Wednesday, July 30, 2008
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Categories: Tea Related

“A message of thanks to Meng Jianyi for the gift of new tea” 《走筆謝孟諫議寄新茶》was written by Lú Tóng 盧仝 in the middle of the Tang Dynasty (around 1200 years ago). The entire is 34 lines long, but it is usually only the last 14 lines that are seen. My first encounter with the poem was on a wooden panel in a tea house in Singapore more than ten years ago, and I have since seen it printed on tea canisters and on paper bags.

一碗喉吻潤 yì wǎn hóu wén rùn
The first cup moistens my throat.

兩碗破孤悶﹔liáng wǎn pò gū mèn
The second cup eases my loneliness.

三碗搜枯腸﹔sān wǎn sōu kū cháng
The third cup searches out my withered entrails,

唯有文字五千卷﹔wéi yǒu wén zì wǔ qiān juàn
like an essay of five thousand words.
(The metaphor is alien to Western thinking. It refers to the intestines as an organ of thought and inspiration.)

四碗發輕汗﹐sì wǎn fā qīng hàn
After the fourth cup, I break a light sweat,

平生不平事﹐盡向毛孔散﹔píng shēng bù píng shì
Leaching the troubles of my life out of my body.

五碗肌骨輕﹐Wǔ wǎn jí gǔ qīng
After the fifth cup, my bones and sinews relax.

六碗通仙靈﹔
After the sixth cup, I entered the realm of the immortals.

七碗吃不得也﹐唯覺兩習習清風生﹗
After the seventh cup, a wind rises beneath my arms.

蓬萊山﹐在何處﹖Péng lái shān zài hé chù
Where is Mount Penglai? (Mount Penglai is the mythical abode of the immortals somewhere in the Pacific Ocean to which the Qin Emperor attempted to sail)

玉川子乘此清風欲歸去。 Yù chuān zǐ chéng cǐ qīng fēng yù guī qù
I shall ride the gentle breeze
(Yuchuanzi 玉川子 was Lu Tong’s courtesy name)

山上群仙司下土地位清高隔風雨。
Shān shàng qún xiān sī xià tǔ dì lì qīng gāo gé fēng yǔ
To the mountain-top land of the immortals that is separated from the mortal realm by a clear wall of wind and rain.

The poem describes the occasion of a gift of tea leaves from his friend, Meng Jianyi (hence its title), but for obvious reasons, the poem is more commonly known as “The poem of seven cups”《七碗茶詩》, or as “Yuchuan’s Song of Tea” 《玉川茶歌》.

This poem, along with the Tea Sage Lu Yu, are the most commonly seen references to classical literature in Chinese tea houses.

The complete poem may be found at AnxiTeaCo.com.

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