How to describe Tea

Posted at September 19, 2008

I realized that I don’t write much about tea (茶). It’s out of proportion with how much I read about it, and how often I enjoy tea. While I think it’s hard to talk about, the best way I could summarize my understanding of tea is:

Tea is one of the few habits I have that is great.
Tea facilitates communication between people; like alcohol does. It doesn’t come along with hangovers, or the out of control-ness that alcohol has.
Tea requires a certain quietness to have an effect.

I wanted to share two quotes, that say much better what tea is:

“Tea is said to be a “way” (Tao). This is because it is something one
learns to appreciate through feeling, not through verbal instruction.
If a person maintains a state of quietness, only then will someone
appreciate the quietness inherent in tea.”
- Author Unknown to me- found in Tao of Tea Teahouse (Portland, Oregon)
“History is continuous. As one piece of fuel is consumed, the flame passes to another…Tea embodies the intimate relationship with man and nature. It infiltrated into the lofty ideal of Chinese nationality since the beginning when tea was introduced into human life.”
- From National Tea Museum of China (Hangzhou, China)

Definition of Tao:

1. In Taoism, the basic, eternal principle
of the universe that transcends reality and is the source of being,
non-being, and change.

2. In
Confucianism, the right manner of human activity and virtuous conduct
seen as stemming from universal criteria and ideals governing right,
wrong, and other categories of existence.

So that’s what I can say about tea. Comments?