초의 艸衣

동다송 東茶頌 Dong cha song (Dong-da-song)

Hymns to Korean Tea by the Ven. Ch’o-ŭi

Translated by the Ven. Jinwŏl (revised by Br Anthony)

Ch’o-ŭi was born in 1786 in Sin-gi Village, Samhyang District, Muan County (新基里 三鄕面 務安郡) in Chŏlla Province. His family name seems to have been Chang (張) but in 1800 he became a Buddhist monk and as such never spoke of his family origins to those who later wrote about his life. His first Dharma name was Ui-sun (意恂) but after receiving instruction from the Sŏn (Zen) master Wanho Yun-u (玩虎 倫佑) at the temple of Taedun-sa he attained enlightenment and received the name Ch’o-ŭi. In 1809 he first met Tasan Chŏng Yak-Yong who was living in exile in his mother’s native country of Kangjin, only seven or eight miles away. They visited each other and became very close friends. This was unusual, since Tasan was socially superior and a Confucian scholar who had been deeply influenced by the Sŏhak (western learning) that included Catholicism. Usually such men had little or no sympathy with Buddhism. It seems unclear which of the two introduced tea to the other. In 1815, Ch’o-ŭi first visited Seoul and established strong relationships with a number of highly educated scholar-officials, most of whom had been to China, who became his “followers”. These included Haegŏ Hong Hyŏn-ju, son-in-law of King Chŏngjo, and the famous calligrapher Ch’usa Kim Chŏng-hŭi. It was most unusual for a Buddhist to be recognized as a poet and thinker in this way by members of the Confucian establishment.

After this, he withdrew to the mountain above Taedun-sa, built a hermitage known as Ilchi-am in 1824, and lived there alone for the next 40 years, practicing meditation and studying the scriptures, In 1830, he composed Chasinjŏn (Tea Spirit Message) as a simple guide to making and drinking tea. In 1831 he once again visited his friends in Seoul, reading and writing poems with them. In the same year, he published a collection of his own poems with prefaces and postscripts by four leading scholar-administrators in which they show their personal interest in Sŏn (Zen) practice and the drinking of tea. He then returned to his hermitage, where he also practiced painting. In 1837 he wrote the set of poems translated below, the Hymns to Korean Tea, at the request of Hong Hyŏn-ju. In 1838 we find him climbing to the topmost peak of the Diamond Mountains, Piro Peak, before visiting the hills around Seoul. From 1840 until 1848, Ch’usa Kim Chŏng-hŭi was exiled to the southern island of Cheju and during those years, Ch’o-ŭi visited him no less than five times, once staying for six months, teaching him about tea and Buddhism.

He remained vigorous and healthy to the end. Early in the morning of the second day of the eighth month1866 he called his attendant to help him get up, sat in the lotus position and passed away (‘entered Nirvana’).

1.

后皇嘉樹配橘德 受命不遷生南國
密葉鬪霰貫冬靑 素花濯霜發秋榮

Gods of earth and heaven arranged for the virtue of the tangerine to become a fine tree.

It received their order, living in the south land, unmoving.

Its flourishing leaves struggle against sleet to stay green throughout the winter,

its white flowers generate prosperity in autumn, bathed in frost.

2.

姑射仙子粉肌潔 閻浮檀金芳心結
沆瀣漱淸碧玉條 朝霞含潤翠禽舌

White and clean as the skin of the Immortal of Mt. Kushe,

the resulting fragrant seeds are like Jambu-river gold.

The dew of the dark night purifies the branches with a green jade color.

The morning mists polish the leaves like green tongues of birds.

3.

天仙人鬼俱愛重 知爾爲物誠奇絶
炎帝曾嘗載食經 醍酉+胡甘露舊傳名

All gods, immortals, human beings and ghosts treasure you,

for they know you are sincere, wonderful and peerless.

After the Emperor Shen-neng tasted you, he wrote about you in his Book of Food,

as equal in fame to the finest ghee and sweet nectar.

4.

解醒少眠證周聖 脫粟飯菜聞齊영
虞洪薦食+氣乞丹邱 毛仙示艸+聚引秦精

Wise Chou-kung of Chou testified that tea reduces sleep and sobers the drunkard.

Minister Yen Ying of Ch’i was renowned for his simple meals of vegetables and tea.

Master Yu Hung received a gift of tea after he prayed at Cinnabar Hill where immortals dwell.

One long-haired immortal led master Chin Ching to a clump of tea trees.

5.

潛壤不惜謝萬錢 鼎食獨稱冠六情
開皇醫腦傳異事 雷莢茸香取次生

One long dead and buried gave a fortune in thanks for a widow’s offerings of tea.

Noblemen recognized tea as the first among the six different kinds of drink.

An unusual tale tells how the first emperor of Sui was cured of a headache by drinking tea.

Thunder Smile tea and Soft Fragrance tea both appeared in due order.

6.

