Tea: A Pagoda Poem
Hulu jushi fanyi
Dedicated to Sylvia and Matthew London for their friendship and generosity
Yüan Zhen of the Tang dynasty
Tea: A Pagoda Poem
Tea
Fragrant leaves, tender buds
The desire of poets, the love of monks
Ground in carved white jade, sifted through red gauze
Cauldron brewed to the color of gold, bowl aswirl in floral foam
At night it welcomes the bright moon, at daybreak it dispels dawn’s rosy mists
Past and present, drinkers are refreshed and tireless, praisefully aware it quells drunkenness
唐 元稹
茶寶塔詩
茶
香葉嫩芽
慕詩客愛僧家
碾雕白玉羅織紅紗
銚煎黃蕊色碗轉曲塵花
夜後邀陪明月晨前命對朝霞
洗盡古今人不倦將知醉後豈堪誇
Note
For this and other Chinese tea poems, see the forthcoming
THE SPIRIT OF TEA: An Offering To Tea Lovers
a book of photography by Matthew London
Tiger Spring Press, 2014
or go to www.spiritoftea.org
Source
Yüan Zhen 元稹 (799-831 A.D.), “Cha 茶 (Tea)” in Cao Yin 曹寅 (1658-1712 A.D.) and Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645-1719 A.D.) et al., comps, Qüan Tangshi 全唐詩 (Complete Poetry of the Tang Dynasty, 1705), ch. 423, no. 24.
Figure
Reconstruction Drawing of the Yongning Temple Pagoda at Luoyang 洛陽永寧寺塔圖
Originally built in 516 A.D. during the Northern Wei Dynasty