From the Late Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty: The Changes of Tang Culture and Japanese Tea Drinks

Chapter 1: Sino-Japanese Exchange from the Late Tang to the Northern Song Period

Since the Japanese envoy Ono no Imoko presented Japan’s official letter to the Sui Emperor Yang in 607, marking the beginning of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, there were 22 official Japanese missions to China and 5 Chinese missions to Japan up until the late Tang period, with the last mission in 838. During this period, the two governments maintained close interactions, forming a golden age of Sino-Japanese relations in ancient times. However, after the last Tang mission returned to Japan in 839, significant changes occurred in both countries.

Firstly, after the late Tang period, China’s social, political, and economic decline accelerated. This was exacerbated by frequent peasant uprisings, including the Huang Chao Rebellion (875-883), which ravaged much of central China. As a result, the Japanese government decided that it was no longer appropriate to send official missions to China. Secondly, Japan’s finances, strained by the breakdown of its legal system, faced continual economic tightening and could not afford the substantial costs of organizing diplomatic missions to Tang China. Furthermore, after the Tang dynasty began to weaken, Chinese merchant ships increasingly transported goods to Japan, allowing the Japanese nobility to enjoy Tang products without leaving their island.

These factors led to the formal cessation of the Japanese missions to China in 894. Thus, the 287-year period of official government-to-government interaction between China and Japan came to an end. This was followed by a 222-year period (894–1116) during which the primary mode of exchange between the two countries was through Chinese merchant ships, with private trade replacing official missions. If we consider the earliest recorded instances of Tang merchants traveling to Japan in 841, this period of private trade spanned 275 years. Given the significant impact that this shift in exchange had on the transmission of Chinese tea culture to Japan, this section focuses on the late Tang, Five Dynasties, and Northern Song periods.

Studies by Tian Jiuchuan and Liu Yi show that during the over two centuries of official Sino-Japanese relations in the Tang dynasty (including tribute trade), there was already a parallel stream of private trade. However, the main players in this private trade were neither Chinese nor Japanese merchants, but Korean traders from the kingdom of Silla. Silla merchants, well-acquainted with China’s situation through their diplomatic ties with the Tang dynasty, and knowledgeable of the types of Tang goods desired by the Japanese, began to establish fixed shipping routes from China’s eastern coast (mainly the Shandong Peninsula) to Japan’s Kyushu as early as the 9th century. They carried large quantities of Tang goods to Japan, even offering ship rental services. When the last batch of Tang envoys returned to Japan in 839, their ships were damaged and could not make the journey, so they rented nine Silla merchant ships to transport the goods back to Japan.

The actions of Silla merchants stimulated Chinese traders, who, with advantages in organizing supply chains, shipbuilding, and knowledge of astronomy and meteorology, soon replaced the Silla merchants as intermediaries in Sino-Japanese trade. The development of Chinese scientific and technological advancements during the Tang dynasty improved the leakproof, wind-resistant, and endurance capabilities of Chinese ships, making the East Pacific, which had once been considered a perilous sea route, more navigable. In the 62 years from 841 to 903, over 30 trips were made by Chinese merchant ships between China and Japan. Each ship carried between 40 and 63 people, and the cargo weight reached several tons. Chinese goods, including religious items, stationery, medicines, spices, ceramics, and silk, flowed into Japan. Many Japanese monks who came to China to seek Buddhist teachings also traveled on these Chinese merchant ships.

After 839, although there were no more official Japanese ships sent to China, the frequency and ease of personnel exchanges and goods trade between the two countries were significantly improved compared to the Tang period. For example, in 862, Prince Shinnyo (779-865), the crown prince of Emperor Saga of Japan, decided to travel to China before continuing on to India to study Buddhist teachings. A Chinese merchant named Zhang Zhixin personally designed and built a large, sturdy ship in Nagasaki to escort Prince Shinnyo and over 60 Japanese monks across the sea to Ningbo.

With the beginning of the Five Dynasties period, coastal regions like the Later Liang (907–923) became key hubs for continued trade.

Section 2 The penetration and influence of Tang objects on Japanese social life
The period from the late Tang Dynasty to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty in China coincided with the heyday of Japan’s Heian period (794-1183), when the Fujiwara clan, a foreign relative, took control of the national government. In order to maintain the Japanese national system and consolidate its own ruling position, the Fujiwara clan adopted a passive policy of interaction with China on the surface, but in fact, the Fujiwara clan itself had frequent interactions with China. The period from the second half of the 10th century to the end of the 11th century, when the Fujiwara clan was actually in power, was also the heyday of the so-called Fujiwara culture and national style culture. Its characteristics were the prosperity of aristocratic culture and court culture, and the culture of this period became a symbol of ancient Japanese culture. The author believes that a large part of the material basis supporting national style culture is the continuous import of Tang objects. The following are eight historical records of the Fujiwara clan’s interactions with China and their relationship with Tang objects, listed in chronological order:

(1) In 1002, the famous poet Fujiwara no Tametoki accompanied the Song merchant Zhou Shichang on a visit to China in Kaifeng and was received by Emperor Zhenzong of Song. Zhenzong asked him about Japanese customs and then gave him fashion and money.

(2) In 1006, the Left Minister Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027) attended the Tang Objects Viewing Ceremony in the inner palace. At this ceremony, Tang objects brought by the Song merchant Zeng Lingwen were exhibited. Fujiwara no Michinaga accepted Zeng Lingwen’s gifts on the spot – sumac, tea bowls, and books.

(3) In 1008, Fujiwara no Michinaga asked a Song merchant ship to take a reply letter to the Japanese monk Jizhao (? – 1034) who was stranded in China.

