Tea classics

Tea as a drink was first consumed in China and the earliest extant mention of tea in literature is the Classic of Poetry, although the ideogram used () in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle and thrush.

Chinese literature contains a significant number of ancient treatises on tea. Together, there exist approximately one hundred monographs or treatises on tea published from the Tang dynasty through the end of the Ming dynasty. Writers of non-Chinese backgrounds have also emulated the style of the Chinese tea classics.

The more famous books on tea are listed below.

Chinese Tang dynasty The Classic of Tea () by Lu Yu, 780. Report on Water for Brewing Tea by Zhang Youxin, 814. Records of Tea Picking () by Wen Tingyun (), 860.

Song dynasty The Record of Tea () by Cai Xiang (), 1049. Report on Tasting of East Brook Tea () by Song Zian (), 1064.Translation by Global Tea Hut. Treatise on Tea () by Emperor Song Huizong (), 1107. Record of Xuan He Era Tribute Tea in The North Farm () by Xiong Fan (). Essential Record of Tea Tasting () by Huang Ru (), 1075. Pictorial of Tea Ware () by The Old Man Shenan ().

Ming dynasty Zhu Quan (): , 1440.Translation by Global Tea Hut. Translation by John Thompson. Gu Yuanqing (): Classification of Tea (), 1541.Translation by Global Tea Hut. Lu Shusheng (): A Report on Tea House (), 1570. Tu Long (): , 1590. Gao Lian (): Eight Discourses on the Art of Living/ Tea (), 1591. Hu Wenhuan (): Tea Collection (), 1593. Chen Shi (): Research on Tea (), 1593. Chen Jiru (): Tea Talks (), 1595. Zhang Yuan (): Tea Notes (), 1595.Translation by The Leaf. Zhang Qiande (): The Book of Tea (), 1598. Xiong Mingyu (): Report on Lu Jie Tea, (), 1608. Feng Shike (): Tea Record (), 1609. Wen Zhenheng (): Treatise on Superfluous Things/ Incense and Tea (), 1621. Translation by Martin Tai.Translation by Global Tea Hut. Wen Long (): Tea Notes (), 1630.Translation by Global Tea Hut. Zhou Gaoqi (): Treatise On Yixing Teapots (), 1640. Zhou Gaoqi: Report on Tongshan Jie Tea (), 1640.

Qing dynasty Lu Tingcan (): The Sequel to Classic of Tea (). Qianlong Emperor (): Imperial Record of Jade Spring Hill, First Spring under Heaven (), 1784.

Japanese Myōan Eisai (): Treatise on Tea Drinking for Health (), 1193. Eisai (Yosai) came to Tiantai mountain of Zhejiang to study Chan (Zen) Buddhism (1168 AD); when he returned home in 1193 AD, he brought tea from China to Japan, planted it and wrote the first Japanese treatise on tea, called Kissa yojoki (, Treatise on Drinking Tea for Health). This was the beginning of tea cultivation and tea culture in Japan. Sen no Rikyū () (1522 – April 21, 1591): Southern Record ().

English Okakura Kakuzō (): The Book of Tea (originally written in English by Okakura), 1906. A Nice Cup of Tea essay by George Orwell, 1946.

Translations Modern Chinese 2003

Czech Lu Jü : Kniha o čaji. Translated by Olga Lomová. Spolek milců čaje a DharmaGaia, Praha, 2002, . Karel Valter : Vše o čaji pro čajomily, Granit s.r.o., Praha, 2000

English The Classic of Tea () Lu, Yu; Intro & Translation By Francis Ross Carpenter, Illustrated by Hitz, Demi;Boston, MA: Little, Brown & Co. 1974 The Classic of Tea: Origins & Rituals () Lu, Yu; Yu, Lu; Carpenter, Francis Ross; New York, U.S.A.: Ecco Press. 1995 reprint of 1974 edition. This is a complete translation.

French Vianney, Soeur Jean-Marie: Le Classique Du The Par Lu Yu, Morel - 1977

Hungarian Lu Jü: Teáskönyv – A teázás szent könyve a nyolcadik századi Kínából. (Translation By Zsolt Tokaji and Barbara Nyiredy.) Terebess Kiadó, Budapest 2005, Teáskönyv. (Trans., ed, by Zsolt Tokaji.) Fapadoskonyv.hu, Budapest, 2010.

Italian Lu Yu: IL CANONE DEL TÈ, Traduzione (dal cinese) di Marco Ceresa, Leonardo. November 1990. Marco Ceresa, Ph.D. Dissertation:I trattati sul tè di epoca Tang (Tang Dynasty Monographs on Tea) Far Eastern Studies, Istituto Universitario Orientale of Naples.1992

Russian 2007. — 123 с.

Tea classics

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