Tea Inspiration - ChaFu

ChaFu - Tea Poems

Tea has inspired and continues to inspire countless prose and poetry throughout the ages. We have gathered some of our favorite quotes and poems about tea.

If you have one you think we should add, please email us at info@tangpintea.com and we will give you a discount code as a thank you for sharing it with us.

Savoring Tea

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves -  slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Seven Cups of Tea
The first cup kisses away my thirst,
and my loneliness is quelled by the second.
The third gives insight worthy of ancient scrolls,
and the fourth exiles my troubles.
My body becomes lighter with the fifth,
and the sixth sends word from immortals.
But the seventh—oh the seventh cup—
if I drink you, a wind will hurry my wings
toward the sacred island.
~Lu Tong (795 - 835 CE)

About Jingdezhen Porcelain
A famous Chinese porcelain noted for its four qualities:

"White like jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, sounds like a chime."

 

LuYu Visits a Tea Water Well

寒夜

寒夜客来茶当酒，

竹炉汤沸火初红。

寻常一样窗前月，

才有梅花便不同。

On a cold winter night
A friend dropped by.
We did not drink wine
But instead drank tea.
The kettle bubbled,
The coals glowed,
The bright moon shone
Outside my window.
The moon itself
Was nothing special –
But, oh, the plum-tree blossoms!

~ Tu Hsiao Shan, Song Dynasty

 

The Way of Tea (Cha Dao)

A friend presented me
With tender leaves of Oolong tea,
For which I chose a kettle
Of ivory-mounted gold,
A mixing-bowl of snow-white earth.
With its clear bright froth and fragrance,
It was like the nectar of Immortals.
The first bowl washed the cobwebs from my mind –
The whole world seemed to sparkle.
A second cleansed my spirit
Like purifying showers of rain,
A third and I was one of the Immortals –
What need now for austerities
To purge our human sorrows?
Worldly people, by going in for wine,
Sadly deceive themselves.
For now I know the Way of Tea is real.

~ Chio Jen, Tang Dynasty

A monk sips morning tea
It's quiet
The chrysanthemum's
flowering

~ Basho

Pagoda Tea Poem

茶。

香叶，嫩芽。

慕诗客，爱僧家。

碾雕白玉，罗织红纱。

铫煎黄蕊色，碗转曲尘花。

夜后邀陪明月，晨前独对朝霞。

洗尽古今人不倦，将知醉后岂堪夸。

Tea.

Fragrant leaves, delicate buds.

Admired by poets, loved by monks.

Crushed with white jade, filtered through red gauze.

Cauldron brewed to the color of gold, served in cups aswirl in bubbles.

Inviting the moon at night for company, facing alone the twilight before the sunrise.

Feeling energized in past or present, praise fully rinsing away drunkenness.

- Zhen Yuan, Tang Dynasty Poet

 

 If a man has no tea in him, is incapable of understanding truth and beauty. - Japanese Proverb

CHÜEH-CHÜ

Tea as Medicine
My medicine’s crude, yet the old farmer swears it really works;
my poems are shallow, yet the mountain monk has immoderate praise for their skill.
Cakes in pockets, with packets of tea they come to pay me a visit.
What harm if in the midst of loneliness we have one little laugh?
~ Lu Yu