Mother of 無 Vast Waters 邊 -Frederick R. Dannaway 無 We’ve convinced this most erudite Daoist scholar, and long time teaist, to pause from his contribu- 量 tions to various academic journals and write for us. In this excellent piece, Dannaway reflects on the "Mother of Tea" with all the historical, scriptural and literary insight at his disposal. These pages are 水 overflowing, and worth reading a few times over.

n the year 1833, on the 15th tain water is most exalted, second is superior; tea takes second I day of the eight month, a group is river-water and third is deep well place.” There is even a special class of Japanese tea mystics placed water for the all important consid- of water, Immortal (), asso- a jar of Chinese water deep into eration in choosing the “medium” ciated with the waters and springs the source of the Yodo River that for tea. Water is catalytic, it releases of remote regions. The rather tech- flows into Kyoto. In contrast to the flavor and the Qi from the tea while nical term xian or Immortal, in its wasting of tea as protest in Boston, reacting with the Qi of the kettle simplest form is “man and moun- these adepts felt guilty in and exerting its own unique energy, tain together” (Needham 1974). hoarding the precious—and labo- depending on its source. Many The associations of and waters riously imported—Chinese water tea-masters confirm the potency of from remote mountains and Daoist and so decided to release it into specific mountain springs and show Immortals are validated by potent, their home waters and thus share its a preference for old or wild-tree teas Qi-filled puerh teas that are still potency with their countrymen. The (also from famous mountains) for available, for a price, to modern ring-leader of this plot, the literati both flavor and for their energy and tea drinkers. Indeed, seasoned tea tea-master Kakuo, had requisitioned healing powers. These attributes, if drinkers will judge a tea by the Qi the water from China via Nagasaki deduced empirically through gen- they feel from drinking it and some and after a year’s wait was blessed erations of observations as well as antique puerh, properly stored, are with three bottles (18 liters) of the from a Daoist “mystical primitiv- kinetically charged with the energies water. There was a brief reactionary ism”, can be seen to have retained an of their origin. The same preference response to the plan by the govern- influence from the earliest religious for the “wild” versus “cultivated” ment who “feared the Chinese water observations, of water in China and can be found amongst those famil- would poison the drinking supply” into . On a practical level, iar with ginsengs and certain mush- but they eventually acquiesced and water and tea from remote areas rooms as well. The mountains pro- the population imbibed the water in would indeed have special character- duce superior and Qi, so it is “minuscule” but nevertheless sym- istics, such as taste or purity, as well logical that the water they produce bolic doses (Graham 1998). as a metaphysical association with be the most coveted. Famous moun- Connoisseurs of tea and tea lit- the powerful mountains and wilder- tains produced famous teas and held erature meet frequently with such ness that were the mystical abodes famous springs. Likewise, the diver- seemingly eccentric exploits of water of the Immortals. As the Tea “god” sion of water for agricultural pur- obsession amongst tea sages. Moun- Lu Yu states, “Tea that grows wild poses was one of the essential steps

