Like most ceremonies, tea rites unexceptionally have to be aided with certain objects. In tea banquet and tea offering of ancestor worship, monks would beat the drum solemnly to gather all the people. The drum used, just as its function implies, is called tea drum and hung in the northwest corner of the hall.
With these tea rites, there must be monks responsible for preparing tea and attending to utensils and tools. These specialized monks are tea monks, ranging from one to several. Every morning, they will boil water and brew tea to prepare for the tea soup used by the abbot in worship. After breakfast, they start to make tea served to monks sitting in meditation. When they have finished lunch, it is time for tea brewing again. Working with tea all day long, they are believed to have formed ties with it in their previous life.
Based on different roles in tea rites, tea is given different names indicating its function. Worship tea, i.e. the tea for memory, is served for Buddhas, ancestors and spirits. Monkhood tea, meaning the years of initiating into monkhood, is for monks according to their qualification and seniority. Sharing tea, the ordinary tea, is shared by everyone. These different names also give hints to its grade. For example, the worship tea must be best in quality; tea for monks themselves is of the lowest grade; and tea to treat guests is in between.
After the introduction to tea rites, how the ways of drinking tea are related to Buddhism is also vital to understand the significant role of tea in Buddhism.
At the very beginning, the way monks drank tea was the same as common people. Tea leaves were brewed together with orange peels, osmanthus blossoms and gingers.
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