Xù chájīng 續茶經
Continuation of the Tea Classic by 陸廷燦 (Lù Tíngcàn, 撰)
About the work
A three-juàn + appendix early-Qing comprehensive treatise on tea — the most authoritative post-Sòng Chinese tea-monograph and the work that brought tea-knowledge up to date for the Qing high-imperial period. By Lù Tíngcàn 陸廷燦 zì Zhìzhāo 秩昭 of Jiādìng, magistrate of Chóngān 崇安 in the Wǔyí 武夷 tea region during the Kāngxī–Yōngzhèng period; submitted in Yōngzhèng 12 (1734). Structured as an explicit continuation of Lù Yǔ’s Chájīng (KR3i0019), using the same ten-category structure with one-thousand-year-of-additional-material gathered from intervening Tang-Sòng-Yuán-Míng-Qing sources, plus an appendix of Lìdài cháfǎ 歷代茶法 (Successive-Ages Tea-Regulations) — a unique compilation of tea-tax-and-tribute regulations from the Tang through the early Qing.
Tiyao
We submit that the Xù chájīng is in three juàn with an appendix in one juàn, by our State-period Lù Tíngcàn. Tíngcàn, zì Zhìzhāo, was a man of Jiādìng, holding office as zhīxiàn of Chóngān and hòubǔ zhǔshì. Since the Tang, tea-products are reckoned to lead with Wǔyí; Wǔyí mountain is precisely in the Chóngān territory. Hence, while Tíngcàn was in that office, he investigated-and-learned the theories. He began drafting this work then; after returning to private life he edited and assembled it into a compiled-text. He places Lù Yǔ’s Chájīng original at the head and, following its original headings, gathers passages from various books to continue it. The upper juàn continues Lù Yǔ’s “First: Origin,” “Second: Implements,” “Third: Manufacture”; the middle juàn continues “Fourth: Utensils”; the lower juàn divides into three sub-juàn: lower-upper continues “Fifth: Brewing,” “Sixth: Drinking”; lower-middle continues “Seventh: Affairs,” “Eighth: Provenance”; lower-lower continues “Ninth: Abbreviation,” “Tenth: Illustration.” It appends as the final juàn the Successive-Ages Tea-Regulations — which is not in Lù Yǔ’s original headings — supplied by Tíngcàn himself. Since the Tang, several hundred years have passed: in all areas — locality of tea-production, methods of manufacture — the ages have already differed; even brewing-utensils have changed greatly between ancient and modern. Hence Lù Yǔ’s narration, though ancient, is mostly not practicable today. Tíngcàn revises and supplements item-by-item — quite useful for practical purposes; his citations are also quite abundant. To view his Náncūn bǐjì: he cites Lǐ Rìhuá’s Zǐtáo xuān and supplements an entry on “Wǔtái Dòngquán” (the Five-Terrace Frozen-Spring), self-noting that this book had omitted it and he supplemented it there — showing that his search-and-gather was indeed industrious. To record and preserve it is also sufficient for verification. As to Lù Yǔ’s old text, although Tíngcàn placed it at the head, the work has long had its own separate circulation; we should not use the supplement to overshadow the original. Hence we now delete-and-omit it and record only Tíngcàn’s text. Submitted Qiánlóng 46 month 9 (1781).
Abstract
The work is the standard pre-modern Qing tea-monograph and the most comprehensive Chinese summa of tea-knowledge ever compiled. Its multiple-period coverage — Tang (the original Chájīng and post-Lù Yǔ Tang material), Sòng (the Beìyuàn tribute tradition), Yuán (the transition from cake-tea to loose-leaf), Míng (the foundational shift to sànchá 散茶, the modern loose-leaf style still in use today), and Qing (especially the rise of Wǔyí yánchá 巖茶 and the early gōngfū chá 工夫茶 tradition) — makes it the indispensable post-Tang reference.
The compositional history is well-documented in the author’s own fánlì (editorial principles): Lù Tíngcàn began the draft during his Chóngān magistracy (probably c. 1716–1725), when his superior the Fújiàn governor-general Mǎn Bǎo 滿保 (1672–1725) was promoting the Wǔyí yánchá as a court tribute; Mǎn Bǎo would consult Lù on tea-matters, motivating Lù’s detailed research. After returning to private life Lù completed the work and published it in 1734.
The work is the principal source for several major topics of post-Sòng tea-history:
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The Míng-era transition from compressed cake-tea to loose-leaf tea (sànchá), driven by the Hóngwǔ emperor’s 1391 decree abolishing the labor-intensive cake-tea tribute. This produced the modern Chinese tea-drinking system based on infusion of whole loose leaves.
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The development of yánchá 巖茶 at the Wǔyí mountains in the late-Míng and early-Qing — the foundation of the modern wūlóng (Oolong) tradition.
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The Qing imperial collection of named tea-varieties (DàHóngpáo 大紅袍, Tiěluóhàn 鐵羅漢, Báijīguàn 白雞冠, Shuǐjīnguī 水金龜 — the Sìdà míngcōng 四大名欉, the “Four Great Famous Bushes” of Wǔyí).
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The Qing tea-tax system. The Lìdài cháfǎ appendix is the principal compilation of Chinese tea-fiscal-policy from the Tang inception (the Tang chá yǐn 茶引 commodity-tax of Dézōng) through the elaborate Sòng tea-monopoly (the cháyán dào 茶鹽道 system), the YuánMíng simplifications, and the early Qing.
Translations and research
- Benn, James A. 2015. Tea in China: A Religious and Cultural History. Honolulu: U Hawaii Press. The principal English-language modern treatment; uses Xù chá-jīng extensively.
- Smith, Paul Jakov. 1991. Taxing Heaven’s Storehouse: Horses, Bureaucrats, and the Destruction of the Sichuan Tea Industry, 1074–1224. Cambridge MA: Harvard.
- Lín Mǎn-hóng 林滿紅. 1989. Wǔ-yí chá yǔ Tái-wān chá 武夷茶與台灣茶. Tái-běi: Lián-jīng. Standard study of Wǔ-yí and Táiwān tea production, drawing heavily on Xù chá-jīng.
- Yú Yuè-shū 余悅澍. 2007. Xù chá-jīng yán-jiū 續茶經研究. Sū-zhōu master’s thesis.
Other points of interest
The work’s Lìdài cháfǎ (Successive-Ages Tea-Regulations) appendix is one of the most useful single sources for Chinese tea-bureaucratic history; it preserves the full text or substantive summaries of the Tang cháyǐn regulations, the Sòng cházhuān 茶磚 (tea-brick) monopoly regulations, the Míng decree abolishing cake-tea, and the early Qing tea-tax adjustments. This appendix alone makes the work indispensable for economic-historical research on the Chinese tea-trade.