Blog
-
茶中最重要的元素是什么呢？
– know in your heart that it's the water, and not anything else. It's all about the water..
-
古琴大师教我的「三杯茶」品茗课
来源：Austin Yoder 2013/09/27 发表于 The News Lens 关键评论网
Photo Credit: 陈镜 CHEN-CHING 翻译／红凯利
茶中最重要的元素是什么呢？偷偷给你一个暗示，真的不是茶叶！
据说，唐朝年间，茶圣陆羽与湖州市市长于一艘船上相遇。耳闻陆羽大名，市长希望陆羽使用最适合泡茶的南茹河河水来冲泡一壶茶。但是，当陆羽看见仆从所提的水时，只冷冷说了一声那并不是由南茹河所打捞上来的水。市长立即下令仆从将水倒出。但是倾倒到一半时，陆羽随即制止，因为剩下的那半桶水确实是由南茹河而来。原来，在仆从回程途中，遇上了暴风雨，而不慎将半桶河水给打翻了。但又怕市长谴责，只好随意用另外的水代替那半桶的南茹河河水。只是没有想到如此细微的改变都被陆羽给看穿了。
—— 摘选自黎修松《中国茶文化》
（编注：这个故事有点算是乡野传奇，里面的地点、人物可能是因为英文的关系所以跟一般传说略有出入。陆羽评定的天下第一泉是卢山谷帘泉，提出邀请的是洪州御史萧瑜，地点也不在船上；这里还有另外一个版本。不过故事的寓意基本上是相同的）
接下来，我想说说古琴。
古琴是什么呢？古琴是中国传统七弦乐器，被视为中国音乐文化的经典乐器，孔子会演奏古琴，中国知名的文人雅士们多半也都会弹奏。三年前，为了学习如何演奏古琴，我前往拜见一位古琴大师，希望成为其徒弟。而师傅则准备一系列的问题。来确认我是否拥有学习古琴的潜力。
但，为何从茶说到琴呢？
还记得师傅当天问我的问题是：『茶中最重要的元素是什么呢？』这个问题看似有陷阱，但一时半刻我也想不到陷阱在哪。毕竟，绝佳的葡萄酒需要质量优良的葡萄；那绝佳的茶，不就需要高质量的茶叶吗？但真要回答时，我还是感到非常的紧张，想着万一回答错了，老师是否就不会收我为徒。更甚，我应该会被当作一个笨蛋吧！
「应该是一天之中，在对的时间所摘取最嫩、最高质量的茶叶吧。」最后一个语音才落下，师傅立刻疾言厉色，指着我的鼻子说我回答错了！
『一般大众都认为茶叶是茶最重要的元素，但这是非常错误的观念。茶，和其他饮料是十分不同的，就像古琴跟其它乐器相比也是十分不同。再继续猜！』
为了不让自己再落入笨蛋的窠臼，我静静地坐着，轻轻品茗手中这杯茶，希冀师傅的答案能够启发我不同的思考。
这时，师傅开口了。
『假设拥有世界上最顶尖的茶叶，却用粗劣的水冲泡，那壶茶尝起来就跟加了氯水的游泳池没有什么两样。如果用最新鲜、最香醇的山泉水冲泡中等质量的茶叶，那么茶叶潜藏的迷人香气、味道便会瞬间窜入鼻中。这才是好茶呀！所以，顶尖茶中最重要的元素，应该是……』
「水！」有所领悟的我，立刻说出这个答案。
『没有错，就是水！如同水质与茶之间的关系，学习古琴最重要的特质就是道德和正直的气节。想象一下，你现在是水。我可以教你所有学习古琴该需的技术、文化和哲学。但如果你不是好人，你的音乐就会好比游泳池水所冲泡出来的茶一样，充满杂质，既不干净又不脆耳。
反之，你今天拥有学习古琴该有的特质，即便不是一个聪慧的学习者，你仍可创造出属于自己性格的古琴音乐，而这是没有任何一个人可以传授的。如何将这套哲理运用到日常生活中，才是最重要的课题。』
我煞有其事的点点头，期望师傅不会因为我搞砸问题就不收我为徒。
『你今天的作业是回到家后，拿出三个杯子，并放入相同的茶叶，但是用三种不同的水冲泡，分别是自来水、瓶装水，跟较为昂贵含有矿物质的矿泉水。』
我心想，这个作业其实不难嘛！
『还没结束。等三杯茶都煮好之后，戴上眼罩品尝它们，并尽你最大印象写下茶叶质量和特性的差异。我会根据你的内容决定是否收你为徒。』
回家后，我按照师傅所说的进行味觉测试。
自来水所冲泡的茶，没有口感可言，非常的沉闷；而便宜瓶装水则较亮丽一些，但缺乏整体性的口感；昂贵含有矿物质的矿泉水所冲泡出的茶，远超出我原本的想象与期待，从来没有发现是如此自然滑顺的口感。茶香彷佛迎着风般，清甜地从我舌头两侧蔓延开，就像涂了糖水一般的甜蜜感。
过了一周，在与师傅讨论的过程中，我尽所能的描述所有的感受，而陈师傅专注地听着，炯炯有神地盯着我双眼，彷佛想从我眼中读出一些额外的讯息。当我说完所有感受时，陈师傅挺直身子，正气凛然的氛围油然而生。 『当你拥有足够耐心的时候，就有能力可以分辨其中细微之处，并藉由自己的感官来更了解自己。而这正是一个优秀的古琴演奏者必须具备的。很开心看到一个美国人对我们台湾文化是如此的兴趣盎然！』
师傅话语一毕，我这才松了一口气。
「同样的时间、同样的地点，我们下周开始上课吧！但是，我希望你今天可以回家再好好想想学习古琴的动机。」
「是的，师傅。」我点了点头，微微鞠躬。
将这件事当作一种省思吧！
如果一位古琴演奏家或是其他人问说，茶中最重要的元素是什么？记得，答案不是顶级的茶叶，而是大家都容易忽略掉的水。没错，不要怀疑，就是大众认为最普通平凡的「水」！
