Cloud tea is like life; life is learning, wisdom is cultivation.<\/p>\n
The Ghost Festival (Zhong Yuan Jie) is a day when Chinese people honor their ancestors, and also a day that prompts reflection on life and death. When I was young, I was afraid to think about such things, feeling that a deep chasm lay between life and death. But after decades of working with tea, I have come to understand that life and death are like tea leaves\u2014from life to death, from death to life, cycling endlessly.<\/p>\n
The life cycle of pu-erh tea is remarkable. Freshly picked tea leaves are “alive”\u2014green, vibrant, full of vitality. After fixating, rolling, and sun-drying, they become mao cha (raw material tea). Pressed into a cake, they begin another life\u2014aging. During the aging process, the substances within the tea continuously transform, from raw and sharp to mellow and smooth, from stimulating to gentle. Ten years, twenty years, thirty years\u2014the longer the time, the deeper the flavor. In the end, a cake of aged tea can be stored for decades or even centuries, outliving the person who made it.<\/p>\n
I have a cake of 1950s Hong Yin (Red Mark) round tea, over seventy years old. The person who made this cake has long since passed, but the tea they made remains, and it still tastes wonderful. Every time I brew this tea, I think of that tea maker. Their craftsmanship, their dedication, their love of tea\u2014all sealed within this cake. The person is gone, but the tea remains. This is the tea’s perspective on life and death\u2014the physical body may perish, but the spirit can continue through the tea.<\/p>\n
This Ghost Festival, I am brewing a 2005 Menghai raw pu-erh, aged for twenty years. This tea’s life has entered “middle age”\u2014no longer the rawness of new tea, not yet the weathered depth of very old tea, but already possessing its own character. One rinse, and the second infusion has begun to turn red, no longer the golden yellow of new tea. The bitterness on entry has softened considerably, and the returning sweetness is more persistent. By the fifth infusion, aged aromas begin to appear, yet the tea still retains the liveliness of raw tea. This blend of old and new is like the state of a middle-aged person\u2014experienced yet still energetic.<\/p>\n
The aging process of pu-erh tea has taught me something: death is not an ending but another beginning. When new tea is fixed by heat, the leaf’s “life” seems to end. But in fact, it has only entered another phase\u2014from fresh leaf to something that can be preserved for a long time. Similarly, the physical body may perish, but the spirit, ideas, and creations can continue in various forms. A cake of tea, a book, a song, a story\u2014any of these can be a vessel for the spirit.<\/p>\n
I know an old tea farmer who spent his entire life making tea on the mountains of Yunnan. After he passed, his son inherited the tea garden and the craft. Every time I drink tea made by his son, I can sense the old farmer’s shadow. His tea-making philosophy, his insistence on quality, his love for the tea mountains\u2014all have been passed down. This is another form of “life”\u2014not physical life, but the continuation of the spirit.<\/p>\n
Tea has grades; all may enjoy it regardless of status.<\/p>\n
By the eighth infusion, the liquor has become deeply mellow, aged aroma and honey notes intertwined. At this moment, I begin to think about a question: after I am gone, what will happen to my tea? I hope it will continue to age, continue to transform, continue to bring warmth and insight to people. If someone drinks tea from my collection and feels something from it, then my life continues in another form.<\/p>\n
Ghost Festival night, a pot of pu-erh, a meditation on life and death. What tea has taught me is not just how to brew it, but how to face life and death. From life to death, from death to life, cycling endlessly. This is the wisdom of tea, and also the wisdom of life.<\/p>\n
Make friends through tea, please enjoy a cup.
\n—<\/p>\n
Author: Old Tea Head \u00b7 Lin Shen (LamSam)
\nZen Tea Manor ZENTEA MANOR
\nTianying Supply Chain Company
\nwww.zentea-shop.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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