EusReads, EusTea

The Rise of Tea Culture in China by Bret Hinsch

I found this book while reading a review for Tea in China by James Benn, and it sounded pretty interesting so I hunted down a copy to read!

Subtitled: The invention of the Individual, The Rise of Tea Culture argues that ancient Chinese people used tea culture as a way to fashion themselves as a cultured individual, thereby winning respect and status. Through seven chapters, the book takes a look at the various aspects of tea culture and how they were used to convey a cultured persona.

Chapter 1: The Rise of Tea

This chapter is a brief history of tea, about how it rose from a regional, southern drink to a national one, usurping the traditional place of wine. Tea’s rise to prominence happened during the Tang dynasty, and the way tea was brewed continually changed until the Ming dynasty, where it reached its current form. While there is a brief discussion of tea displacing wine’s cultural status, I found that the discussion of tea vs wine was much more substantial in Tea in China, which spent more ink looking at the 茶酒论 (cha jiu lun).

Chapter 2: Power

Chapter 2 looked at the way tea changed in relation to the power of the imperial court. As the book puts it, “originally, they [the court] sought prestige by wallowing in an unabashed pursuit of luxury.” However, as social complexity increased, “the elite had to somehow prove themselves superior to others.” In other words, tea was first used to display wealth (since superiority was taken for granted), and then the connoisseurship of tea was used to display superiority. This change started in the Tang dynasty and continued during the Song. One paragraph of the chapter sums things up pretty nicely:

“In embracing the literati style of tea drinking, these emperors rejected courtly traditions for far more humble customs. […] Discarding empty opulence in favor of literati-style connoisseurship acknowledged the changes in elite culture at large. The elite increasingly ranked individualistic expressions of sophistication and discrimination above empty extravagance. A new view of the idea person as a distinctive individual transformed tea culture even at the highest reaches of society.” 

There is also a pretty interesting write-up of tribute tea, and how that was used as a sign of the emperor’s favour (and in turn for people to brag about how close they/their family was to the emperor).

Chapter 3: Lu Yu

What is a discussion of Chinese tea culture without a discussion of the patron saint of tea – Lu Yu? This chapter has a brief biography of Lu Yu and explores the idea that “the terrible chaos of the An Lushan Rebellion had shattered many people’s faith in conventional ethics and ideas. Instead of simply accepting and imitating time-tested examples of orthodox thought, art, and behavior, skeptics began to view the world from a more personal and idiosyncratic perspective. This expending psychological space allowed Lu Yu the freedom to conceptualise tea differently, presenting it to his readers as a beautiful and profound cultural medium worthy of sustained contemplation.”

As with chapter 1, this is probably more rewarding when read together with Tea in China. While Tea in China doesn’t look at how the psychological spaces of people in China changed during Lu Yu’s time, it does talk about how The Classic of Tea presents tea as an ancient beverage. That would mean that even as the idea of the individual was on the rise and people started to reject the conventional ways of viewing the world, it was still necessary for tea to present itself as ancient and therefore worthy of deliberation – showing just how important tradition still was (even to those who wanted to overturn it).

Chapter 4: Connoisseurship

This fourth chapter explores the increasingly sophisticated ways people used to appreciate tea, as well as the many elements that go into making a good cup of tea. And it doesn’t stop at making tea. As Hinsch puts it, “during the Song, incisive gentlemen realized that virtually every aspect of life could be aesthetically perfected, thus turning the human being into a living work of art.” This means that tea was paired with things like calligraphy, poetry, and other literary pursuits, making the mastery of tea one important component to becoming a cultured gentleman.

Chapter 5: Morality

Morality starts with the words of Jioran, a friend of Luyu’s. Apparently, he started this term: The way of Tea (茶道). Basically, tea has Buddhist roots (something that Tea in China explores in great detail) and as it grew more popular, was also co-opted into a Confucian framework. The chapter introduces the Confucian idea of 安贫乐道 (anpin ledao), which is translated as “content with poverty and delighting in the way”.

In addition, the importance of ritual in Chinese society means that the integration of tea into various rituals (where it took the place of wine) gave it a greater air of morality and association with virtue.

One thing not mentioned in the book was the association of the words 茶道 with the Japanese tea ceremony (chado). It’s definitely not in the purview of the book, but I was reminded of a conversation I had with a local tea master recently; according to him, he rather avoid the words 茶道 because of its Japanese association, instead preferring the words 茶事 (cha shi). It goes to show how much words can change and that new terms will always appear!

Chapter 6: Transcendence

I thought that this chapter should be closely related with the previous one, as it talks about spiritual transcendence. Hinsch writes that “the elevation of tea beyond the mundane realm began by associating it with the natural environment.” Due to the influence of Daoism, Chinese gentlemen saw nature as both a refuge and a model for them. This led to the whole drinking tea in nature and writing poems/painting pictures about it form of art.

At the same time, the book also discusses clerical tea drinking customs, and the role of monks when it came to the growing and tasting of fine teas.

Chapter 7: Manhood

The final chapter of this book looks at tea culture and how it defines the idea of manhood. First, we are introduced to the idea that there are two ways men can gain a masculine identity: through a painful trial or by consistently behaving in stereotypically manly ways. Obviously, China falls into the second category, and tea culture was used as a way for Chinese gentlemen to express their familiarity with high culture, thus cementing themselves as a man of the world.

What I found interesting in this chapter was the description of tea competitions. While other books talk about these competitions and how they are carried out, Hinsch introduces the idea that by “participating in this contest, and performing the ceremony correctly,” a man proved his “acceptance as an honorable member of the cultural elite.” In this case, it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s whether you managed to play the game correctly. And if you can carry out tea competitions, write poems, paint, and do whatever else it is, you are deemed a social elite and hence superior to others.

Overall

I thought that this book was interesting. It raised a few ideas that I never thought of before – in particular, the chapters on power and manhood led to new ways of seeing tea culture in China. That said, I felt that there were very few primary sources quoted in the text itself (especially compared to Benn’s Tea in China); I looked up the author and while he is definitely a subject matter expert and has a very long bibliography after each chapter, a layperson like me would love to see things substantiated by writings from the time period. For example, Chapter 4 talks about how Song gentlemen saw everything as something that could be aesthetically perfected, an intriguing idea that is new to me. However, Song texts to support the claim aren’t actually quoted – the quote following this statement is from Guido Ruggiero’s The Renaissance in Italy. This happens quite a few times in the book, which is a bit of a disappointment.

Overall, this is an interesting book that will give you new ways of looking at Chinese Tea Culture. I’m not sure how beginner-friendly it is, especially if you want to use it as a way to find Chinese texts to study, but it’s definitely worth a read.

What do you think?