(4) In 1015, the Daci Temple in Tiantai Mountain was to be rebuilt, and the Japanese monk Nenjiu, who was practicing in China, returned to Japan to collect donations. Upon hearing the news, Fujiwara no Michinaga and the Right Minister Fujiwara no Sanetoshi (957-1046) donated several thousand taels of gold and presented some Buddhist instruments made in Japan.
(5) In 1026, Zhou Shiliang, a Song man, presented Fujiwara no Yorimichi (990-1074), the son of Fujiwara no Michinaga, to the emperor on the grounds that his mother was Japanese, hoping to be granted an official position. Fujiwara no Yorimichi sent his subordinates to write a reply letter and gave him gold.
(6) In 1028, Fujiwara no Yorimichi admired the Tang objects brought by Song merchant ships in the inner palace.
(7) In 1028, Zhou Wenyi, a Song merchant, presented gifts to Fujiwara no Sanetoshi. Among them were: 1 piece of emerald flower brocade, 1 piece of small-patterned silk brocade, 3 pieces of large-patterned white silk, 2 pieces of musk, 50 taels of clove, 5 taels of agarwood, 20 taels of fumigate, 10 taels of Helile incense, 30 taels of stone gold blue, 5 taels of bright cinnabar, 200 sheets of various colored paper, and 3 pairs of silk shoes.
(8) In 1072, the famous monk Chengxun (1011-1081) of the Fujiwara clan visited China. When Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty met Chengxun, he asked him what kind of Chinese goods Japan needed. Chengxun replied: incense, medicine, tea bowls, brocade, and Sufang. Emperor Shenzong asked Chengxun to bring the gold-plated Lotus Sutra and 20 pieces of brocade to the Japanese emperor.
The highest representative of Japanese national style culture is the novel The Tale of Genji, written by the female writer Murasaki Shikibu between 1001 and 1005. The novel is set against the background of the life in the inner palace, with the love story between the prince Genji and many women as the main line, sketching a picture of the life of the Heian nobles. The father of the author Murasaki Shikibu is the Fujiwara no Tametoki mentioned in the above historical material (1). Murasaki Shikibu herself served as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shoko, and Shoko was the daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga mentioned in the above historical materials (2), (3), and (4).
From the above historical materials, we can know that during this period, Tang objects filled the lives of the highest power holders in Japan, supporting the gorgeous and colorful life of the inner palace. The exchanges between China and Japan promoted the blossoming of Japanese national style culture. Below, we will further illustrate the examples of three Tang objects, Sumu, fragrant wood, and brocade, which penetrated the lives of Heian nobles.
“Sumu” is a dye. Its color is vermilion, which is different from the orthodox red advocated by Chinese culture. This red feels like the sunset, bright and pure. It does not have the majesty and solemnity of red, but has an extra layer of gorgeousness and vividness. The Japanese love this vermilion very much, and even dyed the pillars, doors, and windows of the palace shrine into vermilion. Because the top-quality goods of this vermilion dye, Sumu (Sufang), came from China, vermilion became a color that represents nobility in the Heian period of Japan. We can get sufficient hints of this from the robes, skirts, lipsticks, and cushions of Heian nobles.
“Fragrant wood” refers to certain fungi on certain tree species in the tropical rainforest. After being buried for many years, they undergo chemical changes and are abundant in Southeast Asia and Arabia. Among the four major trading ports in China during the Northern Song Dynasty, Guangzhou Port traded with Southeast Asia and Arabia, and from this, fragrant wood was trafficked to China. These fragrant woods were then trafficked to Japan from Ningbo Port by Chinese merchants for the enjoyment of Japanese nobles. During the heyday of the Heian period in Japan, the Fujiwara clan, a relative of the emperor, held power, so the culture of the women in the inner palace was extremely developed. The women ground various fragrant woods, mixed them into incense balls according to the secret formula of each family, and placed them in an incense burner with a hollow outside to ignite them. They used them to fumigate their 1-meter-long hair and layers of silk clothes. There was even a game called incense competition, which was to compete to see whose incense smelled better or to compete in the ability to distinguish and remember the aroma.
“Brocade” in Japanese refers to high-grade silk fabrics among Tang objects. The production and use of Chinese silk fabrics were at least two thousand years earlier than those of Japan, so Chinese silk fabrics have always been favored by Japanese nobles. Not only did the women in the inner palace wear Chinese silk fabrics, but even the ladies around them wore Chinese silk fabrics. During this period, a popular dress called “twelve layers” (Figure 3-2) was formed in the inner palace, that is, 12 layers of clothes were worn at a time. “Twelve layers” has three prominent features: First, the fabric is cut to the minimum. The style is a loose-fitting robe with a wide collar, about 2 meters wide and about 1 meter wide in sleeves. This is due to cherishing imported silk materials and avoiding cutting as much as possible. Second, the length of the robe is far greater than the height of the wearer. Most of the 12-layer robes drag on the ground for about 50 cm to 1 meter, and one of them drags on the ground for about 3 meters, in order to show the high-grade silk. Third, the inner layer of the 12 layers is relatively long, and the outer layer gradually shrinks in proportion. This treatment is to appreciate the silk fabrics of different textures and colors from the hem and cuffs. The outermost layer of the “twelve layers” is made of the most precious and rare gold silk, and is specially named “Tangyi”. It is not difficult to see that the women in the palace of the Heian period used the “twelve layers” to show that they had a large number of Tang objects, and then to show their nobility.
In addition to the above, there are many other examples of Tang objects infiltrating and affecting Japanese social life, but we must return to the theme of this book – tea.
In the above eight historical materials, tea bowls appeared twice. According to historical records: In 1016, Fujiwara Michinaga drank tea when he had a fever. But compared with the degree of Japanese people’s enthusiastic pursuit of other Tang objects during this period, the enthusiasm for tea seemed much duller. Although tea drinking did not become a behavior for the ladies in the palace to show their wealth and power during the Heian period, it entered the study and bedroom of bureaucrats and literati. Why was this? The author intends to analyze this issue in the fifth section of this chapter after describing the situation of tea drinking in China from the late Tang Dynasty to the Northern Song Dynasty.

