Where is the birthplace of Chinese Zen tea culture, "Zen tea is all about"?

Zhangjiajie Yunxi Zen Hotel originated from Shimen Jiashan Temple and is located at the foot of Tianmen Mountain. Staying in a Zen hotel, sipping Jiashan old tea, looking at the Tianmen Mountain scenery, and savoring the bitterness and sweetness of life.

Shimen is located by the Lishui River, which was known as "Kuzhai" in ancient times. It is connected to Wuling Mountains and springs flow into Dongting. It has fertile water and soil and a gathering of people. It is one of the important cultural towns in Huxiang. Professor Shen Yuelu, a scholar from Shimen, once wrote an article dividing the history of Jiashan into three important periods: the first is the period when monks Shanhui opened the mountain to teach Dharma in the Tang Dynasty; the second is the period when Zen Master Yuanwu Keqin was commentating on "Biyan Lu" in the Song Dynasty; and the third is the period of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Li Zicheng's Zen period. What’s more worth mentioning is that each time has left behind a rich historical heritage, which is extremely precious. Especially as the earliest birthplace of “Tea Zen” in China and Southeast Asia, its historical status cannot be ignored.

Niudan tea, a specialty of Jiashan, was listed as a tribute as far back as the Song Dynasty. The "Chinese Tea People's Handbook" written by Mr. Yu Guanting has a detailed list of historical tribute tea in the chapter "The Essence of Chinese Tea". From the Tang Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, there were 17 main kinds of tribute teas, including Shimen Jiashan Niu Da Tea, which was listed as one of the eight famous teas along with Sichuan "Mengding Yunwu" and Fujian "Wuyi Tea". Since the Yuan and Ming dynasties, before the tea season every year, the imperial court would send commissioners to the Niudai tea production areas to supervise the picking and processing, and then transport it to the capital.

Going to the ancestral court and tasting Zen tea has become an elegant event for monks and laymen of all ages. The famous Tang Dynasty poet Li Qunyu's poem "Above Jiashan Temple" goes: "The sound of springs in the courtyard is cool in the mountain hall, and the light rain in the sparse curtains is fragrant in the wild pine trees." With a little Zen mind, worldly affairs can be far away. These poems, filled with the fragrance of Zen tea, express the divine talent of Shimen Jiashan as the source of tea Zen. As outstanding representatives of Jiashan tea Zen culture, the two Zen masters Shanhui of the Tang Dynasty and Yuanwu Keqin of the Song Dynasty should be recommended first.

Shanhui (805-881), also known as Jiashan monk, had a common surname of Liao and was a native of Guanting, Guangdong. "Wu Deng Hui Yuan" records that he was ordained at the Longya Mountain in Tanzhou (Changsha City, Hunan) at the age of nine, received full ordination at the age of twenty, and received the guidance of the monk Chuanzi Decheng, and he was able to escape the major events of life and death. Following his master's instructions, he settled in Jiashan, a deserted place. He gained fame far and wide by conquering the barbarians in the mountains and influenced the court. Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty ordered the construction of Jiashan Temple. In the twelve years from the twelfth year of Xiantong (870) to the first year of Zhonghe (881), the Shanhui has been holding a church in Xijia Mountain to teach the Dharma, with more than a thousand monks relying on it all year round to practice Buddhism. A monk asked Zen Master Shanhui: "What is the Jiashan realm?" Jiashan replied: "The ape returns to Qingzhang Mountain with its child in its arms, and the bird carries the flower in its mouth and falls on the green rock spring." This is the famous verse of the Jiashan realm that has been praised throughout the ages. The Jiashan environment mentioned here is of course not just the natural environment of Jiashan. It mainly refers to the Zen state, tea state, and "tea and Zen" state of Jiashan. Professor Cai Zhenchu ??of Hunan Normal University said in the article "On Tea Zen": "Monk Jiashan realized Taoism through tea, and he had the opportunity of Jiashan realm and Zen Buddhism, which was particularly enlightening." "Jiashan realm" in Zen Buddhism of the Tang and Five Dynasties is the most representative Nature and typical artistic conception of Zen tea opportunities and tea Zen realm.

Yuanwu Keqin, also known as Buddha Guo Keqin, was an eminent monk in the Song Dynasty. A native of Peng County, Sichuan, his common surname is Luo. In the early years of Zhenghe of the Song Dynasty (1111), at the invitation of the Prime Minister Zhang Shangying, he preached sermons in Jiashan for nearly ten years. His Dharma-promoting activities and academic achievements are closely linked to Jiashan. Yuanwu is the master of Jiashan Zen tea culture, which has been fully affirmed by eminent monks, experts and scholars in the Buddhist and academic circles at home and abroad.

When Keqin, the abbot of Shimen Jiashan Lingquan Temple during the Zhenghe period of Emperor Weizong of the Song Dynasty (1111-1118), at the request of his disciples, he commented and sang Xuedou Zhongxian's "Hundred Principles of Ode to the Ancients". The disciples' records were compiled into " "Biyan Lu", later known as "the first book of the sect", influenced the entire history of Chinese Buddhist Zen tea culture and marked a turning point in the history of Chinese Buddhist Zen tea culture. It marked that the mainstream Chinese culture represented by poetry had penetrated into the realm of Zen tea. Poetry Zen unity. The Zen koan, which explains profound things in simple terms and communicates from heart to heart, is amazing.

Hou Keqin was ordered to abbot Jinling, Zhenjiang Jinshan and other famous temples, spread the Biyan clan tradition, taught Biyan tea ceremony, and was given the title of Dharma by the emperor. His reputation was greatly improved, and the tea Zen style of Shimen Jiashan Lingquan Temple was established. , reaching as far away as Korea, Japan and other countries, which has greatly promoted the spread and development of tea Zen culture at home and abroad

The historical status of Shimen Jiashan Zen Tea Ancestral Court has been widely recognized by scholars at home and abroad. "Bi Yan Lu" opens up the source of tea Zen, using simple and concise language to clearly and clearly express that Jiashan has given birth to the state of "tea Zen blindly". Later generations conducted long-term and in-depth excavations and discussions on the status and influence of Zen Masters Shanhui and Keqin in China and East Asia, especially the Japanese tea ceremony.

Since the reform and development, a steady stream of people have come to Jiashan to seek Taoism and Zen.

The combination of Jiashan tea and Zen can be said to be a long flowing spring in the history of cultural exchanges between China and Japan, and in the long river of human civilization. Tea Zen must be savored with the heart. The Jiashan Tea Zen culture, based on "Biyanlu", has had an impact on the entire process of the formation and development of Japanese tea ceremony that no other culture has ever exerted. In terms of influence, "Biyanlu" is the source of Japanese tea ceremony. For thousands of years, this Zen tea has a long history, nourishing the hearts of generations of pilgrims with Zen wisdom, Zen charm, Zen thoughts, and Zen philosophy.