Cha for Tea

Went to a tea house named Cha for Tea with S and N to enjoy a windy yet beautiful afternoon. Only a day to go before the end of the Chinese New Year holidays. Felt a bit sad and anxious (due to my coming deadline of a tough paper). Yet at the same time the joy of life welcomed me without reserve.

On the table where a piece of paper used as the plate pad caught my attention. A few Chinese classic poems written on the paper, when read aloud, evoked a mood that rendered the gathering all the more memorable and agreeable.

Most to my liking are these three.

清鄭板橋詩»
不風不雨正清和翠竹亭亭好節柯最愛晚涼佳客至一壺新茗泡松蘿

明文徵明詩»
碧山深處絕纖埃面面軒窗對水開穀雨乍過茶事好鼎湯初沸有朋來

元馬臻詩»
竹窗西日晚來明桂子香中鶴夢清侍立小童閒不動蕭蕭古鼎煮茶聲

It is the last one that amazes me most. As the poem is written in the Yuan dynasty, likely the most sterile period in the history of Chinese poetry, the mood of both tranquility and easiness, as well as solitude, is vividly conveyed. One can almost feel that drowsy yet pleasurable ennui mixed with the smell and sound of the boiling tea. What a nap one has just awaken from, only to a dusk equally delightful.