The First Tea Treatise: The Story of Lu Yu's Writing of The Canon of Tea

Lu Yu was born in 733 and grew up in a Buddhist monastery, where he first encountered tea. His interest in this drink was so great that he decided to devote his life to studying all aspects related to tea. For 12 years, Lu Yu traveled around China, collecting information about different types of tea, the features of cultivation, processing and consumption. He visited many regions of China, studied the utensils and tools used in the tea ceremony, and tea traditions.

Having collected enough knowledge, Lu Yu wrote a book that combined all this information. This is how the "Tea Canon" ("Cha Jing") appeared - the world's first treatise on tea. In this work, Lu Yu first described the history of the origin of tea, its properties, growing areas, tools for collecting tea, the process of its processing, methods of preparation and utensils for drinking tea. For this fundamental work, Lu Yu was subsequently called "tea sage", "tea saint" and "tea deity" (Cha Shen 茶神).

Today, this book has not lost its relevance and remains a valuable source of knowledge, helping to understand the true essence of tea and its significance in the culture and history of China. "The Canon of Tea" helps to understand why tea is not just green leaves soaked in boiling water, but a whole world of knowledge and traditions.