Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Posted by Miss Neddy at 08:41 AM |
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Tea Related
In certain Asian countries, it is fairly common to see small altars outside shops with joss-sticks, and sometimes cups of tea as well. Tea is used as an offering, in Chinese tradition, to elders, deities and the dead. As the Chinese have travelled and settled in various parts of the world, this tradition has travelled with them as well.
Good things come in threes, and so the traditional number of cups to lay out would usually match the number of joss-sticks offered at the altars. Tea is especially appropriate for the Buddhist deities, since wine is taboo as an intoxicant, as is meat and even certain alluvial plants, such as garlic and spring onions. Tea, like the lotus flower, can symbolise the qualities of purity, cleanliness and clarity that exemplifies Buddhist philosophy.
Tea can be offered as an apology, a formal ritual that can nonetheless be very simple and sincere in the execution. The giver may stand or kneel before the receipient, offering a cup of tea sincerely. No apologies need to be said, merely something as simple as, “Please drink this cup of tea,” (请喝茶）. The receipient need only accept the tea to indicate that he or she has accepted the apology. In this simple action of giving and receiving a cup of tea, many grudges, debts and misunderstandings can be resolved or put aside.
This ritual, known as “respectfully offering tea” (敬茶 or 奉茶）, is also used during a traditional Chinese wedding. The bride and groom will offer tea before they leave the bride’s home, to the bride’s parents and other elders, as thanks for their efforts and love in bringing up the bride. In return for the cup of tea, the elders will give large red packets filled with money, jewellery and other valuables. This may sound a little mercenary, but it can be a very emotional time, as the elders are showing their affection for the bride by giving her suitably valuable presents, that may stand her in good stead in the future. The bride may follow her husband to his home very far away from her own hometown, and bereft of any blood relatives, she may need the valuables as support.
Tea and its symbolic value weaves itself through the entire wedding ceremony, from the initial negotiations for betrothal, to the day of the wedding. The teaplant has a nickname “Unmovable” (不迁） because the teaplant could not, until very recently, be transplanted. Thus, it has been associated with marriage, specifically with fidelity. Tea leaves used to form an integral part of the wedding negotiations; if the bride’s family accepted tea leaves from the groom’s family, then the betrothal was considered confirmed. A bride’s dowry also included tea leaves, also to symbolise her fidelity to her soon-to-be husband. During the wedding dinner, it is common to use either tea or wine to toast the couple. The original ceremony of the couple offering tea to each guest (and in return, the guest will offer a present or red packet) has been simplified to a general toast to all guests, or the couple making a toast to each table of guests.
The simple act of making and offering tea can be suffused with many meanings and imbued with emotion, continuing traditions that extend many hundreds of years.
