Materia Medica for Diet Therapy: Chá — Medicine of Ten Thousand Diseases, Flower of All Plants
*Chá*, *míng*, *chuǎn*, *shè*: one thing, several names; bitter-sweet, entering the heart, lung, spleen, and stomach — clears heat and bears down fire, digests food and dissolves greasiness, brightens the eyes and awakens the spirit.
「Míng and kǔchá: flavor bitter, cold, non-toxic. Governs lòu sores (fistulas and ulcers), disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little, gives strength, and delights the will.」 (「茗、苦荼,味苦,寒,无毒。主瘘疮,利小便,去痰热,止渴,令人少睡,有力,悦志。」)
— Tang · Su Jing et al., Xīnxiū Běncǎo · Section on Trees · Míng (《新修本草·木部·茗》) (this reconstructs the lost text of the Běnjīng; the present extant editions of the Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng — those of Sun Xingyan, Gu Guangguo, Mori Tachibana, Shang Zhijun, and others — all lack an independent entry for “chá” or “míng“, and the Upper Grade Fruits-and-Vegetables section contains only one entry for “kǔcài (bitter vegetable)”, which is not the tea plant; this entry is a retrospective attribution by later scholars, following the labels of the Xīnxiū Běncǎo)
「Tea: sweet, bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic. Disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little, digests food lodged overnight.」 (「茶,甘、苦,微寒,无毒。利小便,去痰热,止渴,令人少睡,消宿食。」)
— Husihui, Yǐnshàn Zhèngyào · Spices (《饮膳正要·料物》, Yuan dynasty)
「Tea is bitter and cold, and is most able to bear down fire. Fire is the source of a hundred diseases; when fire is borne down, the upper body is clear.」 (「茶苦而寒,最能降火。火为百病之源,火降则上清矣。」)
— Li Shizhen, Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng (《本草纲目·果部·茗》, Ming dynasty)
「Tea: slightly bitter, slightly sweet, and cool. Clears the heart-spirit, awakens sleep and eliminates vexation, cools the liver and gallbladder, washes away heat and disperses phlegm, renders the lung and stomach clean, and brightens the eyes and slakes thirst.」 (「茶,微苦、微甘而凉。清心神,醒睡除烦,凉肝胆,涤热消痰,肃肺胃,明目解渴。」)
— Wang Shixiong, Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ · Class of Hairy-Beverages (《随息居饮食谱·毛饮类》, Qing dynasty)
I. Nomenclature: Chá, Míng, Chuǎn, Shè, and Jiǎ
Chá (chá, tea) is the tender leaves or tender buds of an evergreen shrub or small tree of the camellia family, the tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze); through different processing techniques, it is made into green tea, black tea, oolong tea, dark tea, yellow tea, and white tea, among other classes.
Li Shizhen etymologizes its name:
「Chá is the ancient character tú.」 (「茶,即古荼字。」)
He further discriminates the various names:
「Chá, kǔchá, jiǎ, shè, chuǎn — all are variant names of tea.」 (「茶,苦茶、槚、蔎、荈,皆茶之异名也。*」) — *Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng
Tang · Lu Yu’s Chá Jīng (The Classic of Tea) discusses it most thoroughly:
「Tea is a fine tree of the south. One, two, or even tens of chǐ in height. Its tree resembles guālú; its leaves resemble zhīzǐ; its flowers resemble white qiángwēi; its fruits resemble bīnglú; its stems resemble dīngxiāng; its roots resemble hútáo.」 (「茶者,南方之嘉木也。一尺、二尺乃至数十尺。其树如瓜芦,叶如栀子,花如白蔷薇,实如栟榈,茎如丁香,根如胡桃。」) — Tang · Lu Yu, Chá Jīng · Scroll One · The First, On Origins (《茶经·卷上·一之源》)
He also elaborates on the various names of tea:
- Chá: the general name.
- Míng: the late-picked leaves are míng (after Guo Pu’s annotation to the Chá Jīng).
- Jiǎ (jiǎ): also written as “jiǎ”, an ancient name.
- Shè (shè): a western-Sichuan dialectal term.
- Chuǎn (chuǎn): the late-picked, older leaves.
- Kǔchá: the ancient name for early-picked tender leaves, used in the Xīnxiū Běncǎo.