Section 3 The Development of Dragon and Phoenix Round Tea and Loose Tea in the Northern Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a period of great development of China’s tea industry. There is a saying in historical records that “tea flourished in the Tang Dynasty and prospered in the Song Dynasty”. Indeed, by the Song Dynasty, the custom of drinking tea in my country had become quite popular. The trend of “tea parties”, “tea banquets” and “tea competitions” was prevalent. Tea houses and tea shops sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and the area of ​​tea planting expanded significantly. However, the biggest feature of Chinese tea culture during this period was the prosperity of tribute tea and the development of loose tea in various places.
According to Zhu Zizhen’s research, the temperature in the Song Dynasty was 2-3 degrees Celsius lower than that in the Tang Dynasty, forcing the imperial tea garden that specialized in producing tribute tea to move south from Guzhu in Huzhou to Jian’an in Jianzhou. The southward migration of tribute roasting prompted the transfer of the center of tea production technology. In addition, the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were fond of tea, which led to Ding Wei (966-1037) and Cai Xiang (1012-1067), who served as the transport envoys of Fuzhou Road, to supervise the production in person, constantly renovating the patterns, and producing the extremely exquisite Dragon and Phoenix Round Tea. Its manufacturing method is different from that of Tang Dynasty cake tea, and is divided into the following steps:

(1) Picking tea leaves (picking up the plump and tender tea buds that have not dried up in the night dew)

(2) Picking tea leaves (selecting small buds shaped like eagle claws)

(3) Steaming tea leaves (washing the small buds repeatedly and steaming them)

(4) Pressing tea leaves (wrapping the steamed tea buds with cloth and placing them on a small press to squeeze out the water and excess tea juice)

(5) Grinding tea leaves (placing the pressed tea leaves in a pottery basin and grinding them with a wooden hammer)

(6) Pressing into a mold (placing the ground tea leaves in a mold engraved with dragon and phoenix patterns and pressing them tightly to make tea balls)

(7) Roasting tea leaves (roasting them with high heat first, then bathing them in boiling water, and then roasting them with low heat for several days until they are dry)

(8) Soup smearing (pouring boiling water on the roasted tea balls, sealing them with a layer of wax, and the tea balls will appear light yellow with a natural luster)

The tea made in this way is called “Dragon and Phoenix Tea Balls” (Figure 3-3). At the beginning of the Xianping reign (998-1003) of Emperor Zhenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, Ding Wei specially made 40 “big dragon balls” (8 pieces per catty) and presented them to the emperor, winning his favor. During the Qingli reign (1041-1048) of Emperor Renzong, Cai Xiang made 28 extremely exquisite “small dragon balls” (28 pieces per catty), which was very much to the emperor’s liking. One piece of tea was worth two taels of gold. Dragon tea balls were only for the emperor to enjoy, and ordinary people could not buy them with money. During the Yuanfeng reign (1078-1085) of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, the more refined and better “Miyun Dragon Balls” were presented as tribute. Later, “Yuyuan Jade Buds” (1108), “Wanshou Dragon Buds” (1108), and “Wubi Shou Buds” (1113) were sent to the capital. In 1120, Zheng Kejian ingeniously removed the leaf flesh from the carefully selected mature buds, leaving only a strand of tea core, and used this silver thread water bud as the raw material to make “Dragon and Phoenix Snow”. In this way, in the Northern Song Dynasty for more than 160 years, tribute tea continued to be innovative and improved in quality, and as many as 40 to 50 kinds of tribute tea were created. As a result, the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong (1082-1135), wrote the peerless tea book “Daguan Tea Theory”, which pushed the tribute tea of ​​the Northern Song Dynasty to the top. In “Daguan Tea Theory”, Song Huizong described in detail the drinking method of Dragon and Phoenix Tea:
Crush the tea ball into fine powder and put it into a large bowl with a slightly wide bottom. After adding some hot water, stir it with a bamboo brush, then add hot water and stir again… The best tea should be repeated seven times, and finally achieve the effect of “milky mist surging, overflowing the cup, and condensing around without moving”. This state is also called “biting the cup”. This way of drinking tea is best when the foam lasts for a long time, which is the main evaluation factor of tea competition in the Northern Song Dynasty. After the tea is ready, use a large spoon to pour it into a small cup and drink it carefully. The best tea tastes sweet, fragrant, heavy and smooth, with a real fragrance and a pure white color.