The Most Important Ingredient in Tea Isn't Tea.
========
What is the most important ingredient in good tea? I'll give you a hint – it isn't the tea. Here's some funky Chinese tea lore to illustrate what is the most important ingredient in good tea.
—–
Legend has it that in the Tang Dynasty the governor of Huzhou Prefecture encountered Lu Yu, the renowned expert in tea-tasting. They were on board the same boat. The governor asked Lu Yu to brew tea and sent a servant to fetch water from Nanru River. [One of the best rivers to get tea from]. When the water was brought in, Lu Yu glanced at it and said it was not from the Nanru River. The governor ordered the man to pour it out. When about half of it was dumped, Lu Yu asked the man to stop pouring and said the remaining was from Nanru River. It turned out that on his way back the man was caught in a storm and half of the water in the container got spilt. Fearing that the master would reprimand him, he filled the container with water from the river on which he was sailing. He had not expected that his trick would be detected by Lu Yu.
- Excerpt from Chinese Tea Culture by Li Xiusong.
——–
I was meeting with a Guqin master in Taiwan three years ago, hoping to become his apprentice. The Guqin is a traditional Chinese zither with seven strings, which is seen as the height of Chinese musical culture. Confucius played one, and Chinese scholar-gentlemen have played them for thousands of years.
In order to become an apprentice Guqin player, the teacher asks you a series of questions to evaluate your moral character. We were sitting down over a cup of tea, and the Guqin Master asked me a simple question. "
What is the most important ingredient in making a good tea?"
It seemed like a trick question to me, but I couldn't imagine any tricky answers. Good wine requires good grapes, so I thought the answer must be high quality tea leaves.
"High quality tea leaves picked at the right time and during the right time of day." I answered nervously. If I got the answer wrong, the Master might see me as stupid, and unsuited to playing the Guqin.