巨唐尙食羞百珍 沁園唯獨記紫英
法製頭綱從此盛 淸賢名士誇雋永

Although the great T’ang revered food and had a hundred delicate flavors,

the garden of Princess Ch’in remembers only Purple Flower tea.

The principles of authentic tea-making are maintained by tradition;

wise men and scholars praise tea’s outstanding taste forever.

7.

綵莊龍鳳團巧麗 費盡萬金成百餠
誰知自饒眞色香 一經點染失眞性

Bricks of Dragon and Phoenix tea were beauitifully decorated (for the emperor) with varicolored silks

so manufacturers spent huge sums of money on various bricks of tea.

Yet who knew if the tea itself had genuine color and fragrance?

Even if only contaminated once, tea loses its true nature.

8.

道人雅欲全其嘉 曾向蒙頂手栽那
養得五斤獻君王 吉祥예與聖楊花

A follower of the Way, Fu Hsi, nobly sought perfect tea,

planting tea with his own hands high on Mount Meng in early times.

When he had obtained good tea, he offered five pounds of it to the king.

That tea was called Auspicious Flowerbud and Sacred Poplar Flower.

9.

雪花雲月+臾爭芳烈 雙井日注喧江浙
建陽丹山碧水鄕 品製特尊雲澗月

The fragrances of Snow Flower and Cloud Pump teas compete,

Paired Wells and Pouring Sun teas are famous in Khiangsu and Chekiang.

In Chienyang and Tanshan, towns of blue water,

Moon Streem and Cloud Niche teas are specially recognized.

10.

東國所産元相同 色香氣味論一功
陸安之味蒙山藥 古人高判兼兩宗

The teas of Korea are identical with those from China,

their color, scent and taste compete for the highest merit.

The taste of Luan tea and the medical properties of Mengshan tea are famous

but the great tea masters of the past would highly appreciate Korean tea, that includes both qualities.

11.

還童振枯神驗速 八老밑至顔如夭桃紅
我有乳泉 把成秀碧百壽湯 何以持歸木覓山前獻海翁

Tea restores a young face and vitality to the emaciated as quickly as if by a miracle

so an eighty-year-old man has the peach complexion of youth.

I have a milk-like spring yielding water for Excellent Blue and A Hundred-Year Life teas.

How can I bring some of this water to Old Hae who lives in front of Mount Mongmyok?

(Old Hae is Hong Hyŏn-ju, son in law of King Chŏngjo, to whom the whole poem is dedicated. Mount Myongmok is Nam San in Seoul)

12.

又有九難四香玄妙用 何以敎汝玉浮臺上坐禪衆
九難不犯四香全 至味可獻九重供

How can I teach the wonderful functions of tea, with its nine difficulties and four fragrances,

to the Son (Zen) practitioners sitting in the Jade Pavillion at Ch’ilbul Temple (in Chiri Mountain)?

If the nine difficulties are overcome, the four sorts of fragrance will develop fully.

Its perfect taste can be presented as an offering within the nine walls of the royal palace.

13.

翠濤綠香재入朝 聰明四達無滯壅
矢+引爾靈根托神山 仙風玉骨自別種

When tea’s blue waves and green fragrance enter the court of the heart,

intelligance and brightness reach everywhere unimpeded.

Then your spiritual roots will rest on divine mountains,

though in appearance immortals seem a different species.

14.

綠芽紫筍穿雲根 胡靴封밑牛臆皺水紋
吸盡水+襄水+襄淸夜露 三昧手中上奇芬

The green buds and purple shoots of tea emerge through cloud roots,

looking like barbarians’ shoes, a leather chest, a rising wave.

Absorbing much dew on clear nights,

tea yields wonderful fragrance in a state of Samadhi.

15.

中有玄微妙難顯 眞精莫敎體神分
體神雖全 猶恐過中正 中正不過健靈倂

Mysterious delicacy lies at the center, hard to express.

True essence should not be divided into body and spirit, water and tea.

Body and spirit must be equal, without loss of what is fair and appropriate.

What is fair and appropriate is no different from the combined health and subtlety of tea.

16.

一傾玉花風生腋 身輕已涉上淸境
明月爲燭兼爲友 白雲鋪席因作屛

Whe I drink a cup of Jade Flower tea, a wind rises under my arms,

my body grows light and I ascend to a state of purity.

The bright moon becomes my candle, my friend,

while white clouds offer me a seat and set up a screen.

17.

竹賴松濤俱蕭凉 淸寒瑩骨心肝惺
惟許白雲明月爲二客 道人座上此爲勝

Bamboo sounds and pine tree waves together cool me;

clean cold air penetrates my bones, awakens my mind.

I still like a white cloud and the bright moon to be my guests.

Where a Man of the Way sits, those are enough.

The text of the Chinese is from http://seoje.com/dongdasong.htm a page entirely in Korean and Chinese where you will find long explanations of the details of the poem as well as the text of Ch’o-Ui’s own notes.

You can also view the texts of some of his other Tea Poems.