Lu Yu's Biography

Lu Yu (733-804), also known as Hongjian, was a famous tea expert in the Tang Dynasty. He was known as the "Tea Saint". His life was full of legend, and he grew from an abandoned baby to the founder of tea culture. Lu Yu was born in Jingling, Fuzhou (now Tianmen, Hubei) during the Tang Dynasty. He was abandoned by the West Lake in Jingling when he was young. He was discovered and adopted by Zen Master Zhiji of Longgai Temple. In the monastery, Lu Yu showed a strong interest in reading, but because he refused to convert to Buddhism, he had a conflict with Zen Master Zhiji, and finally escaped from the monastery at the age of 12. After leaving the monastery, Lu Yu joined a theater troupe and performed in various places. During this period, he wrote three volumes of "Jie Tan". Lu Yu's talent was discovered by Li Qiwu, the prefect of Jingling, and he was recommended to study Confucian classics under Master Zou in Huomen Mountain. In Huomen Mountain, Lu Yu's interest in tea science further deepened. Lu Yu's research on tea science began during the Huomen Mountain period. He became a close friend with Cui Guofu, and together they traveled to Bashan gorges and visited tea mountain springs. During the Anshi Rebellion, Lu Yu moved south with the refugees and traveled throughout the tea areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, collecting extensive information on tea affairs. It took Lu Yu nearly 30 years to complete the "Tea Classic". The book consists of three volumes and ten chapters, covering systematic knowledge of the origin, cultivation, tea making, utensils, cooking, and tasting of tea. He proposed the tea ceremony spirit of "practicing frugality and virtue" and elevated tea from a "thirsty quencher" to a cultural level. Lu Yu's life is the resonance of personal will and the opportunities of the times. He broke through the shackles of identity, turned his interest into a lifelong career, and reshaped the cultural dimension of tea with scientific spirit and humanistic sentiment.