With the support of the emperor, the tribute tea of ​​the Northern Song Dynasty reached the extreme of exquisiteness and luxury by the end of the Northern Song Dynasty. The emperor’s love of tea attracted the followers of his close ministers and scholars. A large number of poems and essays praising Longfeng Tuan Tea appeared. For example, Wang Yuou (954-1001) wrote a poem called “Dragon and Phoenix Tea”: “The sample is labeled with the name of dragon and phoenix, and I was granted it because I became a close minister. … It is as fragrant as the orchid in the nine gardens, and as round as the bright moon in March.” Mei Yaochen (1002-1060) also wrote a poem called “New Tea in Jianxi”: “The millet grains float in the cup, and the dragon-patterned imperial cake is added. How can I get this here? I don’t need to brag about it.” Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) wrote a poem called “Sending Dragon Tea to Taoist Xu”: “I have a dragon ball in the ancient blue wall, and the nine-dragon spring is one hundred feet deep. I hope you can draw water from the well and try to brew it. It is not the fragrance and color of the human world.” In the tea poems of the Northern Song Dynasty, the majority of them praise the dragon and phoenix tea. Looking at the tea books again, among the 13 tea books collected from the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, 9 of them are specifically about tribute tea or tea. This makes it easy for people to form an illusion that the Chinese in the Northern Song Dynasty mainly drank the cake tea described in “Daguan Tea Theory”.
Indeed, the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty loved tea. In order to distinguish himself from the common people, he produced a limited amount of dragon and phoenix cake tea and gave it to his close ministers from time to time. Therefore, drinking dragon and phoenix cake tea became a symbol of power and wealth, and writing poems and essays for dragon and phoenix cake tea became a means for the dignitaries to show their self-worth. But in fact, the production of dragon and phoenix cake tea in the Northern Song Dynasty only met the needs of the princes and nobles. The scale was very small and did not have much impact on the tea production in the Northern Song Dynasty.
The tea industry in the Northern Song Dynasty still mainly produced cake tea inherited from the Tang Dynasty (picked, steamed, pounded, and formed). This cake tea was much rougher than the tribute tea dragon and phoenix cake tea, and it was still crushed and boiled when drinking. On the other hand, the production of loose tea in the Northern Song Dynasty also achieved great development. The production method of loose tea was picking, steaming, and drying, and the drinking method was still boiling. Some loose tea is ground into powder immediately after drying, which is called powdered tea. The drinking method is brewing (i.e. drinking in a dribble, the same as Longfeng Tuancha). Relatively speaking, powdered tea has high requirements for the tenderness of the tea leaves and is expensive. It is mostly consumed by temples and the upper class. Loose tea is low in cost and is mostly consumed by the public. In the teahouses of the Northern Song Dynasty, both types of tea were available, but in general, most cake tea was produced in the south and inland areas of my country, while most loose tea was produced in the Liangzhe (approximately today’s Jiangsu and Zhejiang) areas.
Ouyang Xiu made the following description in his “Return to the Countryside”: “Lacha (i.e. cake tea) comes from Jian and Jian (in present-day Fujian), while grass tea (i.e. loose tea) flourishes in Liangzhe. Among the teas in Liangzhe, Rizhu is the best. Since the Jingyou period (1034-1038), Shuangjing Baiya in Hongzhou (present-day Jiangxi) has gradually flourished, and the production has been particularly refined in recent years… Its quality is far superior to Rizhu, and it has become the best grass tea.” It should be noted that when Ouyang Xiu said that loose tea flourished in Liangzhe, he did not mean that other places did not produce loose tea, but that tea production in Liangzhe had almost completely turned to loose tea, and the quality was good, while other areas were not as good as Liangzhe. From the statistics on tea in the sixth year of Jiayou (1062) in Shen Kuo’s “The Tea Law of This Dynasty”, almost all tea-producing areas produced cake tea and loose tea at the same time.
So, what kind of influence did China’s Song Dynasty tea making and tea drinking have on Japan? Did the Japanese drink round tea, cake tea or loose tea during this period? The author intends to answer this question in the next section.