"Wrong!" He yelled at me, whipping out a finger and sticking it directly in front of my nose.
"Everyone always thinks that the most important ingredient in good tea is the tea. It's a total falsehood, because tea is different from any other beverage out there. Just like the Guqin is different than any other instrument out there. Guess again."
I really didn't want to make a fool out of myself, so I just sat quietly, trying to look pensive long enough that he'd give up and tell me the answer. I sipped on my tea, waiting for the Guqin Master to enlighten me.
"If you have the best quality tea in the world, but you brew it with pool water – that tea will taste like a pool – with all of the chlorine and piss and chemicals to boot. If you have a mediocre tea, but brew it with the freshest, most vibrant mountain spring water full of soft minerals, the water will draw out magical tones in the tea which you wouldn't ordinarily find. Good tea is entirely at the mercy of the quality of the water in which it is brewed. So, the most important ingredient in high quality tea is, in fact…" he paused to let me finish his thought.
"Water." I nodded, beginning to see the logic.
"Correct. And just like water is the most important ingredient in tea, moral character and integrity are the most important ingredient in a good Guqin apprentice. You are like water. I can teach you all of the techniques, culture, and philosophy behind the Guqin. But if you aren't a good person, your music will be like tea brewed with pool water – it will sound like chlorine and piss and chemicals. If, on the other hand, you are a good person, and I teach you the techniques, culture, and philosophy behind the Guqin… even if you aren't the fastest learner, your character will draw out magical tones in the music of the Guqin which not I, or any other Master can teach you. You will bring your own special quality to the music, and broaden our collective understanding and experience of how the Guqin applies to life."
I nodded vigorously, hoping that he would still be willing to take me on as an apprentice, even after I goofed up his question.
"Your homework for the night is to go back home. Take three different cups and put the same tea in all of them. Brew three different kinds of water up – tap water, cheap bottled water, and a more expensive, balanced bottled mineral water. Use each of these three waters to brew three cups of the same tea."
"Yes, Master Chen." I replied. It sounded easy enough so far.
"Pour one of the boiling waters into each of the three cups, blindfold yourself, taste them all, and write down as many impressions on the difference in quality and character of tea as you are able to. Based on what you write down, I will decide whether or not it is worth my while to take you on as an apprentice."
I went back and performed a blind taste-test of different waters like Master Chen asked me to.
The tap water tea tasted flat and dull. The cheap bottled water tea tasted somewhat more vibrant, but lacked a full body and the mouthfeel was almost nonexistent. The more expensive bottled water tea was like an entirely different tea. I picked up on more grassy and vegetal tones in the tea I was brewing – tones I had never noticed in the tea before. I was blown away by the mouthfeel, and how the tea made me salivate sweetly from the sides of my tongue, like sugar water was being painted onto my molars with a calligraphy brush.
I recorded as many of the impressions I had as I could, and went back the next week to meet again with Master Chen. When I showed him what I had recorded, and discussed my impressions with him, he listened intently. He stared intensely into my eyes, as if trying to decide whether or not I was telling him the truth – gauging some new intangible about me with each description. By the time I finished, Master Chen was sitting up straighter, and on the edge of his chair.
"You see. You see the difference, and are patient enough to seek it out, and discern for yourself based on your own senses. This is exactly the type of character you must have if you are to become a Guqin player, and it makes me happy to see an American who is so curious about our culture here in Taiwan."
I was so relieved!
"We begin next week. I will have a practice Guqin for you to start with. Show up at the same time and place, but that is all for today. Go home, and reflect on your personal motivations." "Yes, Master Chen." I nodded, and bowed my head slightly.
So, take this as a lesson. And if a Guqin Master or anyone else ever asks you what the most important ingredient in good quality tea is – know in your heart that it's the water, and not anything else. It's all about the water.
Sourse：Austin Yoder 2013/09/27 The News Lens
Photo Credit: CHEN-CHING 陈镜