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Vast Waters of “civilization” which in its best The bewildered servant conceded elixir alchemy, macrobiotic potions sense is analogous to the cultiva- that he spilled some and replaced and magical plants. Daoist cosmol- tion of inner energies of alchemy, or it with the water of the riverbanks. ogy permeated Chinese thought “turning the water wheel.” Such anecdotes are common among and the elemental theory based on The myth of the legendary tea masters and serve to highlight the trigrams held deep spiritual sig- emperor Shennong, likely from the fanatical attention to detail that nificance for the cycles of Nature a tribe of the same name practic- went into making their holy liba- and of the fundamentals of reality ing swidden , is cred- tion. itself. Tea, brewing in water atop a ited with discovering the Leaf in The metaphysical qualities of fanned fire, has a deeply alchemical his taxonomic research on behalf of water were certainly considered by relationship with the elements that the starving, poisoned and uncivi- tea masters as well, and their sym- corresponds to the internal organs lized masses (Dannaway 2009). As bolic expressions can be found in sympathy with the elemental the story goes, he was boiling water amongst the and in scrolls energies. As the outer-alchemical for sanitary reasons when a few hung in alcoves. On Lu Yu’s bra- arts evolved into internal visualiza- tea leaves fell from a gust of wind zier legs, for example, there was tions, a beverage like tea would have into the water, which was perhaps the inscription “k’an (water) above; remained an exoteric link to the a gourd container. If such legends sun (wind) below and li (fire) in past. extend to a prehistory before pottery the middle.” In the windows on Daoist theories certainly spread and metallurgy then water might the rather ornate brazier there were to Japan with the tea seeds brought have been heated in or in grids. On one grid was a pheasant, by Buddhist priests and Daoist gourds. In light of the cosmological fortune tellers associated with var- and horticultural myths of China ious cults. Rikyu’s traditions men- with the bottle gourd, treated with The spiritual dimension tion such associations, such as the utter mastery by Girardot (1986), of Lu Yu’s tea cannot be advice, “In winter start the kettle at one might speculate that the prim- underestimated, and he 4am, the Hour of the Tiger.” While itive tribesman used stones heated clearly abhorred the vulgar Rikyu would have no doubt pre- in the fire and placed in the bottle ferred famous mountain waters, he gourd to boil water, perhaps mak- “popular” that was practical in accepting well-water ing it the first “kettle.” Many of the had no religious roots. Tea for his tea. But these were subject to alchemical stills of Daoists were tra- was a medicine and a sac- Daoist/Buddhist considerations: ditionally gourd shaped as well. rament at once healing and Always use water drawn at dawn allowing communication for tea, whether the gathering be in Sage Advice with oneself and divinities. the morning, at noon, or at night. This is a matter of the alertness of the practitioner of Chanoyu— When it comes to water, I bow a fire bird with the trigramli . of making ready sufficient water before the pure-flowing channels of On the second grid there was a for the whole day’s tea from dawn the Min. small tiger whose trigram is sun into night. Just because it is a night or wind. The third grid was graced gathering does not mean one uses A tea master like Lu Yu had such with a fish, trigramk’an as a water water drawn after noon. During a sophisticated palate that he could creature. As Lu Yu wrote, “sun rules the period from dusk to midnight determine with almost supernat- the wind, li rules the fire,k’an rules Yin prevails; water’s spirit subsides, ural accuracy the origin of freshly the water. Wind can stir up the fire poisons are present. Dawn water drawn water. Hearing of the exceed- and the fire can boil water. This is belongs to the beginning of Yang, ing quality of the rivers of Nanling why the three trigrams are on it.” when its pristine spirit surfaces; it in Yangzi, Lu Yu and a friend dis- The spiritual dimension of Lu is the ‘flower of the well.’ This water patched a faithful servant to obtain Yu’s tea cannot be underestimated, is vital for tea and demands careful the precious water. Upon tasting it, and he clearly abhorred the vulgar attention on the part of the practi- Lu Yu judged the water as drawn “popular” tea culture that had no tioner. from the banks, and not from mid- religious roots. Tea was a medicine dle of the river as desired. He even- and a sacrament at once healing As Hirota (1995) notes of spiri- tually elicited a confession after and allowing communication with tual water-drawing, “Seikasui [is] a exactly determining which parts of oneself and divinities. The reverence Buddhist term for water drawn from the collected water in the jar came for brewing tea must be placed into 2 to 4 AM. This water is considered from certain parts of the river. an exceedingly ancient culture of especially pure for compounding

33/ Vast Waters These old Daoist drawings depict man as the mountain, with his internal Qi as the springs, rivers and streams. They mirror the macro in the micro, connecting man to the cosmos and his place in it. Drinking tea often evokes a feel- ing like this, even in those participating in their first ever . We often here people say that they feel like the mountain the tea is cours- ing through like an old river...