Section 4  The theory of decline and stagnation of tea drinking in Japan and its historical reasons

In various monographs on the history of Japanese tea culture that have been published, there is a conclusion about the tea drinking situation in Japan from the middle to late Heian period, which is equivalent to the Northern Song Dynasty in my country, that is, tea drinking in Japan during this period was in a state of decline or stagnation. If we summarize the reasons for this argument, there may be the following three points:
(1) Tea drinking is not recommended by the supreme ruler. During the Hirohito tea style period, Emperor Saga led tea drinking activities. In the early 13th century, the shogun Genmitomo praised tea drinking. In the 15th century, the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa worshiped the founder of tea ceremony Shuguang as his teacher. In the 16th century, there were regents. Wang Toyotomi Hideyoshi supported Sen no Rikyu to make the tea ceremony a success. In contrast, Fujiwara, the supreme ruler during this period, did not have much enthusiasm for tea drinking.
(2) The method of making and drinking Longfeng Tuancha has not spread eastward to Japan. Prior to this, the cake tea (fried and drunk) of the Tang Dynasty and the subsequent steamed green loose tea (grinded into powder and ordered to drink) were introduced to Japan and promoted. But in the history of Chinese tea drinking, the Dragon and Phoenix Tea Method, which has attracted the most attention, has not seen the slightest trace in Japan. Therefore, compared with the extremely prosperous situation of tea drinking in China during the same period, the situation of tea drinking in Japan during this period seemed “very sluggish”.
(3) There were no Japanese monks from the Song Dynasty who vigorously promoted tea drinking. Before this, monks Kukai, Saicho, and Nagatada vigorously promoted the Tang-style method of making tea and cakes. After that, monk Einishi vigorously introduced Chinese tea drinking culture, but there was a lack of such figures in this period.
After citing the above three reasons, the author would like to further analyze the historical background that gave rise to these three reasons.
First of all, in terms of politics, in the middle and late Heian period of Japan, the power was dominated by the Fujiwara family and later the emperor. During this period, Japan’s national consciousness (called in Japanese: Honcho consciousness) rapidly increased. The Japanese court insisted not to surrender to China and demanded equal exchanges. For example, because Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (reigned 1068-1085) entrusted Cheng Xun to deliver the letter of credence to the Japanese Emperor, it was expected that the words “return to Japan” would be included, so the Japanese court delayed for three years before the Nagaji Dynasty wrote a reply. The Song court was very dissatisfied with this “neglect” attitude of the Japanese court. On the one hand, the Song court repeatedly urged Japan to pay tribute to China; on the other hand, the Song monks who occasionally came to China were treated as Japanese envoys and received high standards. But after all, there were no formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, and it was impossible for the high-level tea culture of the Song Dynasty court to be conveyed to the Japanese court solely through private commercial activities. This resulted in the Dragon and Phoenix Tea from the Northern Song Dynasty not being seen in Japan at all.
Secondly, in terms of economy, the Japanese court repeatedly restricted the trade volume of Tang products in order to save treasury expenses and obtain a monopoly on Tang products. Moreover, we do not blindly worship karamono, but use them after reprocessing them according to the needs of Japan. The aforementioned methods of using fragrant wood, brocade, and sufang are good examples. In addition, Japanese craftsmanship also made great progress during this period. Japanese fans, lacquerware, swords, etc. have all opened up sales in the Chinese market, which has increased the Japanese court’s confidence in Sino-Japanese relations. This led to the Japanese court’s indifferent and negative attitude towards tea, and tea was classified as a common cash crop. No one in the imperial court advocated tea drinking. Naturally, the elegant image of tea drinking was not established, which affected the popularity of tea drinking in Japan.
Thirdly, in terms of religious culture, Japan is satisfied with the Buddhist culture introduced from the Tang Dynasty in the previous era, and has repeatedly chewed and supplemented it. Especially during this period, Japanese Pure Land thought flourished, enriching the content of Japanese Buddhist culture and giving Japanese Buddhism its own unique field. In addition, many Buddhist scriptures were burned during the wars of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties in China. The Chinese Buddhist community repeatedly asked Japan for help, requesting that copies of the Buddhist scriptures sent to Japan by the Tang monks be sent back to China. Many other reasons led to the Japanese Buddhist community’s negative attitude towards China. Attitudes have changed dramatically. Moreover, because the Fujiwara clan, who took over the national affairs, adopted a national isolation policy that prohibited Chinese people from traveling overseas privately, there were very few Japanese monks coming to China during the Northern Song Dynasty. In the 160 years of the Northern Song Dynasty, there were only 3 batches of 22 Japanese monks whose names were recorded in historical records. The excessive scarcity of personnel exchanges seriously affected the cultural exchanges during this period. What’s more, tea culture belongs to the culture of dry life and study culture. It is difficult to experience and comprehend without going deep into life for a long time. What is even more regrettable is that the Japanese monks who were involved in tea drinking in the Northern Song Dynasty all died in China, which prevented the Chinese tea drinking culture of this period from being conveyed to Japan in time through the Song monks.
Below, we will further outline the situation of monks coming to China in the Northern Song Dynasty. The leading monks of the three groups of Japanese monks who came to Song Dynasty and the years they came to China are as follows: Yiran (983), Jizhao (1003), and Chengxun (1072). Their purpose in coming to China is not to seek Dharma, but to worship famous Buddhist mountains.
Yiran (?-1016) said in his own words: “I didn’t come because I wanted to seek Dharma, but I came here because of practice.” After Yiran came to China, he presented to the Song Dynasty the “Zheng Shi’s Notes on the Classic of Filial Piety” and “The New Meaning of the Classic of Filial Piety of the King of Yue” etc. He visited the Buddhist holy places of Mount Wutai and Mount Tiantai and accepted the Kaibao Imperial Edition of the Tripitaka as a gift from Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. He returned in three years. Yiran came and went in a hurry, and seemed to have no energy to delve deeply into the social life of the Northern Song Dynasty. After he returned to China, he did not express any opinions on tea drinking and left no record of his relationship with tea.
When Jizhao (964-1034) came to China, he brought with him Buddhist scriptures such as “Mahayana Samadhi” and “Buddhist Samadhi Practice” by Nanyue Zen Master who had been lost in China. He also brought the then Japanese Buddhist leader Genshin (942-1017) year) 27 questions about Tiantai Sect. Jizhao was favored by Ding Wei, the third minister in Suzhou, and the two had a close relationship. Ding Wei once used half of his salary to support Ji Zhao, so Ji Zhao felt the beauty of Suzhou and Ding Wei’s affection, so he stayed at Wumen Temple in Suzhou for 30 years, and finally passed away in China. Before Ding Wei was appointed as the Third Secretary, he served as the Fujian Road Transport Envoy. In Jian’an, he supervised the establishment of “Dalong Tuan” and wrote “Beiyuan Tea Records”. He was a meritorious official who advocated and served tribute tea in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is said that Ding Wei became the third minister because he was lucky with tea. So, in the relationship between Ding Wei and Ji Zhao, the exchange of tea must be indispensable. Jizhao once gave Ding Wei a black gold water bottle in order to thank Ding Wei for his knowledge, and wrote a poem “Black Gold Water Vase to Ding Jin Gong”:
I have carried it with me for three to five years and have never left it for daily use.
The waning moon is poured out in the Xiaojing, and the broken moon is released in the cold furnace.
Po silver is unavoidable to be extravagant, while lai stone is easy to make a loss.
This vessel insists on being returned, and the father to whom it was sent should be informed.

