Pu-erh tea: The Philosophers Elixir, or Even Unto China.... rough notes from the soon to be released The Hermits Pharmacopeia. The Chinese tea masters discovered that, in their endless trade upon the old Tea Horse Road (which was the jugular vein of exchange of hearty health of the Mongolians and Tibetans that were exchanged for tea and silks) loose tea suffered for the distance and conditions of the trek. Tea for long distance trade began to be packed densely, and bundled in baskets called tongs and shipped in this compacted form to the nearly impenetrable Buddhist temples of Tibet. Special grades of tea were reserved for the high Lamas and abbots. The Lamas required tea for their meditations, in a relationship between tea and Buddhism that stretches back to when Bodhidharma, the blue-eyed barbarian (he was likely Persian and foreign to India), cut off his eye lids and threw them on the ground for sleeping during meditation. It is said that tea grew from him eye lids, giving him the solution to drowsiness with the stimulating yet calming liquor of the tea. But by the time the tea from the Chinese tea districts arrived it was dirty, moldy, and had picked up the odor of the animals and the arduous journey. Bodhidharma is credited with bringing martial arts to China as he spread Zen, in Chinese Chan, the dhyana of India, the abiding in the clarity, the samadhi, the satori of the moment. It is said the taste of tea and zen are the one. Some scholars have traced an unbroken lineage of the wild teas of the Southern Indian mystics into China, Tibet, and Japan eventually forming the basis for tea rituals that influenced the Sufi and Islamic veneration and custom of their tea drinking. Before tea became a secular beverage it was almost always a somewhat guarded secret amongst various mystical groups, sects and lineages. When the cakes were pressed and wrapped the effects to the taste where minimal. But the tea masters discovered also that aging the tea in this compressed form began subtle processes of oxidation and fermentation to the tea leaves, and the longer the aging process under the right conditions, the better was the tea. They also noticed the medicinal and indeed spiritual effects of the tea were exalted by storing them in caves, as the astringent tannins in the tea yielded to a soft, honey like dancing on the palette. The echo of the tea reverberates through the body, the chi energy of mountains and sunlight and high altitude rains is unlocked and transmuted through time induce poetry, deep introspection and subtle, sober euphoria. Such teas quickly became the favorite of monks, mystics, poets and hermits who produced some of the most profound landscape paintings, music, poetry and calligraphy the world has ever seen. In China, and later in Japan, these became known as the literati schools, men who retired from the red dust of the world in quiet, artistic protest to focus on self-refinement, enlightenment, their art and aesthetics. Pu-erh tea is highly medicinal with reports of its effects on cancer and blood conditions being documented in numerous studies. It is very rich in antioxidants, out performing statins for bad cholesterol, as well as being a considered an anti-aging tonic in China. Rare specimens from the 1950s can sell for 1 million USA dollars per cake of tea. These are rich, naturally sweet teas that induce a special perspiration while drinking, saturating the body in a light that churns the chi like the microcosmic orbit that traces up the spine and down to the solor plexus. Particularly medicinal are the products of what are colled ancient or old wild trees, that are carefully aged raw (green) and given to the magic of time and humidity and fresh air. As you can see in the pictures the tea was often pressed into the mushroom shapes and gourd shapes as well as other fruits, melons etc. for tribute teas. check bottlegourdherbs for high grade teas, we havent put these up yet but they will be soon inchaAllah. enjoy a cup of liquid poetry...
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 23:14:52 +0000
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