Lu Yu ( Chinese trad. 陆羽 733–804) is a Chinese poet and writer of the Tang Dynasty, the creator of the first written treatise on tea “ Tea Canon ”, revered as a tea deity (Cha Shen 茶 神）.
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Biography
Lu Yu was born in Jingling in Fuzhou County (present-day Hubei Province ). Parents are unknown, at an early age was found at the walls of a Buddhist monastery. The abbot of the monastery, having read fortunes in Yijing , gave him the name Lu Yu, which literally means “land” and “feathers” (53 hexagram Graduation sounds like this: “The swan is gradually approaching the land. Its feathers can be used in ceremonies”).
He lived and was brought up in a monastery, but at 11 years old he voluntarily joined the troupe of stray actors. Over 16 years of wandering, he visited many cities and monasteries of the modern provinces of Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and Sichuan. He studied the techniques of playing the theater of shadows, puppets and traditional drama. He met with famous people of his time, got his patrons and lived in monasteries for a long time. All this time he collected tea, tasted water, studied local tea customs and recorded his observations.
And in 760 he settled solitary in the Huzhou county of modern Zhejiang province. Here, in 778, the " Tea Canon " was written, and in 795 a book describing China's 20 most famous sources.
He died in the winter of 804 and was buried on Zhushan Mountain in the Huzhou region.
Value
For the first time in history, Lu Yu systematized and formalized in writing all the scientific and practical knowledge of tea. He gave comprehensive descriptions of modern tea growing areas, technology for its manufacture, and also described in detail the method of making tea. Thus, creating the basis for the further development of tea culture.
Creativity
One of the most famous poems, reflecting the attitude of Lu Yu to the world:
- I don't dream of gold and wealth
- I don’t dream of white jade cups,
- I don’t dream to get to the capital and come to the courtyard,
- I don’t dream at the end of my life to enter glory and nobility,
- And I dream to go to the Western River again and again,
- Where the city of Jingling settles at rest.
Impact on modern culture
In the late 1990s, the “Tea Canon” was translated into the “Tea Culture Club” in the Hermitage Garden, attempts were made to reconstruct the tea brewing described by Lu Yu, and a method for making tea on fire, which was called the “Lu Yu Method”, was created.
Also, in many modern Tea Clubs and at tea lovers' houses, altars are created with the image or sculpture of Lu Yu, to which a cup of tea is presented as a sign of respect for the ancient tradition.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 BNF identifier : Open Data Platform 2011.
- ↑ 1 2 Faceted Application of Subject Terminology
- ↑ 1 2 Gutenberg Project - 1971.
- ↑ China Biographical Database