II. Nature, Flavor, and Channel Entry: Bitter-Sweet and Cold, Entering the Heart, Lung, Spleen, and Stomach
| Source | Nature | Flavor | Channel Entry | Indications |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xīnxiū Běncǎo (Tang, Su Jing, reconstructing lost Běnjīng text) (《新修本草》) | Cold | Bitter, sweet | — | Governs lòu ulcers, disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little, gives strength, delights the will |
| Qiānjīn Shí Zhì (《千金食治》) | Cold | Bitter, sweet | — | Disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little |
| Yǐnshàn Zhèngyào (《饮膳正要》) | Slightly cold | Sweet, bitter | — | Disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, digests food lodged overnight |
| Běncǎo Gāngmù (《本草纲目》) | Cold (bitter) | Bitter, sweet | Enters the hand and foot jueyin pericardium, and hand-shaoyang triple-burner (the Gāngmù’s channel-entry classification is rather elaborate; only the main points are listed here) | Bears down fire, clears the head and eyes, digests food, transforms phlegm, resolves toxins |
| Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ (《随息居饮食谱》) | Cool | Slightly bitter, slightly sweet | Enters heart, lung, spleen, stomach, liver, and gallbladder channels | Clears the heart-spirit, awakens sleep and eliminates vexation, cools the liver and gallbladder, washes away heat and disperses phlegm |
Important philological note: The present extant editions of the Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng (including those of Sun Xingyan, Gu Guangguo, Mori Tachibana, Shang Zhijun, and others) all lack an independent entry for “chá” or “míng”. The Upper Grade Fruits-and-Vegetables section contains only one entry for “kǔcài (bitter vegetable)” (a chrysanthemum-family bitter vegetable or kǔjùcài, etc.), which is not the tea plant. For this reason, the above table does not list a Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng entry, and instead takes the Xīnxiū Běncǎo as the earliest recoverable bencǎo source on tea. The phrases concerning tea in the various bencǎo — “gives strength, delights the will” and the like — are in fact cited by the Xīnxiū Běncǎo, and are not the original text of the Běnjīng.
Summary: Chá is bitter and sweet in flavor and cold in nature (also recorded as slightly cold, or cool); it enters the hand-shaoyin heart, foot-taiyin spleen, foot-yangming stomach, and hand-taiyin lung channels, and concurrently enters the liver and gallbladder channels.
The nature of chá has roughly three types:
- Green tea: bitter and cold, with the strongest heat-clearing and fire-bearing power.
- Black tea (i.e. the fully fermented “red tea” of Chinese tea terminology): bitter-sweet and warm (after fermentation the cold nature is reduced), warming the stomach and warming the center.
- Oolong tea: level, between green tea and black tea.
- Dark tea (pǔ’ěr): bitter-sweet and warm, with the strongest food-digesting and greasiness-dissolving power.
III. Indications and Efficacy: Clearing Heat, Aiding Digestion, Awaking the Spirit, Resolving Toxins, Brightening the Eyes
1. Clearing Heat and Bearing Down Fire
Chá, being bitter and cold and entering the heart, clears heat and bears down fire; it is a wonderful substance for clearing the head and eyes, and bearing down heart-fire.
Li Shizhen:
「Tea is bitter and cold, and is most able to bear down fire. Fire is the source of a hundred diseases; when fire is borne down, the upper body is clear.」 (「茶苦而寒,最能降火。火为百病之源,火降则上清矣。」)
He further elaborates the principle:
「… It also resolves the toxins of wine and food, making the spirit clear and bright, neither muddled nor sleepy — these are the virtues of tea.」 (「……又兼解酒食之毒,使之神思闿爽,不昏不睡,此茶之功也。」) — Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng
2. Aiding Digestion and Dissolving Greasiness
Chá digests food lodged overnight and dissolves oily greasiness; this is the original purpose of after-meal tea.
The Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng already records that tea “digests food lodged overnight”, and the Yǐnshàn Zhèngyào records the same. Yuan · Li Pengfei’s Sānyuán Cānzàn Yánshòu Shū:
「Drinking tea digests food and dissolves greasiness, and disinhibits the two stools.」 (「饮茶,消食解腻,利二便。」)
3. Awaking the Spirit and Eliminating Vexation
Chá awakens sleep and eliminates vexation, and makes people sleep little; it is a wonderful substance for refreshing the spirit and arousing the brain.
The Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng records that tea “makes people sleep little”; Wang Shixiong:
「Clears the heart-spirit, awakens sleep and eliminates vexation, cools the liver and gallbladder, washes away heat and disperses phlegm, renders the lung and stomach clean, brightens the eyes and slakes thirst.」 (「清心神,醒睡除烦,凉肝胆,涤热消痰,肃肺胃,明目解渴。」) — Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ · Class of Hairy-Beverages
4. Disinhibiting Urination
Chá disinhibits urination, and clears heat and disinhibits dampness.
The Xīnxiū Běncǎo records that tea “disinhibits urination”, treating heat strangury (rè lìn) and inhibited urination.
5. Resolving Toxins
The Divine Farmer tasted the hundred herbs, daily encountered seventy-two toxins, and found tea and was delivered from them. — Jin · Zhang Hua’s Bówù Zhì, citing the Shénnóng Shíjīng (Divine Farmer’s Classic of Food); Tang · Lu Yu’s Chá Jīng · Seven, On Matters (《茶经·七之事》) repeats the citation. (The prefaces of the present extant editions of the Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng all lack this sentence, so one should not directly attribute it to the Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng preface; Li Shizhen’s Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng, citing Chen Cangqi of the Běncǎo Shíyí, also records the saying “the Divine Farmer tasted the hundred herbs, daily encountered seventy-two toxins, and found tea and was delivered from them”, showing how widely this sentence circulated, but its strict source is the “Shénnóng Shíjīng” cited between the Jin and Tang dynasties.)
The Běncǎo Gāngmù records that tea resolves the various toxins of heat, fire, wine, and tobacco. Wang Ying’s Shíwù Běncǎo:
「Tea: resolves alcohol, digests food, dispels phlegm, disinhibits water, brightens the eyes, benefits thought, eliminates vexation, and removes greasiness.」 (「茶,解酒,消食,祛痰,利水,明目,益思,除烦,去腻。」)
6. Brightening the Eyes
The Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng records that cōngshí (scallion seed) “governs brightening of the eyes”, yet the eye-brightening of tea in fact arises because it clears liver-fire and bears down heart-fire, and the eyes are thereby brightened of themselves.
The Chá Jīng, citing the Zhěnzhōng Fāng:
「Drinking tea brightens the eyes, benefits thought, and eliminates vexation.」 (「饮茶,明目,益思,除烦。」)
7. Delighting the Will
The Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng records that tea “makes people strong and delights the will”, lightens the body and extends the years; these are the effects of long-term consumption.
IV. Textual Discrimination of Varieties: Green Tea, Black Tea, Oolong Tea, Dark Tea
Lu Yu’s Chá Jīng discusses tea according to production technique and place of origin:
「The origins of tea … in Jiannan, Méngdǐng Shíhuā is considered the finest; … in Zhexi, Húzhōu Gùzhǔ Zǐsǔn is the finest. … Its making, picking, brewing, and drinking each have their own methods.」 (「茶之出产,……剑南以蒙顶石花为最,……浙西以湖州顾渚紫笋为上。……其造、采、煮、饮,各有其法。」) — Chá Jīng · Scroll Three · Eight, On Origins (《茶经·卷下·八之出》)
The teas commonly seen today number roughly six great classes:
1. Green Tea (Unfermented)
Cold in nature, with the strongest heat-clearing and fire-bearing power. Representatives: Longjing, Biluochun, Maojian, Huangshan Maofeng, Liu’an Guapian.
2. Black Tea (Fully Fermented; the “red tea” of Chinese tea terminology)
Warm in nature, warming the stomach and warming the center, digesting food and transforming accumulations. Representatives: Keemun black tea, Lapsang Souchong, Dianhong, Chuanhong.
3. Oolong Tea (Semi-Fermented)
Level in nature, between green tea and black tea. Representatives: Tieguanyin, Da Hong Pao, Fenghuang Dancong, Taiwan Dongding Oolong.
4. Dark Tea (Post-Fermented)
Warm in nature, with the strongest food-digesting and greasiness-dissolving power. Representatives: Pu’er tea (sheng and shou), Anhua dark tea, Liubao tea.