medicines and for altar offerings.” ods existed in Nature” that were The harmony of utensils, the Elsewhere (Hirota 1995) Rikyu, revealed through a “ritualistic pre- selection of proper fuel for the fire, based on traditions written after sentation method for sencha that the source of the water and tea all his death, alludes to “secret matters adhered to the principles of and combine under the subtle skill of of Yin and Yang” but as to what he respected the elements—Yin and the master to produce the “world meant exactly would be speculation. Yang (in-yo) fire, water and wind— in a bowl of tea.” But water’s role in So while Rikyu’s obsession with which regulated the natural order tea, especially in Japan, was not con- details are no doubt part of a Zen of the universe and the calendar." fined to the kettle and . From practice of hyper-alertness and sin- (Graham 1998) Kashin wrote that deft and defiant flowering arrange- gle-mindedness, there are intriguing the teapot “contained the essence of ments of morning glories to the suggestions of a much deeper eso- Heaven and Earth” and explains the sprinkling of the roji path to give teric, oral transmission. trigrams on Lu Yu’s brazier and its the sensations of coolness in the heat A 19th century tea-adept in meaning to tea mystics: of summer, water is a rich symbol Japan, Ogawa Kashin apparently and aesthetic medium in the hands dictated oral transmissions on his Drinking tea invigorated the body, of tea masters. death bed that were published as but the spirit could only be har- Like the rules of hospitality in Korakudo’s Talks on Tea Drinking. monized with the universe when the arid deserts of Arabia, water is As Graham (1998) describes, the quietly seated besides a brazier everywhere a symbol of hospitality. preliminary sections deal with prac- observing the convergence of the In the , the role of water tical matters such as teaware and natural forces in the tea. As the and hospitality are inseparable; boiling of water while the remain- wind picks up, the fire burned hot- from the water in the basin, to spir- ing three correspond with the three ter. The fire caused the water to itually and physically refresh, to the abovementioned elements of fire, boil, and then, as these essential cups of hot water sipped between water and wind. Like the Vedic ven- elements were synchronized, their rounds of tea. All these were advised eration of the Soma as a god, natural rhythms brought forth upon as crucial for the student Kashin believed that the leaves of the true flavor of the tea (Graham to understand, not for the blind sencha were a “living entity for 1998). observance of rules, but to impress which systematic preparation meth- the degree of concentration that a

34 Vast Waters host must summon to render him- boil again one could “Nurture the treatises warn of “old man water” self utterly hospitable to his guest. flower of the tea” (Soshitsu 1998). which is water boiled too much at As Rikyu said, “Concerning the Tea adepts in Japan adopted similar the expense of its Qi (not to men- water in the stone basin, it is wholly practices in Chanoyu (literally “hot tion oxygen). Cai Junmo of the the cleansing of the heart and mind water for tea”) as water is changed Song Dynasty expressed a preference that is crucial to the Way.” Water from the kettle, which was prepared for “young hot water” versus “old washes away the red dust of the for the gatherings the night before. hot water” for similar reasons. world and conducts the tea’s fra- As it heats “only part of the water” grant power into the soul, allowing is exchanged “or it will boil too the supreme truth of perfect tea to slowly” (Sadler 1998). K’an and Li emerge. This is truly the Way to the Other designations for the stages tea of “no host, no guest.” of boiling are variations such as Rikyu’s comments above on the Care was taken lest the water “shrimp eyes” for bubbles on the spirit of water and its relationship to boil too quickly, too slowly, or for water’s edge, “crab eyes” for bubbles the “Hour of the Tiger” speak about too long a time. Lu Yu’s well-known from below, and “dragon water” for traditions that came into Japan descriptions for the stages of boil- the large bubbles of the rolling boil. from ancient China. The powerful ing water are: the first boil, “like Experts note ways to determine the Qi-filled water of the mountainous the eyes of fishes and with a distant nature of the boil in a time before abodes of dragons and Immortals voice.” The second boil, was like “a thermometers that describe three was the most sought-after. But even bubbling spring around the edges major and fifteen minor ways. The mountain water was subject to grad- like a string of pearls.” The third three major ways are the aforemen- ing by tea masters. Gently rippling boil was like “the crashing of break- tioned designations of the shape water amongst rocks was thought to ers upon the shore” and any further and size of bubbles in relationship be the best while turbulent, violent heat would exhaust the water’s Qi. to the shape of a shrimp, crab or water was to be avoided. No doubt, Salt might be added to “sweeten” the fish eye. The minor methods deal these energies were thought to affect water and when the boil reaches the with the sounds of the churning, the body by their peculiar envi- second stage “one should withdraw a shaking and whooshing and then ronment in which the waters were ladle of water, set it aside, and then silence of a deep boil. The rest of collected. Lu Yu cautioned against stir the center with bamboo chop- the minor methods entail obser- drinking mountain water that sticks (Soshitsu1998).” This water vations of steam “threads” that are flowed to the ground with no out- could be added to the again boiling one, two, three, four or intertwining let and counseled that waters should water later after tea had been added, until yielding to the straight upward be drawn as far away as possible directly, and then by reducing the steam of a serious boiling. Other from human habitation. He advised that well water, if it had to be used, The Daoist alchemist medi- should be drawn from the depths tates on the inversion of k’an or that other waters be let to flow and li. “Bringing the (fem- and “drain off” before use. He also th th inine lines of the) kua k'an cautioned that from the 7 to 9 (k’an) to fill up the kua of months there could be toxins pres- li.” Within k’an there is the ent from dragons (Soshitsu 1998). red-yellow boy whose name In Japan, there were special tea is the Ancestor of Mercury... ceremonies held when particularly within li there is the myste- potent or famous water was avail- rious girl who belongs to the able called "meisui-date" and the Family of Lead. (Needham water was always to be served in a 1983). special, unfinished “bucket” called a tsurube. Dragons hold a special sig- nificance for Buddhists, Daoists and tea alchemists as potent symbols of the power of the watery and fiery realms. The nagas of India, the long of China and ryu of Japan are myth- ological creatures that represent the earth’s energies. Associated with mystics and hidden terma treasures

