Tea is believed to have been discovered by Shennong* and recorded by the Duke of Zhou of the Lu Dynasty (1042 – 249 B.C.), flourished in the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 A.D.), reached its peak in the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 A.D.), and eventually spread across the globe. But why? The answer lies in an ancient book—Lu Yu’s “The Classic of Tea” (known as Chajing), the world’s first encyclopedia on tea.
Lu Yu (733 – 804 A.D.), revered as the “Sage of Tea”, earned his fame through the three-volume masterpiece of Chajing. Yet few know that he was born nameless—an orphan with a speech impediment and unattractive appearance. Legend says he was abandoned at age three by a lakeside in Jingling (present-day Tianmen, Hubei) and rescued by the monk Zhiji. Unable to raise a child but unwilling to leave him helpless, the monk consulted the I Ching** and drew an auspicious hexagram named Jian, which stated:
“The migrating geese have gradually reached their destination. Beautiful feathers can be used as decorations at ceremonies.”
Interpreting this as a sign of the child’s extraordinary destiny, the monk named him Lu Yu (“Feather on Land”) and gave him the courtesy name Hongjian (“Gradual Wild Goose”). Under the monk’s guidance, Lu Yu mastered tea brewing skill. However, at the age of 13, Lu left the temple. Later, with the support of Jingling Governor Li Qiwu, calligrapher Yan Zhenqing, and poet-monk Jiaoran, he completed “The Classic of Tea” before turning 50.
The Classic of Tea: A Rigorous Craft
The text of Chajing, consisting of around 7,000 characters, is divided into three volumes and 10 sections, covering tea’s origins, tools, production, utensils, brewing, drinking, history, regions, simplifications, and illustrations. Notably, one-fifth of the work (1,550 characters) is dedicated to tea utensils, reflecting Lu Yu’s meticulous standards.
Regrettably, no complete set of “Lu Yu-style tea utensils” has been unearthed to date, leaving us unable to fully comprehend their original form. Furthermore, extant copies of “The Classic of Tea” contain numerous transcription errors, resulting in significant gaps in the study of the tea implements described in the text.
A 27-Year Journey of Reconstruction
To bridge these gaps, I began my road of drafting reconstructions. I believed that the most thorough approach to research would be to recreate these artifacts through meticulous reconstruction. Thus, in 1998, based on the text of Chajing inscripted in ancient language, I began drafting preliminary sketches and gradually accumulated key insights. By 2005, I had successfully reconstructed the core tea utensils. The following year, at the International Tea Culture Symposium in Hangzhou, I presented my research paper titled “An Examination of the Wind Furnace and Water Filter in Chapter Four of The Classic of Tea.:
In 2007, at the invitation of Yixing Municipal Government, I conducted a live demonstration of Lu Yu’s tea brewing techniques using the reconstructed utensils, with the Governor of Jiangsu Province in attendance. Later in 2012, I was invited to the Famen Temple Museum in Xi’an to present my follow-up study “Revisiting the Utensils in Chapter Four of The Classic of Tea”, which was subsequently published in the museum’s academic proceedings.
Now, after overcoming countless challenges, the world’s first full set of 25 utensils from “The Classic of Tea” debuts in Macao—a moment of pride for our city! May the exhibition “The Legacy of Lu Yu” enrich Macao’s profound tea culture and contribute to its identity as a “Cultural Macau”.
Lo Heng Kong
President of Chinese Teaism Association of Macau
June 2025
PHOTOS:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IMFl07w7dWzpAcz3O8OIsa6qLpvOZv_N?usp=sharin
* Shennong, also known as ‘Divine Farmer’ is a legendary figure around the 27th to the 25th century B.C., who is said to have taught the Chinese a number of agricultural inventions and who first discovered tea.
** I Ching is a classic book about a philosophical taxonomy of the universe and that also is used for divination, said to have been created more than 4,000 years ago.