5. Yellow Tea (Lightly Fermented)
Cold in nature, resembling green tea but relatively milder. Representatives: Junshan Yinzhen, Mengding Huangya.
6. White Tea (Lightly Fermented)
Cool in nature, resembling green tea but softer. Representatives: Baihao Yinzhen, Baimudan, Shoumei.
Wang Shixiong discusses tea, classifying it according to cold, cool, warm, hot and constitutional suitability and avoidance, without favoring a single rank ordering. In his Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ · Class of Hairy-Beverages he states:
「Xueya (green tea) best attains the pure wind; those whose appetites are sparse are naturally led into distant thoughts; Black tea, having been steamed and fermented, retains the full yang-qi; warms the center, eliminates stagnation, and averts miasma; Pu’er, produced in Yunnan, has a deep flavor and heavy power, sufficient to digest food accumulations and eliminate phlegm-heat in the chest.」 (「雪芽(绿茶)最得清风,使嗜欲淡者,自然意远; 红茶以经蒸罨者,得全阳气,温中,去滞,辟瘴; 普洱产云南,味沉力厚,堪消食积,去胸中痰热。」)
Therefore, the coldness, coolness, warmth, and heat of tea and its effect of digesting food and dissolving greasiness should be judged according to the person, the season, and the place; one should not grasp a single aspect and apply it universally.
V. Lu Yu’s Discussion in the Chá Jīng
Tang · Lu Yu’s Chá Jīng (The Classic of Tea), is the world’s first monograph devoted to tea, completed around the year 758 CE, in three scrolls and ten sections:
- One, On Origins (Yī zhī yuán): discusses the production of tea.
- Two, On Implements (Èr zhī jù): discusses the implements for picking and processing tea.
- Three, On Manufacture (Sān zhī zào): discusses the methods of picking and preparing tea leaves.
- Four, On Utensils (Sì zhī qì): discusses the vessels for brewing and drinking tea.
- Five, On Brewing (Wǔ zhī zhǔ): discusses the methods of brewing tea.
- Six, On Drinking (Liù zhī yǐn): discusses the matter of drinking tea.
- Seven, On Matters (Qī zhī shì): discusses the historical lore of tea drinking.
- Eight, On Origins [by Region] (Bā zhī chū): discusses the places of origin of tea.
- Nine, On Omissions (Jiǔ zhī lüè): discusses the items that may be omitted from the tea implements.
- Ten, On Illustrations (Shí zhī tú): illustrates the foregoing nine sections as diagrams for easy consultation.
Lu Yu was honored by later generations as the “Sage of Tea”, and his Chá Jīng is the sacred classic of tea studies.
Lu Yu discusses the benefits of drinking tea:
「Tea as a drink originated with the Divine Farmer Shennong, and was heard of by the Duke of Zhou. … If one has heat-thirst, oppressive gloom, aching head, eye-strain, vexed limbs, and unharmonious hundred joints, drinking four or five sips will rival tíhú (clarified butter) and sweet dew.」 (「茶之为饮,发乎神农氏,闻于鲁周公。……若热渴、凝闷、脑疼、目涩、四肢烦、百节不舒,聊四五啜,与醍醐、甘露抗衡也。」) — Chá Jīng · Scroll Three · Seven, On Matters (《茶经·卷下·七之事》)
VI. Dietary Applications
1. Heat-Clearing Beverage
Green tea, chrysanthemum (júhuā), and raw gāncǎo (licorice) are steeped in boiling water and drunk, treating wind-heat headache, and red swollen painful eyes.
2. Digestion-Aiding Beverage
Black tea, hawthorn (shānzhā), medicated leaven (shénqū), and malt (màiyá) are boiled and drunk, treating food stagnation with abdominal distention and indigestion.
3. Hangover-Relieving Beverage
Green tea, kudzu flower (géhuā), kudzu root (gégēn), and zhǐjùzǐ (Hovenia dulcis) are boiled and drunk; following the various hangover-relieving formulas in the Qiānjīn Yàofāng as cited by the Běncǎo Gāngmù, treating drunkenness and alcohol poisoning.
4. Spirit-Refreshing Beverage
Green tea, mint (bòhe), and jasmine (mòlìhuā) are steeped in boiling water and drunk; this awakens the spirit and refreshes the mind, treating spring fatigue, autumn weariness, and mental exhaustion.
