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bearing with the uncultured in gentleness,
The Dao of Tea fording the river with resolution,
not neglecting what is distant,
The Daoist philosophy views tea as a harmoniza-
tion of earth, metal, water, wood, and fire—as the
following text demonstrates: Daoists seek a return to a past prior to the corruption
of civilization, advocating a primitivist society that fol-
EARTH
lows the rhythms of nature. According to Daoists, since
WATER
the golden age the unity of the universal order has
rain and mist declined, a fact elucidated by the short lifespan of man,
and who in the past supposedly lived hundreds of years.
Zhuangzi explains that, attempting to stem the decline,
FIRE
rulers unsuccessfully interfered with the flow of Dao,
Sunshine
resulting in defiled purity and a useless search for knowl-
combine to make the tea leaves edge.Two main doctrines follow: the espousal of laissez-
faire government and the rejection of education. Laozi
EARTH is the source of colorful ceramics, tea’s
most clearly elucidates Daoist social ideals: “the more
adornment.
restrictions there are, the poorer the people;... the more
METAL is the resource from which kettles are clever cunning, the more contrivances...Do not inter-
fashioned. fere, and people transform themselves...Do not inter-

WATER, in its purest form, is “the friend of tea.” vene, and people prosper” (chapter 57). The king’s wu
wei must extend to the rejection of education. Laozi
WOOD is the substance from which tea is born.
condemns even the desire for knowledge, because it
FIRE is the “teacher of tea” in that it moulds tea’s
leads to competition over status and profit. The ideal
character during processing and again during
society has neither schools nor books; its people are
its brewing.
simple in their true nature. Zhuangzi goes further: Law
and virtue must be excised, since good and evil,
Water and fire interact to release the hidden
inevitably reverting to each other, are relative concepts.
potentialities of the leaf.
This relativity points to an emerging Daoist skepticism
Source: Blofeld, J. (1985). The Chinese art of tea (p. 144). Boston: Shambala.
and leveling of moral distinction.
Historical Development
As there is no thing other than emptiness at the core of Daoism originated from the shamanic practices of the
the Way, so it should be in the human mind. One should third millennium BCE. Exhibiting themes such as the
be moved by instinct, not rational thought, like a child, search for harmony and immortality, in the first millen-
embracing the spontaneity inherent in Dao. Wu is out- nium BCE shamanism became associated with the fang-
wardly manifested in wu wei, or nonaction, a concept shi, respected healers and diviners. During this period,
that refers not to absolute inaction but to the absence of Laozi’s mystical politics and anarchic ideals also devel-
self-determined action for particular ends. Daoists use the oped, together with Zhuangzi’s emphasis on subjectivity
metaphor of a river, malleable yet powerful enough to and disregard for external behaviors. During the Qin and
erode rocks, to explain the above. Wu wei is intrinsically Han dynasties (221–206 BCE; 206 BCE–220 CE ), the
tied to the concept of yin and yang, which makes it intel- Huang-Lao masters, adherents of Laozi’s precepts and his
ligible: Since each action inevitably leads to its opposite, ideal government, gained influence at court.Although the
every deliberate intervention ends in failure. In contrast, emperor Han Wudi (156–87/86 BCE) established Con-
nonaction leads to success. Even in following the Way, fucianism as the state’s official doctrine, rulers privately
men should not consciously endeavor to do so, for striv- practiced Daoism, seeking to emulate the semimythical
ing results in straying from Dao. Yellow Emperor.