Zen and the Way of Tea

 Zen and the Way of Tea (part 1 continued).

The Confluence of Two Great Rivers.
The Coming together of "Zen Buddhism" and "the way of tea" is not unlike the confluence of two great rivers, each with many tributaries, periods of turbulence and stillness.... always flowing, never standing still.

The discovery of tea as a medicine, before it was used as a beverage, is a story lost in the mists of China's turbulent past. The species of plant whose leaves and leaf buds are used in the production of tea, is of the genus Camellia sinensis, var. sinensis and is native to East, South and South East Asia, from Yunnan Province in southwestern China along northern borders of Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar to Assam in Northern India. The remoteness and difficulty of access to this rugged mountainous area led to the existence of small populations of ethnic minorities, each had their own unique cultural identity and indigenous methods of tea production and tea drinking customs.

Throughout prehistory, the quest to find edible plants led prehistoric man to try the leaves of “C. sinensis” out of curiosity. The recognition of useful, edible plants and the effect they had on bodily function was necessary so as to avoid eating something poisonous and to capitalise on those plants that gave nourishment and relieved illness. Much of this work was experimental undertaken by Shamans who's observations laid the foundations of Traditional Chinese Medicine, (TCM). Tea was an integral resource of the Shamans pharmacopoeia and different herbs, bark, fungi and animal parts were also added to the medicinal concoction. Early acupuncturists began mapping the energy channels or meridians, advances in Qigong exercises to balance, strengthen and maintain energy flow, along with massage and meditation techniques are the bedrock of TCM.

Little remains archaeologically and no written documents exist of the dynasties preceding the Shang dynasty, (1766-1050BCE). The dawning of the Shang dynasty saw a major transition in Chinese history, the rise of organised political entities, the evolution, manufacture and casting of bronze, the production of decorated porcelain, finely worked gold, jade, stone and Ivory artefacts. A written language with over 1000 pictographs that are directly ancestral to modern written Chinese. And a sophisticated ancestor worshiping rituals and elaborate burials led by Shamans.

In 1045BCE the state of Zhou rose to over throw the king of Shang, replacing a tyrannical king with a feudal dynasty. Land was divided into hereditary fiefs, rights are granted to a ‘vassal’ by an ‘overlord’ in return for allegiance, loyalty and service. Land, rights to hunt, fish and trade were granted from which taxes could be raised, with money came power and a need for an army to protect ones assets. With power comes bureaucracy and with bureaucracy, corruption. The Zhou dynasty stepped away from the Shang system of ancestor worship, (Shangdi), to that of a heavenly, (Tian), worship and legitimised their rule by invoking a “Mandate from Heaven”, the King was thereby the “Son of Heaven” and governed by divine right. 

The Zhou dynasty saw the emergence of intensive farming, civil engineering and the construction of bridges, dams, canals, water and sewage systems. A complex social hierarchy and emergence of Chinese poetry, as many as 300 poems are found in the 'Book of Songs', celebrating the exploits of early Zhou rulers, of ancestors, the distrust of tax collectors and women in politics, love songs and the work of the common man depicting every aspect of farming and collecting mulberry leaves for silk worms. (In 2007 a tomb dated to the Eastern Zhou period was discovered in Jiangxi province  that contained intricately woven and dyed silk textiles).

Two prominent philosophies are established during the Zhou dynasty, that of Confucius (551-479BCE), founder of Confucianism which emphasised personal and governmental morality, social correctness, justice and sincerity, and that of Lao Zi (b.604BCE), founder of Taoist philosophy and author of the Tao Te Ching.  Lao Zi is regarded as a deity by some, one of the “Three Pure Ones”, (the manifestation of “Taishang Laojun” – The Grand Pure One). By others, he is regarded as a mythical figure. Both the "Analects of Confucius" and Lao Zi's "Tao Te Ching" remain in print and have a substantial influence on Chinese culture in the 21st century.

The consumption of tea in the Zhou dynasty changes as the influence of Confucianism and Taoism grows, to monks, priests and scholars tea became an elixir and a tonic that would rejuvenate and help them stay awake during long periods of meditation. As the social structure changes so the use of tea changes, people start to boil tea leaves into a concentrated liquid rather than adding of other herbs as part of a medicinal concoction. 

The Zhou dynasty lasted for close to 800 years, but by 770BCE the feudal system had collapsed.  The royal relatives and generals that had been given control over fiefdoms in an effort to maintain the authority of the king of Zhou annexed or claimed the smaller less powerful states and some states eventually claiming independence.  Inter-state power struggles, civil war,  the capital of Zhou moved from the West to the East giving rise to the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou periods that eventually gave rise to the Spring and Autumn period (771-476BCE). As the disintegration of Zhou dynasty continues the remaining seven states vied for power during a period knows as the Warring States Period from 476BCE until the  state of Qin became the most powerful state and the Qin dynasty came to power in 221BCE.

Coming soon: "The Rise of Buddhism".

Leon Edwards

© The Stillness Project