March 12, 2014
What's Your Experience Of A Fine Brew? Lu Tong Says - Immortality
I took this photos some years ago on my way to one of my favorite mountain getaways, Dong Pu Hot Springs in Nantou County, Taiwan. Dong Pu is also the eastern trail head to Taiwan's highest peak - Jade Mountain, 3,952 m (12,966 ft). This statue had no name on it, but I took it to be a rendition of the legendary Lu Tong, who wrote this most famous of tea stanzas which is well known in the Chinese.
Lu Tong's Seven Bowls of Tea 七碗诗 卢仝(唐. 790~835)
The first bowl moistens my lips and throat 一碗喉吻潤,
The second bowl breaks my loneliness 二碗破孤悶,
The third bowl searches my barren entrails but to find 三碗搜枯腸,
Therein some five thousand scrolls 惟有文字五千卷,
The fourth bowl raises a slight perspiration 四碗發輕汗,
And all life's inequities pass out through my pores 平生不平事盡向毛孔散,
The fifth bowl purifies my flesh and bones 五碗肌骨清,
The sixth bowl calls me to the immortals 六碗通仙靈,
The seventh bowl could not be drunk 七碗吃不得也,
only the breath of the cool wind raises in my sleeves 唯覺兩腋習習清風生。
Where is Penglai Island, Yuchuanzi wishes to ride on this sweet breeze and go back
蓬萊山﹐在何處,玉川子乘此清風欲歸去。