Ode to Tea
壺蘆居士繙譯
Du Yü (ca. 282-311 A.D.) of the Western Jin Dynasty
Ode to Tea
On Mount Ling is a high peak where
a wondrous thing gathers.
It is tea,
filling the valleys and covering the hills,
moist with the wealth of the Earth,
blessed with the sweet spirit of Heaven.
In the first harvest moon,
the farmers get little rest.
Couples at the same task,
searching and picking.
Take water from the flowing river Min,
draw from its pure currents.
Select bowls from lustrous wares
produced in Eastern Ou.
Serve tea with a gourd ladle,
emulating the way of Duke Liu.
Only then can one begin to perfect
thick froth, afloat with the splendor of the brew,
glistening like piling snow,
resplendent like the spring florescence.
Chaste and true like new frost,
pure like the Void,
tea harmonizes the spirit, blending within,
languidly free, effortlessly Empty.
西晉杜毓
荈賦
靈山惟嶽
奇產所鍾
厥生荈草
彌谷被崗
承豐壤之滋潤
受甘靈之霄降
月惟初秋
農功少休
結偶同旅
是采是求
水則岷方之注
挹彼清流
器澤陶簡
出自東隅
酌之以匏
取式公劉
惟茲初成
沬沉華浮
煥如積雪
曄若春敷
若乃淳染真辰
色責青霜
白黃若虛
調神和內
慵解慷除
Primary source
Yiwen leijü 藝文類聚 (Encyclopedic Collection of Writings by Category, 624 A.D.), Ouyang Xun 歐陽詢 (557-641), et al., comps. , juan 卷 82, no. 1.9.