Japanese tea ceremony

What is a tea ceremony? The book "Chinese Tea Ceremony", is explained as a cultural art that embodies the perfect combination of tea and culture, a means of cultivating oneself. However, when people mention tea ceremony, many think of the Japanese tea ceremony. Yet this ancient way of drinking tea has actually retained many Chinese Tang and Song dynasty customs. Over the past two thousand years, the way people drink tea has been constantly changing from simple to complex. It took Chinese people more than one thousand years to evolve from simplicity to complexity; then another one thousand plus years to return back to simplicity. Let us explore the Chinese tea ceremony by savoring a cup of warm tea soup while searching for flavors once tasted by our ancestors.   1 Tang Dynasty: The Art of Jian Cha Ceremony The most primitive way for Chinese people to taste tea was by eating it. Ancient people originally used tea leaves for medicinal and food purposes, boiling fresh leaves and consuming the liquid directly. Gradually, they discovered that tea had a refreshing effect on the body, leading to the development of cooking tea as a dish with added seasonings such as scallions,…