Jingshanchayan
01 · Historical Records
The Jingshan Tea Banquet originated in the mid-Tang dynasty. The Yuhang County Gazetteer contains an entry on the 'offering of tea to the Buddha' by Faxin, the founding patriarch of Jingshan Temple in the Tang dynasty. It flourished during the Song and Yuan periods, was later transmitted to Japan, and became the source of the Japanese Way of Tea.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Jingshan Tea Banquet is a grand-hall tea gathering held by Wanshou Chan Temple on Mount Jingshan in Yuhang District, Hangzhou, when receiving distinguished guests; it is a solemn traditional tea-banquet ritual custom of honoring guests with tea, and a continuation of the ancient Chinese tea-banquet ceremonial. According to temple tradition, whenever a distinguished guest arrives, the abbot holds a tea banquet in the Mingyue Hall to entertain the guest. The Jingshan Tea Banquet runs from posting the tea notice, striking the tea drum, respectfully inviting guests into the hall, offering incense and worshipping the Buddha, brewing the water and whisking the tea, passing the cups and dividing the tea, and speaking verses and drinking the tea, to thanking for the tea and withdrawing from the hall — more than ten ritual procedures in all. Host and guest, or master and disciple, converse in question-and-answer form through 'examining the critical phrase' (can huatou), with sharp thrusts and verse-like utterances in which the light of wisdom shines forth. Using tea to investigate Chan and seek the Way is the essence and core of the Jingshan Tea Banquet. The Jingshan Tea Banquet has an elegantly archaic hall setting and standardized procedures; the host is humble and the guest dignified, the etiquette is complete, timely and in accordance with the Dharma, harmonious and perfectly integrated, with rich connotations. It embodies the perfect union of Chan monastic rules, ritual propriety, and tea artistry, and has a unique style of lofty character and incomparable refinement, making it a classic model of Chinese Chan tea culture. The Jingshan Tea Banquet is the origin of the Japanese Way of Tea and has played the role of a bridge and bond for cultural exchange between China and Japan.
The posting of the tea list and the drum
The opening signals of the banquet: a tea list sets the order and seats of the guests, and the drum announces the honoured arrival.
Inviting the guests in and the incense rite
Host and guests enter the hall, offer incense to the Buddha, and take their seats before the tea is served.
Boiling, whisking and ladling the tea
The water is boiled, the tea is whisked to a foam, and the bowls are filled in order, the craft resting entirely on hand and timing.
Dharma questions and gathas
Once the tea is served the guests and host trade Zen questions and gathas, each reply revealing insight; the tea is the spur for the talk.
The full order of the hall banquet
The hall banquet follows a complete order from welcome through whisking and sharing to the parting cup, joining courtesy, ritual and Zen practice.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The transmission of the Jingshan Tea Banquet takes the Chan temple as its main body and Mount Jingshan in Yuhang, Hangzhou, as its axis, forming a pattern of radiation in two directions. In the direction flowing downward, the monks take turns serving tea in each hall in accordance with the ritual regulations; whisking the tea, passing the cups, and the critical-phrase inquiry were fixed within the daily Buddhist services, and those who came from afar to Mount Jingshan to seek the Dharma all took this as their entry into the study of tea. In the direction flowing outward, the rules traveled east with the Japanese monks and envoys who had come to China seeking the Dharma; after entering Japan they were joined with the locally established ceremonial, and the old rules of later tea rooms — hanging the scroll and whisking the tea, and closing the tea gathering — can still be traced to their source in the Jingshan procedures. The practices still followed among the people of the Hangzhou area today, such as offering tea when a guest arrives, presenting tea at parting, and offering the best tea to the elders first, can also be compared with the hospitality rites of the Jingshan Tea Banquet. Monks and literati together refined this system of ritual: one side fixed the ritual regulations, the other fixed the literary phrasing, and the division of labor among tea notices, verse utterances, and eulogies arose roughly from this.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Jingshan Tea Banquet has a long-standing historical value and rich cultural connotations; it discusses the Way through tea, with Chan and tea of a single flavor, embodies the spiritual character of Chinese Chan tea culture, and has enriched and elevated the connotations of Chinese tea culture, giving it value for academic research. The Jingshan Tea Banquet had an important influence both on the formation of the modern 'tea gathering' (chahuahui) ceremony and on the continuation of folk tea-drinking ritual customs in the Hangzhou region, and its value for folklore studies is outstanding.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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