Tea quotes

[chrl42]

My favorite tea quotes are,

"一人得其神 两人得其韵 三人得其味" - one person gets its holiness, two persons get its vibe, three persons get its taste. Famous quote floated in Chaozhou tea drinking communities, meaning when drinking tea, fewer persons are better. Traditional Chaozhou Gongfu teaset offer one pot and three ping-pong cups. More people will break its mood.

"禅茶一味" - Zen and tea have the same taste. A very famous quote as well.

"吃茶去" - sort of like "have a tea"..not possible to correctly translate. A famous story with a Zhaozhou (not Chaozhou) monk..that his apprentices asked him many question, the master (monk) didn't say a word but "吃茶去- Chi Cha Qu". There is a famous teashop named Ggik Da Geo (Korean pronunciation of 吃茶去) in Korea as well.

and the last "Tea doesn't cheat you, but it's people who cheat", a quote by Puerh expert Chen Zhi-tong..it just remained my memory


and there are many others, just not popped out of my brain at the moment...if anyone can add self-favorite/self-made(?) quotes, please do share

[Teaism]

Another level of tea appreciation.
Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Poohblah]

"一期一會" - Japanese zen/chado saying meaning "one moment, one experience"

Also, I have seen this in a couple local teashops.

[Evan Draper]

I might have this wrong, but
茶業學到老, 茶葉名稱學不了
"Study the tea business until old; you'll never learn the names of all the teas!"
Though there is a great parallel, rhyming/punning/sing-songy quality that I can't translate....

[Poohblah]

haha, I really like that one Evan! Especially since it rhymes in Chinese...

Though shouldn't it be 茶業學到老, 名稱學不了?

I can almost come up with a good translation... what about "Study the leaves for life; you'll never get all the names right!"? It doesn't quite scan right and the off-rhyme could use improvement... and it doesn't quite capture the idea that you'll never finish learning names...

[茶藝-TeaArt08]

Sitting In Quietude

Winter has a message of its own
When the cold is like a flower--
Flowers have their fragrance, Winter has its
handful of memories.
The shadow of a withered branch, like lean blue smoke,
Paints a stroke across the afternoon window.
In the cold the sunlight grows pale and slanted.
It's just like this.
I sip the tea quietly as if waiting for a guest to speak.

Lin Huiyin (1904-1955)
(translated by Michelle Yeh)

[Teaism]

Wow a wonderful quote. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!