5. Weight-Reducing Beverage
Pu’er tea (shou/ripe), lotus leaf (héyè), and hawthorn (shānzhā) are boiled and drunk, treating obesity and phlegm-damp. The Běncǎo Gāngmù Shíyí records that Pu’er tea “digests food and transforms phlegm, clears the stomach and engenders fluids”.
6. Eye-Brightening Beverage
Green tea, chrysanthemum (júhuā), and wolfberry (gǒuqǐ) are steeped in boiling water and drunk; this clears the liver and brightens the eyes, treating red swollen painful eyes and blurred vision.
7. Ginger Tea
Black tea, shēngjiāng (fresh ginger), and brown sugar are boiled and drunk, treating wind-cold common cold, stomach-cold abdominal pain, and menstrual exposure to cold.
VII. Dietary Prohibitions and Contraindications
The prohibitions for chá recorded in the various bencǎo are roughly eight:
-
Avoid drinking on an empty stomach: The Běncǎo Gāngmù, citing earlier physicians:
「Drinking tea on an empty stomach causes heart vexation and dizziness.」 (「空腹饮茶,令人心烦、眩晕。」)
Drinking tea on an empty stomach injures stomach qi, and causes palpitations and dizziness.
-
Avoid drinking cold tea: The Běncǎo Gāngmù:
「Cold drinking causes abdominal pain and dysentery.」 (「冷饮,令人腹痛、泄泻。」)
Cold tea easily injures the spleen and stomach, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea.
-
Avoid drinking before sleep: Chá refreshes the spirit and arouses the brain; drinking tea before sleep causes insomnia. Wang Shixiong:
「Tea awakens sleep and eliminates vexation.」 (「茶,醒睡除烦。」)
-
Those with insomnia or neurasthenia should use caution: Chá excites the nerves, and those with insomnia, palpitations, or neurasthenia should drink with caution.
-
Those with spleen-stomach deficiency-cold should avoid green tea: Green tea is bitter and cold, and injures the spleen’s yang; those with spleen-stomach deficiency-cold and diarrhea should drink green tea with caution, and black tea is preferable.
-
Pregnant women should drink with caution: The Běncǎo Gāngmù:
「When pregnant women drink tea, the fetus is unsettled.」 (「孕妇饮茶,令胎不安。」)
Pregnant women should drink little, or avoid strong tea.
-
Avoid when taking rénshēn or supplementing medicines: The Běncǎo Gāngmù:
「When taking rénshēn, dìhuáng (rehmannia), wēilíngxiān (clematis), tǔfúlíng (smilax), and various supplementing medicines, avoid tea.」 (「服人参、地黄、威灵仙、土茯苓诸补药,忌茶。」)
Chá counteracts the medicinal nature, and should be avoided when taking supplementing medicines.
-
Those with iron-deficiency anemia should avoid: Chá’s tannic acid combines with iron, impeding iron absorption; those with iron-deficiency anemia should avoid drinking tea, especially after meals.
-
Those with ulcer disease should avoid: Chá stimulates the secretion of stomach acid, and those with gastric ulcer or duodenal ulcer should drink with caution.
VIII. Tea and Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism
In Chinese culture, chá is by no means confined to quenching thirst; rather, it is the spiritual sustenance common to the three traditions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.
1. Confucianism: Cultivating Virtue through Tea
The Confucians use chá to cultivate virtue; clarity, correctness, elegance, and harmony; chá is the analogy of the gentleman.
2. Buddhism: Meditating through Tea
The Chan and the tea are one flavor; the Zhaozhou Chan tradition has the public case of “Go drink tea”:
「The master asked a newly arrived monk: “Have you been here before?” The monk said: “I have.” The master said: “Go drink tea.” He then asked another monk; the monk said: “I have.” The master said: “Go drink tea.” The hall-chief asked: “Why does the master not refuse them?” The master said: “Hall-chief.” The hall-chief responded. The master said: “Go drink tea.”」 (「师问新到:「曾到此间么?」曰:「曾到。」师曰:「吃茶去。」又问一僧,僧曰:「曾到。」师曰:「吃茶去。」院主问曰:「和尚何不拒伊?」师曰:「院主。」院主应喏。师曰:「吃茶去。」」) — Song · Shi Puji, Wǔdēng Huìyuán Scroll 4, on Chan Master Zhaozhou Congshen (《五灯会元》卷四·赵州从谂禅师)
Chá and chán (Zen) both take the meaning of clarity, stillness, lightness, and distance.
