On Tea

Tea in China means contemplation, relaxation, and renewal. One grasps the warm cup and sniffs the fragrant leaves as a tonic, to soothe the spirit and quiet the mind. The water used for brewing should be fetched from a calm mountain stream. The atmosphere should be simple and still. The company, if one is not alone, should be conducive to reflective ease. Or so the early Chinese writers on tea would like us to learn. “One drinks tea to forget the world’s noise,” writes a sixteenth-century Chinese gentleman in his “Essay on Boiling Spring Water.” “It is not for those who eat rich food and dress in silk pyjamas!”