中国茶文化示范教程

中国茶与饮茶 Chinese Tea Culture

人类发现和利用茶已有几千年的历史，“茶之为饮，发乎神农 ”。中国是茶的原产地，也是茶文化的故乡，茶的芳香让人清心雅志，品茶的情趣让人和敬廉美，茶的减肥、防癌功能让人健康长寿。本篇将介绍中国茶学的特点以及有关饮茶的基本知识。

1.关于中国茶的由来有哪些传说？
What are the legendary origins of tea in China?
According to legends, over 5,000 years ago in China, there was a divine farmer named Shen Nong (神农 ), one of the noble figures of Chinese mythology. He taught people agricultural and medicinal practices. One day when he sat beneath a tree and was ready to taste herbs, and at the same time his servant began to boil drinking water. By chance, some dry leaves dropped from a tree into the water. As usual, Shen Nong drank the boiled water. It tasted a little bitter, and the water looked slightly yellowish, but it refreshed him. The tree turned out to be a wild tea tree.
Buddhist legends have another story. Once Bodhidharma (菩提达摩 )stayed in a cave-temple outside Nanjing, where he practiced meditation. One day as he meditated, he felt sleepy. He cut off his eyelids in an attempt to keep himself awake; and to his surprise, tea plants sprang up from the ground where he had tossed the severed eyelids. Later, he used these leaves to brew tea to help him stay awake for meditation.
Notes：
1）yellowish淡黄色的； 2）refresh使清新； 3）eyelid眼睑；
4）toss扔； 5）sever切断
 
2.茶最初的功能是什么？
What was the function of tea when it was first used?
In ancient China, tea was regarded as one of seven daily necessities, along with firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar. But from the very beginning, tea was used as medicine. At initial stage, the ancient men drank it to relieve poison. The ancient medical book, Shen Nong Bencao Classics (《神农本草经》 ) says that tealeaves taste bitter and so can make people spirited and think clearly. In Eating Classics (《食经》 ), Hua Tuo (华佗 ) says that the continuous drinking of bitter tea is good for thinking.
 
Notes：
1）necessity必要性； 2）vinegar醋； 3）tealeaf茶叶；
4）continuous连续的