3. Daoism: Nurturing Life through Tea
The Daoists use chá to cultivate the body; clearing the heart and reducing desires; chá is the aid of cultivating the Way.
IX. Summary of the Bencǎo Schools
| Dynasty | Author | Source | Core View |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Běnjīng) | — | — | The Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng has no independent entry for “chá” or “míng“ (the Upper Grade Fruits-and-Vegetables section contains only “kǔcài”) |
| Jin | Zhang Hua | Bówù Zhì, citing the Shénnóng Shíjīng (《博物志》引《神农食经》) | “The Divine Farmer tasted the hundred herbs, daily encountered seventy-two toxins, and found tea and was delivered from them” (the earliest recoverable source of this saying) |
| Tang | Su Jing et al. | Xīnxiū Běncǎo · Section on Trees · Míng (reconstructing lost Běnjīng text) (《新修本草·木部·茗》) | Míng and kǔchá, flavor bitter and cold, govern lòu ulcers, disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little, gives strength, delights the will |
| Tang | Chen Cangqi | Běncǎo Shíyí (《本草拾遗》) | Tea, bitter and cold, disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, resolves various toxins (the original text is lost; cited through the Gāngmù) |
| Tang | Sun Simiao | Qiānjīn Yàofāng · Shí Zhì · Míng and Kǔchá (《千金要方·食治·茗、苦茶》) | Kǔchá: disinhibits urination, eliminates phlegm-heat, slakes thirst, makes people sleep little |
| Tang | Lu Yu | Chá Jīng (《茶经》) | The work of the Sage of Tea; the sacred classic of tea studies |
| Tang | Meng Shen | Shíliáo Běncǎo · Míng (《食疗本草·茗》) | Digests food lodged overnight, disinhibits urination, brightens the eyes |
| Five Dynasties | Rihuazi | Rìhuázǐ Běncǎo · Míng (《日华子本草·茗》) | Clears the head and eyes, disinhibits urination, digests food lodged overnight |
| Song | Tang Shenwei | Zhènglèi Běncǎo · Míng (《证类本草·茗》) | Synthesis of earlier authors |
| Song | Kou Zongshi | Běncǎo Yǎnyì · Míng (《本草衍义·茗》) | Clears heat and bears down fire, digests food |
| Yuan | Husihui | Yǐnshàn Zhèngyào · Spices (《饮膳正要·料物》) | Sweet, bitter, slightly cold; digests food lodged overnight |
| Yuan | Jia Ming | Yǐnshí Xūzhī · Chá (《饮食须知·茶》) | Suitabilities and prohibitions of tea drinking |
| Ming | Li Shizhen | Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng (《本草纲目·果部·茗》) | Tea is bitter and cold, most able to bear down fire; when fire is borne down, the upper body is clear |
| Ming | Wang Ying | Shíwù Běncǎo · Chá (《食物本草·茶》) | Resolves alcohol, digests food, dispels phlegm, disinhibits water, brightens the eyes |
| Ming | Tu Long | Chá Shuō (《茶说》) | Discusses the appreciation of tea |
| Ming | Xu Cishu | Chá Shū (《茶疏》) | Discusses the picking and manufacture of tea |
| Qing | Wang Shixiong | Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ · Class of Hairy-Beverages (《随息居饮食谱·毛饮类》) | Clears the heart-spirit, awakens sleep and eliminates vexation, cools the liver and gallbladder; favors no single rank ordering |
| Qing | Lu Tingcan | Xù Chá Jīng (《续茶经》) | Synthesis of the great achievements in tea studies since the Tang and Song |
| Qing | Gu Yuan | Wú Yīn Pǔ (《吴菌谱》) | Discusses tea implements and tea arts |
X. Conclusion
Chá — bitter-sweet and cold, entering the heart, lung, spleen, and stomach, medicine of ten thousand diseases, flower of all plants.
The Divine Farmer tasted the hundred herbs, daily encountered seventy-two toxins, and found tea and was delivered; Lu Yu composed the Chá Jīng, the great synthesis of tea studies.
