Chinese Restaurant and Chinese Food Chinese Food History, Story and Culture

Lu Yu Wikipedia

Lu Yu 陆羽 (728/733 - 804 AD) of the Tang dynasty is respected as a Tea Sage for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He wrote the Book of Tea "Cha Jing" 茶经 now known as "The Classic of Tea" with the following chapters:

• 1. Origin, Characteristics, Names, and Qualities of Tea

• 2. Tools for Plucking and Processing Tea

• 3. Varieties, Plucking and Processing Methods

• 4. Utensils for Making and Drinking Tea

• 5. Methods of Making Tea and the Water of Various Places

• 6. Habits of Tea Drinking

• 7. Stories, Plantations and Tea as a Medicine

• 8. Which Kinds of Tea Are Better in Different Locations

• 9. Utensils Which May Be Omitted

• 10. How to Copy This Book on Silk Scrolls

He was abandoned child, adopted by the Buddhist monk of the Dragon Cloud Buddhist monastery and had obtained the name Lu Yu from the Taoist classic "The Book of Changes" (I Ching): the surname Lu-"heights", the name Yu-"feather". After years of being a clown and a play writer for a group of traveling performers he settled and began to investigate the tea process and tea history in Zhejiang province. 20 years of his research resulted in a book published in 780 AD. Later he wrote a book on twenty sources for fine water. Lu Yu became known as the saint of tea.

Last Modified:   2005-03-02