It took more than 10 years for Lu to complete his travels in 32 tea-growing prefectures. He then retired to today’s Huzhou(湖州Húzhōu) in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province and began to write his magnum opus. 

 

The IT goes without saying that tea is one of the symbols of China, a necessary part of Chinese people’s daily life and an essential part of the Chinese culture(中国文化Zhōngguó wénhuà). Naturally, more than 1,200 years ago, China produced the world’s very first tea encyclopedia, the “Classic of Tea.”

The valuable tea treatise was authored by Lu Yu (AD 733-804), known in the China as the Sage of Tea because of his unparalleled(if you describe something as unparalleled, you are emphasizing that it is, for example, bigger, better, or worse than anything else of its kind, or anything that has happened before) contributions to the development of tea culture. He literally turned tea from what was deemed as a traditional medical herb into the nation’s most popular drink.

According to some historical books, Lu was born an orphan in today’s Tianmen(天安门Tiān’ānmén) in central China’s Hubei Province and was adopted and raised by a monk in a Buddhist temple.

The young Lu preferred reading literature books and poems as opposed to chanting sutras all day long like other monks.

To punish his disobedience, the master monk ordered Lu to do menial jobs in the temple, one of which was to make tea for monks.

One day, Lu made tea with water from a hidden spring that he had accidentally found outside the temple. The tea turned out to be exceptionally flavorful. The master monk also loved the tea made by Lu. From that point on, he became extremely interested in tea and the techniques of making the beverage. At the age of 21, Lu decided to write a monograph about tea, so he began to travel all around the country to collect tea samples and talk to tea farmers about their experiences in growing various leaves. He also spent a lot of time observing tea processing and the production of tea tools in the different places.