The virtues of chá:
- Green tea: clears heat and bears down fire, refreshes the spirit and arouses the brain;
- Black tea: warms the stomach and warms the center, digests food and transforms accumulations;
- Oolong tea: level, digests food and dissolves greasiness;
- Pu’er tea: warm, dispels oily greasiness;
- Tea’s virtue of digesting food and dissolving greasiness, and refreshing the spirit and arousing the brain, is the foremost virtue of daily use.
Li Shizhen’s words are most incisive:
「Tea is bitter and cold, and is most able to bear down fire. Fire is the source of a hundred diseases; when fire is borne down, the upper body is clear.」 (「茶苦而寒,最能降火。火为百病之源,火降则上清矣。」)
A cup of clear tea in the morning — clears heat and bears down fire, securing health.
Bibliography (Historical Classics)
- Jin · Zhang Hua, Bówù Zhì, citing the Shénnóng Shíjīng (《博物志》引《神农食经》, the earliest recoverable source of the saying “daily encountered seventy-two toxins and found tea and was delivered from them”)
- Tang · Su Jing et al., Xīnxiū Běncǎo · Section on Trees · Míng (《新修本草·木部·茗》, China’s first national pharmacopoeia; reconstructs lost Běnjīng text)
- Tang · Chen Cangqi, Běncǎo Shíyí · Míng (《本草拾遗·茗》, the original text is lost; cited through the Běncǎo Gāngmù)
- Tang · Sun Simiao, Bèijí Qiānjīn Yàofāng · Scroll 26 · Shí Zhì · Míng (《备急千金要方·卷二十六·食治·茗》)
- Tang · Lu Yu, Chá Jīng (《茶经》, Tang, three scrolls and ten sections)
- Tang · Meng Shen, Shíliáo Běncǎo · Míng (《食疗本草·茗》)
- Five Dynasties · Rihuazi, Rìhuázǐ Běncǎo · Míng (《日华子本草·茗》)
- Song · Tang Shenwei, Zhènglèi Běncǎo · Míng (《证类本草·茗》)
- Song · Kou Zongshi, Běncǎo Yǎnyì · Míng (《本草衍义·茗》)
- Song · Su Shi, Dōngpō Chá Lùn (《东坡茶论》)
- Song · Shi Puji, Wǔdēng Huìyuán, Scroll 4 (《五灯会元》卷四, the “Go drink tea” public case)
- Yuan · Husihui, Yǐnshàn Zhèngyào · Scroll 3 · Nature and Flavor of Spices (《饮膳正要·卷三·料物性味》)
- Yuan · Jia Ming, Yǐnshí Xūzhī · Chá (《饮食须知·茶》)
- Yuan · Li Pengfei, Sānyuán Cānzàn Yánshòu Shū · Chá (《三元参赞延寿书·茶》)
- Ming · Li Shizhen, Běncǎo Gāngmù · Section on Fruits · Míng (《本草纲目·果部·茗》, Liu Hengru punctuated edition)
- Ming · Wang Ying, Shíwù Běncǎo · Chá (《食物本草·茶》)
- Ming · Tu Long, Chá Shuō (《茶说》)
- Ming · Xu Cishu, Chá Shū (《茶疏》)
- Ming · Gao Lian, Zūnshēng Bājiān · Chapter on Beverages, Food, and Clothing (《遵生八笺·饮馔服食笺》)
- Ming · Zhang Yuan, Chá Lù (《茶录》)
- Ming · Chen Jiru, Chá Dǒng Bǔ (《茶董补》)
- Qing · Wang Shixiong, Suíxī Jū Yǐnshí Pǔ · Class of Hairy-Beverages (《随息居饮食谱·毛饮类》)
- Qing · Lu Tingcan, Xù Chá Jīng (《续茶经》)
- Qing · Liu Yuanchang, Chá Shǐ (《茶史》)
Special note: The present extant editions of the Shénnóng Běncǎo Jīng (those of Sun Xingyan, Gu Guangguo, Mori Tachibana, Shang Zhijun, and others) all lack an independent entry for “chá” or “míng”; For this reason, among the above-listed bencǎo authorities, the Xīnxiū Běncǎo is taken as the earliest recoverable bencǎo source on tea; phrases such as “gives strength, delights the will” are retrospective attributions by Tang and Song physicians, and are not the original text of the Běnjīng; readers are advised to make the distinction.