It means that this iron water bottle has been with me for three to five years. I use it to draw springs and boil water. Water bottles made of Poyang silver are too luxurious, and water bottles made of Laiyang stone are easy to break. This iron water bottle is the best. Give it to you as a souvenir. It is not difficult to imagine that Jizhao got into the habit of drinking tea in Suzhou for 30 years. The gift of water bottles between close friends shows that the two friends often drink tea together. It’s a pity that Jishitoshi could not return to Japan. If he could eventually return to Japan, he would probably order tea and sencha for the emperor like Nagatada, and promote the popularization of tea drinking in Japan. In fact, it remains to be studied whether the above-mentioned black gold water bottle was used for drinking tea and whether Jizhao contributed to tea culture. However, during his stay in China, Katsuki had constant correspondence with Fujiwara Michinaga and Fujiwara Norimichi. According to reliable historical data, there were five correspondence exchanges and exchanges of treasures in 1005, 1012, 1013, 1015, and 1027. ① It is conceivable that there is no problem that the tea drinking information of the Northern Song Dynasty was conveyed to the Japanese court through Jizhao. It can also be speculated that there is a reason for the record that Fujiwara Michinaga drank tea when he had a fever in 1016.
Cheng Xun (1011-1081) was the most accomplished monk who came to China during the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in the Fujigen family and was already a prominent figure in Japanese Buddhism before coming to China. In 1072, he led seven of his disciples to Hangzhou, and then visited Mount Tiantai and Mount Wutai, and was summoned by Emperor Shenzong. Emperor Shenzong treated Cheng Xun very well. He not only sent troops and horses to escort Cheng Xun to Wutai Mountain, but also invited Cheng Xun to pray for rain in the palace. After the fruit appeared to be effective, Shenzong granted him the title of “Master Shanhui”. Cheng Xunben made an agreement with his elderly mother to return to his hometown as soon as possible, but in the end he could not resist the temptation of the Dharma Tibetan in the Buddhist cave. He sent away the disciples who came to China with a monologue and stayed in Bianjing to open a treasure temple and practice Taoism and seek Dharma for ten years. , and finally passed away in China. Cheng Xun left behind a notebook “The Notes of Towering Wutai Mountain”. It records what he experienced during the period from when he came to China by boat on March 15, 1072, to when he sent off his disciples on June 12, 1073 (a total of one year and three months). The notes were brought back to Japan by Cheng Xun’s disciples. It is like a Chinese documentary that conveys the true information about the society of the Northern Song Dynasty to the Japanese government and the public at that time. So how much information about tea is there?
“The Record of Shentian Wutai Mountain” contains many references to tea drinking, and describes the drinking of tea on various occasions. like:
●At the Puppet Theater in Hangzhou, “Each audience member drinks a cup of tea and is asked to pay a penny”;
●On the streets of Hangzhou, “Everyone drank tea with silver tea utensils and paid one penny”;
●On the way to Tiantai Mountain, while resting in a house, “the owner of the house had a Taoist heart and ordered tea and soup”;
●When we first arrived at Guoqing Temple, we “had tea right away”;
●”Have tea immediately” after staying in the monk’s room;
●When visiting the Arhat Hall of Guoqing Temple, I saw five hundred Arhats “with tea utensils in front of each one”;
●Take a boat to the outskirts of Bianjing and be greeted by court officials, who will “order tea” on the boat;
●The boat then arrives under the Yan’an Bridge at the Xiangguo Temple in Bianjing City, and the attendants board the boat to greet them with “sacrifice and order tea”;
●Cheng Xun visited the Arhat Hall of Fangguang Temple in Tiantai Mountain and ordered tea for five hundred Arhats. The eight-leaf lotus pattern appeared in the tea bowls. Cheng Xun recorded: “I went to the stone bridge at Chen time and offered tea to Arhats. Five hundred and sixteen cups were offered with bells and pestles and mantras. The governor monk came to tell me in surprise that the tea had an eight-leaf lotus pattern. More than five hundred cups had patterns. The governor monk put his palms together. After praying, the young monk will definitely know that Arhat will appear to receive tea from the master.”
The tea drinking situation that Cheng Xun observed and experienced corroborated the historical facts about tea drinking in the Northern Song Dynasty. During the Northern Song Dynasty, tea drinking was very popular from folk houses to imperial palaces, and the custom of entertaining guests with tea was not much different from today. In the capital, people drink “order tea” on high-level occasions, drink “tea, tea soup” or “eat tea” on the roadside, in private houses. Cheng Xun has experienced such a rich Chinese tea-drinking culture in just one year and three months since he came to China, let alone after ten years of living in China. What is regrettable is that Cheng Xun only conveyed the information about Chinese tea drinking to Japan in his notes, but he was not able to return to China and demonstrate it in person. This is an immeasurable loss and a great pity to the spread of the highly practical and practical tea-drinking culture.
So, to what extent did Japanese tea drinking decline and stagnate during this period? What were the characteristics of Japanese tea drinking during this period? The author will describe it below.

Section 5 Characteristics of Japanese tea drinking in the middle and late Heian period

After the Kōnin tea boom, tea drinking was still popular among the upper-class literati in Japan, especially among the literati with deep attainments in Chinese poetry and prose, where tea drinking was still regarded as an elegant fashion. In this section, the author intends to borrow the research results of Ogawa Koraku①, and take the tea drinking life of Sugawara no Michizane (845-903), the most prominent Sinologist in the Heian period, and his surrounding people as an example to summarize the characteristics of Japanese tea drinking in the middle and late Heian period.
Sugawara no Michizane was born into a noble family and received a good Chinese education since childhood. He came into contact with tea drinking through reading Chinese poetry and prose. When he was in his forties, he was appointed as the governor of Sanuki in Shikoku. On the evening of August 15, he wrote a poem titled “Thinking of the Past on August 15”, which involved tea drinking:
The story of the Suga family is known to the world,
Playing with the moon is now a taboo month,
Tea leaves and fragrant soup are free from drinking,
The wonderful method of lotus is replaced by chanting poetry. (Volume 4 of Sugawara Bunso)

This means that when he was in Kyoto, every Mid-Autumn Festival, Sugawara’s family had wine and poetry banquets. But in the remote place of Shikoku, they had to use “tea leaf fragrant soup” instead of wine, and chant “Lotus Wonderful Dharma” instead of poetry. Sugawara Michizane’s tone seemed to be out of helplessness, but in fact he was using tea drinking to show his own nobleness and flawlessness. During his stay in Shikoku, Sugawara Michizane also praised the murals in his residence. The mural is based on the theme of “Taoist under the pine tree”. Sugawara Michizane praised the Taoist’s character from six aspects: “Sitting Alone”, “Walking Leisurely”, “Drinking Tea”, “Playing the Piano”, “Using the Pen”, and “Picking Herbs”. In the section “Drinking Tea”, he wrote:
There is no wine in the wild kitchen, but the rock guest has tea. Under the dust, there is no talk of home.
(Volume 7 of Sugawara Bunso)

