Lu Tong
Encyclopedia
Brief
Lu Tong was a ChineseChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
known for his lifelong study of the "Tea Culture
Tea culture
Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking, it includes aspects of: tea production, tea brewing, tea arts and ceremony, society, history, health, ethics, education, and communication and media...
". He was a peculiar man who never became an official, and is better known for his love of tea than his poetry.
About the Lu Tong and his tea poems
Lu Tong, his name is also Yuchuanzi, from Jiyuan Henan, Chinese mid-Tang Dynasty poet, four literati after the generation Lu Zhaolin. Most of his poetry was devoted to teaTea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
and tea ceremony
Tea ceremony
A tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. The term generally refers to either chayi Chinese tea ceremony, chado Japanese tea ceremony, tarye Korean tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is more well known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times....
.
Lu Tong when young was smart, before 20 years old went into inclusion at Shaoshi Mountain, Songshan, he refused to be an official. He was in Han Yu's good graces later, and moved to Luoyang. In November 20, 835AD, eve of Ganlu Incident, Lu Tong was a guest in the home of Wang Ya who was a prime minister. He was killed with Wang Ya when the incident broken out on November 21st. “Lu Tong had no hair, and died due to a nail in the back of the head”. The “Jiyuan County Annals” that Xiao Yingzhi with friends written in Qianlong period records: There is a “Tomb of Lu Tong” in Wushantou and 12 miles away from the northwest county. In the poem “Crying for Lu Tong”, his good friends Jia Dao said: “He wore white clothes once in forty years of his life.”.
The poem of Lu Tong is surprising, unusual, risky and strange, people call “Lu Tong’s Style”. His “Yuchuanzi’s Collection of Poetry” is handed down to the world. He likes tea, and his “Thanks Meng Jianyi for Sending the New Tea Handwriting” is called “Tea Song of Yuchuan”, and is as famous as the “Tea Classic” of Lu Yu. The poems that survive are about tea, a favorite being the "Seven Bowls of Tea", translated below:
Poetry
Lu Tong's Seven Bowls of Tea 七碗诗 卢仝（唐. 790~835）The first bowl moistens my lips and throat; 一碗喉吻潤，
The second bowl breaks my loneliness; 二碗破孤悶，
The third bowl searches my barren entrails but to find 三碗搜枯腸，
Therein some five thousand scrolls; 惟有文字五千卷，
The fourth bowl raises a slight perspiration 四碗發輕汗，
And all life's inequities pass out through my pores; 平生不平事盡向毛孔散，
The fifth bowl purifies my flesh and bones; 五碗肌骨清，
The sixth bowl calls me to the immortals. 六碗通仙靈，
The seventh bowl could not be drunk, 七碗吃不得也，
only the breath of the cool wind raises in my sleeves. 唯覺兩腋習習清風生。
Where is Penglai Island, Yuchuanzi wishes to ride on this sweet breeze and go back. 蓬萊山﹐在何處，玉川子乘此清風欲歸去。
(Steven R. Jones 2008)
See also
- The Classic of TeaThe Classic of TeaThe Classic of Tea or Tea Classic is the very first monograph on tea in the world, written by Chinese writer Lu Yu between 760 CE and 780 CE during the Tang Dynasty....
Lu-yu's Tea Classic book - TeaTeaTea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
- History of Tea in ChinaHistory of tea in ChinaThe history of tea in China is long and complex. The Chinese have enjoyed tea for millennia. Scholars hailed the brew as a cure for a variety of ailments; the nobility considered the consumption of good tea as a mark of their status, and the common people simply enjoyed its flavor.-Historical...
- Tea ClassicsTea ClassicsTea as a beverage was first consumed in China no later than the fifth century BCE. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is in the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, written circa 550 BCE, although the ideogram used in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle...