Chapter 45 Tea Ceremony, Tea Ceremony, High and Low Opinions

The county seat of Lin'an County. No. 29 Longqing Street. Fang's compound. Large living room in the front yard.

Fang Da took a sip of tea from the teacup, shook his head and put down the teacup: "Delu." ”

The housekeeper Delu entered in response and walked in front of Fang Daxian: "Master, you command." ”

"Delu, this water is a little cold, change a pot of boiling water, and then bring the tea leaves, I will make my own tea." With that, Fonda put the two teacups into the tea tray first.

"Yes. Sir, please wait. Delu picked up the tray and left the living room.

"Captain Nakagawa, do you want to drink weak tea or drink tea?"

"Weak tea and sordy tea are fine. Mr. Fang, don't you have a saying in China called 'guests do as they please'? ”

"Alas! It seems that Captain Nakagawa only knows one thing about our Chinese culture and tea ceremony. ”

"Really? Mr. Fang, I know Chinese culture very well, including tea culture, how can you say that I only know one thing and don't know the other? Is there any basis for what you say? ”

"Yes, of course there is a basis, how dare you talk nonsense without a basis? Captain Nakagawa, you just said that you can drink weak tea and tea, and you also said that 'guests are as they please', which shows that you know little about Chinese culture, especially the tea ceremony and tea ceremony in tea culture. ”

"I don't know? Mr. Fang, could you please explain and explain? ”

"Yes. I don't talk about tea ceremony and tea ceremony, just say 'the guest is as the host goes', this sentence shows the courtesy and humility of the guest to the host. But that's only the first half of a sentence, and there's another half of the sentence. Captain Nakagawa, do you know what it is? ”

'Oh?' Is there a half-sentence after the guest'? I don't know this. Mr. Fang, what is the second half of the sentence? ”

"The second half of the sentence is 'the host follows the guest', which indicates the host's friendliness and respect for the guest." "Oh.' The guest is as the host as the guest wishes, and the host is as the guest wishes', which is a complete sentence. of the host and the guest

Be polite and polite to each other, I see. It makes sense. Mr. Fang, drinking weak tea and drinking teay is just a personal taste, what tea culture, tea ceremony, and tea ceremony can be said about? ”

"Yes. Captain Nakagawa, no matter what kind of tea it is, drinking weak tea and drinking sour tea is very particular. Of course, it doesn't matter if you drink weak tea or tea by yourself, as long as you like it. However, if you come to my house and I invite you to tea, then you must not drink weak tea or drunken tea casually. ”

"I want to hear it in detail, and I want to hear it. Mr. Fang, please speak. ”

"Okay. Captain Nakagawa, let me give you a lesson in the popularization of Chinese tea ceremony and tea ceremony. Tea must not be too light, weak tea is water tea, used to treat guests has the meaning of slow treatment and expulsion. However, the tea soup should not be too drunk, and if it is too drunk, it is not tea soup but tea porridge, and it will be disrespectful and suspicious of showing the enemy when used to entertain guests. So, just now I had to ask in advance whether you want to drink weak tea or sour tea, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. ”

"Oh, I see. Mr. Fang, what should you do if I want to drink weak tea? ”

"I'll make you a pot that's a little sweeter than weak tea, but it's not a hot tea."

"Oh. What if I want to drink tea? ”

"Then I'll make you a pot of tea that is lighter than the tea, that is, not a weak tea or a tea. It makes you feel that you don't talk about it, and it tastes moderate. This is the tea ceremony, and it is also the rule of hospitality. Captain Nakagawa, do you pay attention to these things in the Japanese tea ceremony? ”

The housekeeper Delu walked into the living room with a tea tray, followed by a young man carrying a brass kettle in one hand and a tea box in the other. They walked over to the coffee table, put down their contents, and turned to leave.

"Captain Nakagawa, please wait a moment." Fang Da said after making tea first.

"The kind of tea ceremony you just talked about, we don't seem to have in the Japanese tea ceremony. Mr. Fang, is there anything else to pay attention to in China's tea culture, tea ceremony, and tea ceremony? ”

"Yes, that's too much. Captain Nakagawa, let me tell you something more about the most ordinary and common, which is also the etiquette of drinking tea. We Chinese pay attention to 'half a cup of tea for guests', and pouring a full cup of tea for guests is disrespectful. This is the opposite of drinking, where a full glass of wine must be poured for a guest. Also, 'Raise a glass after a guest drinks tea', where the host first picks up the teacup and drinks the tea by himself, which means that the guest is being driven away, which is very rude. This is the tea ceremony. In addition, we Chinese drink tea not only about etiquette, but also about culture and artistic conception. ”

"I know about the tea ceremony and tea ceremony. Do you still have an intentional mood when drinking tea? Mr. Fang, how do you say this? ”

"We Chinese drink tea and want a cup of refreshing mud pills; Two cups of heart, lungs, liver and intestines; Three cups and two armpits are like immortals. This is the artistic conception, and it is also the highest state in tea culture. ”

"Well, that's true, Mr. Fang said it so well. However, now your teapot, can you drink the artistic conception you said with such a simple tea set as two teacups? ”

"Absolutely. My teapot and two teacups seem simple, but they are by no means simple. Captain Nakagawa, Chinese tea drinking must have five basic processes: line, order, system, completion, and taste, each process must be just the right moderation, and the grasp of this 'degree' will affect the quality of the overall 'degree' of the five processes. Drinking tea has a 'degree', which is drunk, and it is also realized and participated, which has a certain connection with Buddhist Zen machine. Therefore, tea and Buddha are inextricably linked. ”

"Uh-huh. Oh. Nakagawa nodded non-stop.

