Ep. 140-4 | The Sage of Tea

In this fourth installment of the history of tea, we finally make it to the immortal Tea Saint. Lu Yu 陆羽. What Elvis was to rock n' roll, Lu Yu was to the popularity of tea in Chinese society. Here we'll look at his interesting life and his work, "The Classic of Tea" 茶经. From here on out, tea 茶 is no longer tú 荼, and neither is it bitter.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Táng dynasty	唐朝	Dynasty that ran 618-690 and 705-907
Lù Yǔ	陆羽	The Tea Saint, and author of the Classic of Tea. He lived 733-804
Chá Jīng	茶经	The Classic of Tea
Shén Nóng	神农	The Divine Farmer, an ancient mythological figure of Chinese pre-history, credited with (among many other things) the discovery of tea.
Húběi rén	湖北人	A person from Hubei Province
Tiānmén	天门	City in Hubei
Wǔhàn	武汉	Capital of Hubei Province
Jīngmén	荆门	City in Hubei
Lónggài Temple	龙盖寺	Dragon Cloud Monastery
Chán	禅	A sect of Buddhism that originated at Shaolin Temple, known as Zen in Japan.
Lǐ Qíwù	李齐物	Tang royal family member banished to Tianmen to serve as the new governor
Zōu Fūzǐ	邹老夫子	Along with Cui Guofu, one of Lu Yu's early teachers
Cuī Guófǔ	崔国辅	Along with Cou Fuzi, one of Lu Yu's early teachers
Chéngdū	成都	Capital of Sichuan Province and site of Shu State
Sìchuān	四川	Province in southwest China
Jiāngsū	江苏	Coastal Province in China, north of Zhejiang
Zhèjiāng	浙江	Coastal Province in China
Jiāngxī	江西	Province in Eastern China
Bā	巴	Ancient State located in eastern Sichuan
Shǔ	蜀	Ancient State located in Chengdu in Sichuan
Chóngqìng	重庆	City in Eastern Sichuan, today a Municipality of China
Miàoxǐ Sì	妙喜寺	Miàoxǐ Monastery
Húzhōu	湖州	City in northern Zhejiang on Lake Tai
Jiǎo Rán	皎然	730-799, Tang dynasty poet and noted Buddhist Monk
Wáng Bāo	王褒	The man charged with negotiating a contract for a servant that proved tea was around back in 59 BCE
Táng Dàizōng	唐代宗	Tang emperor who reigned 762-779
Yán Zhēnqīng	颜真卿	Noted Táng official, calligrapher and all around literatus
Lú Tóng	卢仝	790-835, Tang literatus and renowned poet, as well as a great lover of tea
Cháng’ān	长安	Ancient capital of China during several dynasties, located in modern day Xian
Táng Emperor Dézōng	唐德宗	Tang emperor who reigned 779-805
Lù Tíngcàn	陸廷燦	Writer of the Xù Chá Jīng 续茶经, The Sequel to the Cha Jing.
Xù Chá Jīng	续茶经	The Sequel to the Cha Jing
Chá Xiān	茶仙	A "Tea Immortal"
Xià Dynasty	夏朝	A mythical dynasty that lasted approximately 2070-1600 BCE
Zhōngguó chá wénhuà	中国茶文化	Chinese Tea Culture
Chá Shèng	茶圣	The Tea Saint

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