At that time, drinking was popular in the lives of Japanese aristocrats, but Sugawara Michizane never forgot to drink tea. In the praise of this mural, he used the Taoist’s tea drinking behavior to show his uniqueness. In Sugawara no Michizane’s view, tea is more elegant and refined than wine.
Soon, Sugawara no Michizane was appreciated by Emperor Uda. He rose rapidly and returned to Kyoto to become the left minister. He should have been very proud, but his sentimental temperament as a literati still made him feel depressed. In “Idle Thoughts”, he expressed his anxiety about being idle all day and away from his study:
Everything is inevitable, and there is no end to the journey. I sighed once and my heart turned, and I sighed again and my clothes were wet with tears.
The east is bright and people are still awake. I get up and drink a cup of tea when I feel bored.
Here, drinking tea became a means for Sugawara no Michizane to relieve his depression. At the same time, it can also be seen from this that drinking tea has become a part of Sugawara no Michizane’s daily life, and he can drink it at any time whether in the study or in the bedroom. There is another famous poem about Sugawara no Michizane using tea to relieve his sorrow. This poem was written when he was slandered and exiled to Kyushu and was extremely frustrated:
The farmer is happy,
The exile is very upset.
My upset is choking my chest,
I got up and drank a bowl of tea.
After drinking it, it was not dispelled,
I burned stones to warm the stomach tube,
but this treatment was ineffective,
so I forced myself to drink half a cup of wine. (Suga no Michizane’s Later Collection · Rainy Night)

In the second year after this poem was written, Sugawara no Michizane died of sorrow and anger. It is said that his resentful soul turned into thunder. In order to calm his resentful soul, people built Kitano Shrines for him in various places and called him the god of learning in Japan. It is also said that the god of learning loves tea.
Around Sugawara no Michizane, some sinologists gathered, and these people also liked to drink tea. First, we should cite Sugawara no Michizane’s father-in-law Shimada Tadayoshi (823-891). Shimada Tadayoshi was a famous Confucianist, medical scientist, and poet. He wrote about his fate with tea in the poem “Qi Zi Thirteen Tea Picking”:
It is better to stay at home without going out. Most idle people only love tea. I saw that I picked the fish eyes and lost them. I heard that the tea in your garden is buds. Why not decide to pick them in the poem? I can boast when the basket is full. The trees in the garden are about to end in spring.
Don’t let me look at the flowers on an empty stomach. (Volume 2 of “Tian Family Collection”) The “fish eyes” mentioned in the poem come from the “Tea Classic” by Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty. Lu Yu divided the boiling degree of water when brewing tea into three levels: the first boiling is when the fish eyes make a slight sound, the second boiling is when the edges are like spring beads, and the third boiling is when the waves are surging. When the water reaches the second boiling, it is the best time to throw in the tea powder. The metaphor of “fish eyes” was widely recognized and used by Chinese poets after Lu Yu, and was also passed on to Shimada Tadayoshi through poems and essays. From the fourth line of this poem, we can also read the situation of nobles and ministers growing tea at home. Because tea drinking only stayed in the private lives of nobles, literati, and monks in a certain period, tea drinkers would grow a small amount of tea themselves.
Sugawara no Michizane was able to become the left minister thanks to the promotion and reuse of Emperor Uda (867-931) and Emperor Daigo (885-930). Both emperors had a relationship with tea:
● One day in 898, Emperor Uda went hunting in Nara and then visited Genkoji Temple. The great master Shengzhu of Genkoji Temple “held mountain fruits and brewed fragrant tea to entertain the ministers”,
● On the third day of the first lunar month in 902, Emperor Daigo went to Ninnaji Temple to visit Emperor Uda, and the father and son drank good tea together.
● On the third day of the first lunar month in 907, the monk Rumu of Ninnaji Temple offered tea to Emperor Uda. ● In 916, on the 50th birthday of Emperor Uda, tea was offered and given.
According to historical records, drinking tea in the first month of the year gradually became a tea-offering ritual in Ninna-ji Temple and lasted for a while.
There was another person related to tea around Sugawara no Michizane. This was Minamoto no Eiaki (939-?), the grandson of Sugawara no Michizane and the grandson of Emperor Uda. One day, Minamoto no Eiaki visited Kanjuji Temple in Higashiyama, Kyoto and wrote a poem. In the preface of the poem, he described what he saw in Kanjuji Temple: “There are four Zen monks living here, their clothes are not in order, which surprised the visitors. They led the guests into the room without asking about their origins. There were tea and fruit, and wine cups in the room. Everyone undressed and undressed, lying in all directions, and the monks and laymen opened their collars to talk, discussing endlessly about profound principles.” I am afraid that Minamoto no Eiaki himself also participated in the conversation, drinking tea and drinking wine. This historical material reminds us that during this period, tea drinking had begun to become part of the daily life of Japanese monks.

From the above examples of tea drinking history in the middle of the Heian period in Japan with Sugawara no Michizane as the main line, it can be seen that after the Kōnin tea boom, tea drinking did not “decline and stagnate” in Japan, but entered the daily life of the upper class. This phenomenon was particularly evident from the end of the 9th century to the beginning of the 10th century (late Heian period).