Qian Wanlin, who had been standing, seemed to understand what he didn't understand, but he admired it deeply.

"There is a strict distinction between drinking different varieties of tea in different seasons, and brewing different varieties of tea with water at different temperatures. For visitors with different identities, they should be entertained with different qualities and grades of tea. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, yes." Nakagawa Eiichi nodded in agreement.

"Drinking tea has an inseparable relationship with traditional Chinese medicine. Some tea leaves themselves are traditional Chinese medicine, and using this tea to make tea can prevent and cure diseases, and can also be used for fitness and health. ”

"Yes, yes." Eiichi Nakagawa nodded again. Qian Wanlin also nodded.

"We Chinese realized a long time ago that tea has nine virtues, and these nine virtues are, time, truth, goodness, and virtue......"

Nakagawa Eiichi was dumbfounded and deeply impressed. He interrupted Fang Daxian's words, waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay." Mr. Fang, don't talk too much at once, I can't remember. ”

"Huh? Don't let me say it? Where did this go? Captain Nakagawa, I just can't tell you about our Chinese tea ceremony, tea ceremony, tea art, and tea culture for a few days and nights, let alone Chinese culture. ”

"Mr. Fang, what did you mean by the tea art just now?"

"Tea art refers to the cultural and artistic activities and works of painting, poetry and music on the theme of planting, picking, making, tea, and drinking. Among them, poetry is the most. ”

"Oh. That's right. Mr. Fang, I like ancient Chinese poetry very much, and I have studied and experienced it a lot. ”

"Thank you. Captain Nakagawa, thank you for liking our Chinese brilliant and profound ancient poems. However, you may not know much or how much you can understand. ”

"Huh?! Mr. Fang, are you belittling me again? ”

"Don't dare, don't dare. Captain Nakagawa, I'm telling the truth. ”

"The truth? Mr. Fang, we might as well give it a try. Name a poem, and I'll break it down for you. How's it going? Nakagawa Eiichi said unconvinced.

"Huh? It's good. If you don't try, how can you know if you understand and how much? Captain Nakagawa, there is a poem on the wall behind you, please come and appreciate it. ”

"Okay." Eiichi Nakagawa immediately got up and walked to the south wall of the living room with great interest. On the wall hangs a calligraphy, which is a circle of a dozen regular script characters with a diameter of one foot. Nakagawa Eiichi raised his head slightly, looking at it carefully and carefully, but it was like falling into a fog. "Mr. Fang, this? Is this circle of words a poem? ”

Fang Da got up first and walked to Nakagawa Eiichi's side, and said proudly and affirmatively:

"Of course, this is a poem, seven uniques."

"No, no, no. Mr. Fang, each sentence of the seven poems is seven words, and the four sentences should be twenty-eight words. One, two, three, four...... Fourteen, fourteen words, you don't have enough words. This is not a poem. Nakagawa Eiichi flatly denied it.

"Alas! It seems that you really don't understand. Captain Nakagawa, this poem is a classic in ancient Chinese poetry, this is called a palindromic poem, which is just one of the palindromic poems. The second half of the first line of the poem is the first half of the second line, and the second half of the second line is the first half of the third line. And so on. In the end, a complete and standardized poem of seven words, four sentences and seven unique poems was composed. Captain Nakagawa, do you understand? Do you understand? ”

"I understood a little, but I didn't understand it completely. Mr. Fang, how to read this poem? Where should I start? Please Mr. Fang's advice. Nakagawa Eiichi humbly asked.

"Okay. If I don't read it and listen to you, you will never understand it. Fang Daxian raised his right hand first, pointed to a word in the upper left corner of the circle, and chanted in a deep and slightly sad tone:

"Meditation on the return period for a long time, remembering the parting period for a long time, remembering the parting when I hear the leakage, and when I hear the leakage and turning the meditation Yi."

After listening to it, Nakagawa Rongyi seemed to understand whether he understood, didn't know how to pretend to understand, and praised him ignorantly:

"Good! Wonderful! What a poem! Mr. Fang, please explain to me, the more detailed the better. Please. ”

"What's the mess? It's really long-winded. Qian Wanlin muttered disdainfully in his heart.

"Huh? Captain Nakagawa, will you let me explain it to you? No, no, no. ”

"Why not? Mr. Fang, are you afraid that I won't understand? ”

"Not really. I'm afraid, Captain Nakagawa, I'm afraid that you will cry sadly after listening to my explanation. ”

"What? I will cry when I listen to you explain this poem? Joke, how is this possible? Mr. Fang, you see me too vulnerable, right? If you think so, then you have to tell me today, and explain it in detail, until I understand it completely. ”

"Captain Nakagawa, aren't you forcing me? Your emotions affect mine. Under this tense and uncoordinated emotion, it is impossible to tell the connotation and artistic conception of this poem. ”

"Really? That's good. Now, Mr. Fang, we treat this place as a classroom, you treat me as your student, and I treat you as my teacher. This kind of teacher-student relationship, this kind of relaxed and coordinated emotions, can you explain? ”

"Hey, that's right, so I'll talk about it."