Original text of the work

"Poetry of Seven Bowls of Tea"

Tang Lu Tong

One bowl of tea moistens the throat, two bowls of tea break the loneliness stuffy.

Three bowls of dried intestines, but only five thousand volumes of text.

Four bowls of light sweat, all the uneven things in life are dispersed into the pores.

Five bowls clear the muscles and bones, and six bowls clear the spirits.

I can't eat seven bowls, but I can feel the cool breeze blowing in my armpits.

Translation of the work

Drinking one bowl moistens the lips and throat;

Drinking two bowls breaks the lonely and boring mood;

After drinking three bowls, I searched my intestines and scraped my stomach to find chapters and excerpts, but I could only remember five thousand volumes of text;

After drinking four bowls, I sweated slightly, and the injustice I experienced in my life spread to the pores of my body;< /p>

After drinking five bowls, the muscles and bones of the whole body feel extremely refreshing;

After six bowls, the stomach feels ecstatic and connected to the gods;

Seven bowls will I couldn't eat anymore, and I just felt the breeze blowing under my armpits.

Introduction to the work

"Seven Bowls of Tea" is a seven-character ancient poem written by Lu Tong, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, when he was living in seclusion in Shaoshi Mountain Tea Fairy Valley and Tea Fairy Spring. The key part in "Sending New Tea" describes the wonderful artistic conception of drinking new tea, which is widely praised.

Creative background

There are fifty-five springs in Qinyuan Scenic Area in Henan. Peach Blossom Island in the West Lake is surrounded by water and surrounded by hundreds of green bamboos. There is a spring under the island, which spurts out from the side of the arch bridge entering the island, surges several feet high, and falls into the spring river. Its water quality is clear and sweet, and it was called Peach Blossom Spring in the old days.

In the mid-Tang Dynasty, Qinyuan had become a leisure place and cultural center for banquets and excursions for bureaucrats and literati in Hedong, Henan and Hanoi.

Lu Tong, named Yuchuanzi (about 795-835), who lived in Sili Village, Jiyuan, Hanoi, was a direct descendant of Lu Zhaolin, one of the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty". Although he came from a famous family, his family was very poor. He was upright and unsociable, indifferent to fame and fortune, and especially hated the evil practices of officialdom. He refused to take the scientific examination, lived in seclusion in the mountains, and studied hard. He was not tempted by high-ranking officials and generous salaries, and refused to pursue an official career. He was known for being poor and upright. When the imperial court heard about Lu Tong's talent and learning, he was recruited twice to serve as an admonishing official (the fifth rank in official rank). However, he hated the power of eunuchs in the imperial court and despised the dirty officialdom, so he refused even though he was ordered to do so. Just as he said in his poem "Winter", "The emperor is not known above, and the princes are not known below." ("Complete Tang Poems" Volume 588 "Collected Poems of Lu Tong"). Han Yu especially liked Lu Tong's talent and learning and his noble integrity, and he helped Lu Tong when he was the governor of Henan. Therefore, Lu Tongsheng was mixed with Han Yu, Zhang Ji, Meng Jiao and Jia Dao, and became an important figure in the Han and Meng poetry schools in the Tang Dynasty, and then became China's "tea fairy".

Qinyuan is located in Xuliang Town, Boai County and Shanwangzhuang Town in Qinyang City, to Wulongkou Town and Jiuligou in Jiyuan City, with a total length of more than 30 kilometers. It is the most beautiful and story-telling scenic spot at the foot of South Taihang. Scenic strip. Lu Tong, who was dissatisfied with the current world but also indulged himself, often invited his friends to enjoy the scenery and drink in this area. Therefore, the remains of the Lutong Tea Station in Jiuligou still exist, and the stories of "Korean Tea", "Luquan" and "Seven Bowls of Tea Song" in Qinyuan are passed down to this day.

In the fourth year of Tang Yuanhe, Han Yu, the Ling of Henan who lived in Mengzhou, Hanoi, and Lu Tong, who lived in Jiyuan, Hanoi, were enjoying themselves in Qinyuan, Hanoi. The two sat and drank with the geisha, sang and danced for a while, and then called the maid to serve tea. In the Tang Dynasty, people in Hanoi only drank local chrysanthemum tea and Dong Ling tea. Although Lu Dong was also from Hanoi, he was a "tea fairy" after all. He used Longjing and Maojian for everything. Therefore, although the chrysanthemum tea was pure and sweet, it lacked the beauty of bitterness, so he was very unhappy. Han Yu was a frequent visitor to the bamboo forest and knew a lot about bamboo plants. He took Lu Tong to pick some bamboo skewers in the bamboo forest and suggested making tea with them. As a result, the bamboo skewers were not brewed, and the tea brewed was too bitter and lacked the fragrance, which made Lu Tong very distressed. After a while, Lu Tong suddenly suggested going out to see the spring. Han Yu didn't understand what he meant and followed him. I saw Lu Tong drinking water from every spring he came to. As a result, after reading fifty-five springs, his stomach bulged from drinking, making Han Yu burst into laughter. Later, Lu Tong asked his maid to fill up the peach blossom spring water and cook it again for Han Yu to drink. After Han Yu tasted it, he suddenly understood its meaning and said with great joy: "Sweetness and bitterness are combined, elegant and spreading, unique taste, good tea, good tea!" It turns out that the pharmacology of bamboo string seeds is to promote fluid and blood, clear away heat and remove fire, and Lung detoxification, coupled with the medicinal reaction of the sweetness of Peach Blossom Spring and mineral components, make Bamboo Chuanzi tea soft, refreshing, beneficial to the spleen, and restorative. It is indeed a good drink.

In the days that followed, Han and Lu often invited Zhang Ji, Meng Jiao, Jia Dao and other friends to Peach Blossom Spring many times to cook and drink, and wrote songs and poems, leaving behind many good stories and poems.

In the sixth year of Tang Yuanhe, Lu Tong received tea from his friend Meng Jian, the doctor who advised him, and invited Han Yu, Jia Dao and others to cook and drink in Taohua Spring. The famous "Seven Bowls of Tea" "Song" was born. The feeling of drinking tea expressed in Lu Tong's tea songs is not just the desire for food, but the pharmacology and medicinal effects of "Bamboo Chuanzi Tea" are integrated into it to refresh the mind and body, purify the soul, stimulate literary thought, condense everything, and create Entering an unspeakable realm.

Appreciation of Works

"Seven Bowls of Tea Song" is the third and most exciting part of "Thanks to Meng for his advice and proposal to send new tea". It writes about tasting and drinking The wonderful artistic conception of new tea: the first bowl of tea moistens the throat; the second bowl helps people drive away loneliness; the third bowl makes people think over and over again, and the only thing in their hearts is the Tao; the fourth bowl, all the unfair things in life are forgotten. , expresses the tea drinker's extraordinary and generous mind; when he drank the seventh bowl, the wind was blowing in his armpits, and he wanted to take advantage of the breeze to go back to Penglai Mountain, the fairyland on earth. A cup of tea allows the poet to moisten his throat, eliminate troubles, splash ink, and create a beautiful scene of becoming a fairy. Write about the beauty of tea. For him, tea is more than just a drink. Tea seems to have created a vast spiritual world for him, raising tea drinking to an extraordinary state. Drinking tea with concentration can actually forget about the world, abandon fame and fortune, Become an immortal.

About the author

Lu Tong (pronounced tóng