After the middle of the 10th century, there were more historical materials about tea drinking in Japanese temples. Ogawa Koraku investigated the tea drinking materials in the two Japanese Chinese poetry collections, Honcho Reiza (1007) and Honcho Untitled Poems (about 1161). The results showed that most of them were related to temples. For example, in Honcho Reiza:
● Keishi Tamesho (birth year unknown) has a poem “Four Rhymes for Autumn Tour of Tokoji Temple” chanting:
The tea smoke has just come out of the mountain kitchen and is quiet,
The pine moon rises late and the mountain canopy hangs down. (Honcho Reiza 68)

●Oe Igen (955-1010) wrote a poem titled “Visiting Enjo-ji Temple at the End of the Year”, which reads:
The grass in the spring house is withered and the cold and snow are weary,
The tea in the mountain kitchen is ripe and the evening smoke is rising. (Honcho Reiza 72)

Another example is in “Honcho Untitled Poems”:
● Nakahara Hirotoshi (1062-?) wrote a poem titled “Visiting Zenrinji Temple”, which reads:

The old woodcutter crosses the mountain with a bamboo stick,
The cook fetches water to wash the teacup,
The evening bell rings frequently and startles the ears,
The layman wants to go home but the monk can stay. (Honcho Untitled Poems 601)

● Fujiwara Mototoshi (? – 1142) wrote a poem titled “Visiting Engaku-ji Temple in Winter”, which reads:

The tea smoke is dark in the evening,
The incense is burning and the spring flowers are fresh. (Untitled Poems of This Dynasty 651)

● Fujiwara no Akihira (989-1066) wrote a poem titled “Things in a Villa in the South of the City in Late Autumn”: In the afternoon, I brought medicine and tea stoves, and I drank fragrant wine and squatted under the osmanthus. (Untitled Poems of This Dynasty 391)
● Nakahara Hirotoshi also wrote a poem titled “Passing by the Old House in Yongzhou”:

For whom are the tea gardens and medicinal gardens set up?

The autumn moon and spring breeze make me sad. (Untitled Poems of This Dynasty 464)

The above six historical materials all record the situation of drinking tea in temples. Among them, the things related to tea include: tea cups, tea smoke, tea stoves, and tea gardens. This shows that the content of tea drinking in Japanese temples during this period was rich. So why did the main place for tea drinking in Japan move from the palaces of royal relatives and nobles to temples in the late Heian period in Japan? Mr. Ogawa Goraku attributed the reason to the decline of royal relatives and nobles. The author agrees with this statement and would like to make the following explanation.
In the early Heian period of Japan, the imperial family represented by Emperor Saga held power, and the center of culture was inevitably in the imperial palace. However, after the middle of the 9th century, the power was gradually taken away by the Fujiwara clan, the relatives of the emperor, and the imperial family was only regarded as puppets and inheritors of classical culture. They were not indispensable in the imperial palace. Therefore, many of them left the imperial palace or left government affairs to participate in folk cultural activities. At that time, temples were cultural dissemination stations, schools, and social places for literati. Therefore, tea drinking spread from the imperial palace to various temples. In addition, the spread of Japanese monks in China led to the concentration of tea drinking in temples. Another important reason is that after the mid-10th century, the power of the Fujiwara clan declined. The first emperor to regain power from the Fujiwara clan, Emperor Shirakawa (reigned 1072-1086), retired at the age of 33 to allow the royal family to control the government for a long time. He gave the throne to the 11-year-old Emperor Horikawa and became a monk and lived in Hosho-ji Temple and Jonan Palace. The subsequent Emperor Toba (reigned 1107-1123) and Emperor Go-Shirakawa (reigned 1155-1158) also followed suit. As a result, some temples became the royal inner palaces where the retired emperors held court, and the specifications were not necessarily lower than those of the imperial palace. This also led to the emergence of tea drinking out of the imperial palace and the nobles’ study and concentrated in temples. The Heian period was the period when the Japanese royal rituals were established, and tea drinking was also included in the category of rituals. As mentioned above, Emperor Uda received the tea ceremony at Ninna-ji Temple on the third day of the first lunar month every year. Moreover, Emperor Shirakawa also held the tea ceremony as one of the activities of his birthday celebration when he celebrated his 50th birthday at Jonan-gu Shrine (1103). In 1176, Emperor Go-Shirakawa also planned to follow Emperor Shirakawa’s example and hold the tea ceremony on his 50th birthday, but he had no tea sets. So he sent people to Jonan-gu Shrine to borrow them, but the tea sets used by Emperor Shirakawa were nowhere to be found. He had to send people to Ninna-ji Temple, where Emperor Uda had lived, to borrow the tea sets. It is impossible to examine the specific content of the tea ceremony from historical records: but it is certain that it is different from the daily way of drinking tea.
The above describes the tea drinking situation in the middle to late Heian period in Japan, which is equivalent to the late Tang Dynasty to the end of the Northern Song Dynasty in China. It can be said that the daily drinking of scholar tea, temple tea, and ceremonial tea in the upper class is the characteristic of Japanese tea drinking culture during this period. Analyzing from the historical data of this period, which spans more than 200 years, although the tea drinking activities during the Kōnin period were not as rich in elegant spiritual elements, they were deeply rooted in daily life and rich and colorful. The changes in tea drinking culture also confirm the characteristics of the times during this period when Chinese culture penetrated into the daily life of Japan. The tea drinking situation in Japan during this period was evaluated as “decline and stagnation” by the Japanese tea culture research community. Indeed, compared with the Kōnin tea style before and the subsequent Japanese tea ceremony, the cultural and artistic elements contained were too weak, but it was not interrupted and should still be given a certain position in the history of Japanese tea culture.

This “decline and stagnation” theory also reflects the position of tea culture in the hearts of the Japanese and in Japanese culture. In the eyes of the Japanese, tea culture belongs to the category of art and even philosophy, and daily tea drinking cannot be included in tea culture, which is very different from the situation in China. Therefore, it is inevitable that the author and the Japanese tea culture research community have different opinions on the evaluation of the tea drinking situation in Japan during this period, and this is not negligence on the part of the Japanese.

In the Southern Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, cultural exchanges between China and Japan further deepened. Japan’s tea drinking methods and tea making technology have undergone significant changes, and tea culture has gradually become popular among the people. The next article will focus on the interaction and influence of Sino-Japanese tea culture from the Southern Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.