and told him to care for it that it might restore his village.

It was a tea bush and it grew from a struggling shoot to a beautiful green shrub. The man processed the leaves and it turned out to be amongst the finest of teas. He gave pieces of the plant to his neighbors and began selling the tea under the name Tie Quan Yin, Iron Goddess* of Mercy.

The selling of tea by the man and his neighbors brought prosperity and the temple was repaired and revered.

*Goddess is used here as the common English brands cite her as a goddess on their labeling- and after all, that is what we are speaking of.  

[TeaDidikai]

The tale of Buddha:

Tea is sometimes said to be a divine creation of the Buddha himself. The Buddha once swore to meditate and not sleep for nine years. However- he did fall asleep and upon awakening, he was so angry with himself that he torn off his eyelids and thrown them to the ground where his eyelids took root and grew into plants that sprouted leaves with an eyelid shape.

Chewing the leaves, he noticed how they took away his weariness. And thus, tea came to be.