Customer Reviews

The Classic of Tea

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There were dozens if not hundreds of works about tea written in ancient China but very little information about them is readily available in English so this book is quite interesting to read. Lu Yü, the author of The Classic of Tea, lived during the T'ang Dynasty and died in 804. It is very comforting to be the recipient of a gift passed down for more than a millennium.

This is a very straightforward translation by Francis Ross Carpenter first published in 1974 with reproductions of old illustrations of tea manufacture and transport plus delightful modern illustrations by Demi Hitz. The charm of the original work has been preserved, particularly in descriptions: "when the shape [of the brick of tea] begins to hump like the back of a toad" or "[The frothy patches] should suggest eddying pools, twisting islets or floating duckweed at the time of the world's creation."

I was surprised and pleased that the work included so much information on growing and processing tea. The myriad instructions, cautions, and details of the tools used in processing and preparing tea are fascinating. In the chapter Notations on Tea, there are dozens of short anecdotes that Lu Yü deemed worth preserving and in these stories especially, the Buddhist and Taoist philosophy that was prevalent provides a foundation for the writing.

If you are interested in this book, you are not likely to be disappointed with it.

Since it is not readily available, here is the Table of Contents:

Preface

Introduction--The Story of Tea East and West
Tea: A Mirror of China's Soul
Tea Until Lu Yü's Time: The Evidence of Language
Tea from the T'ang to the Ming: Its Botany, Culture and Manufacture
The West Comes to Tea
The Life and Times of Lu Yü

The Classic of Tea--Part One
The Beginnings of Tea
The Tools of Tea
The Manufacture of Tea

The Classic of Tea--Part Two
The Équipage

The Classic of Tea--Part Three
The Brewing of Tea
Drinking the Tea
Notations on Tea
Tea-Producing Areas
Generalities
Plan of the Book

Notes
Translator's Acknowledgments and Notes

I have been drinking tea for quite some time now and have always made it a point to try and become a knowledgeable tea drinker/lover, not just someone who steeps grocery store bags of tea. This book is a classic piece of tea literature. I have read up on Lu Yu and his contributuions to tea and helping its monumental rise to power, establishing it as the second most popular worldwide beverage behind water. I drink and steep my tea loose and as Lu Yu recommends, I also urge you to do the same. Try tea brewed from a bag and then brew it loose and you can tell the difference in taste, smell and appearance.
Also, when i purchased this book, it arrived in great condition. I have the book by my bedside table at night and read a few pages before I go to bed. If you are a "true" lover of tea, I would highly recommend having this book in your collection.