35/ Vast Waters and sutras, as well as power plants dot 1986). ” The dark abyss of pri- an allusion to the watery, chaotic and mountain demons, the snake- mordial waters and the reptilian conditions of the primordial Dao. dragon entities have an often ambig- creatures that issue from them are This is the cosmogenic chaos of uous relationship with humanity. depicted as spirals and snakes that the primordial epochs of undif- They are the source of power but perhaps eventually evolved into ferentiated potential expressed in potentially of toxins as well in met- the alchemical ouroboros. For an the Dao De Ching with such terms aphors that capture the dual nature enlightening discussion on dragons, as hao-haohan-han or the “moist of a precarious existence, especially water and the Japanese kappa spirits embryonic mystery” cognate with in ancient China. Waters drawn see Eiichiro (2009). “vast expanses of water.” Confu- from the deep regions could be Girardot’s magisterial etymo- cian, as well as Mencius’, attacks powerfully medicinal or deadly poi- logical survey links this with Chap- on the Daoist notion of an idyl- sonous. Such is the power of the ter 4 of the Dao De Ching’s context lic golden age often use such terms Primordial Dao as described in the of chung as the sense of an empty as “the waters in their wild course” 7th chapter of Chuang Tzu, which container (gourds and kettles), and (chiang shui) that deluged the world, refers to the t’ai-ch’ung, which is a the relation to the word yuan as bringing snakes and dragons which “particular stage of returning to an “bottomless pool” and chan “deep” together pushed humanity into a identification with the Dao (Girar- or “clear as water” which suggests desperate refuge in caves. But the

36 Vast Waters mystical counter-culture of certain gram Chi Chi (After Crossing the sure at the vulgar use of tea cast him Daoist and Buddhist sects embraced Water) has water in its proper place solidly in the alchemical tradition the chaotic powers of the wild, of above the fire, bodes good fortune that replaced the furnace with the mountains and dragons as a way and heralds the cycle complete (as incense burner or kettle and brazier. of connecting back to the primal in crossing the water), only to begin The simple, elegant instruction of unity. The wild aghoris, mahasiddas, again with the final hexagram and the sage encodes the most profound wild yamabushi and Zen lunatics the repeating from the beginning. truths of Nature, Reality and Tea, of various traditions all understand The 64th hexagram Wei Chi inverts which, as Lu Yu would agree, are the energy of the “ultimate source” the position and connotes “Before one and the same. The perfect cup which emphasizes the “mundane” Crossing the Water” and the vexa- of tea, like the “great work” of alche- concerns of choice of water (i.e., tion of “a young fox trying to keep mists, is essentially the harmony of simply purity and taste). its tale.” In Daoist alchemy the pro- the elements in dynamic balance. As external alchemy evolved into cess involves cultivating and blend- Water is a most precious resource internal alchemical arts, the body ing the Yin and Yang energies into that is all too often taken for became increasingly identified as a the inner cauldron to achieve a bal- granted, especially in the West. As microcosmic representation of the ance of the essences of water and the news and environmental sci- world. The inner landscapes fol- fire. In tea, as in alchemy, the fire entists release report after report of lowed similar winding courses and must be controlled lest the water toxic levels of pharmaceuticals and waterways as the Yellow Springs that boil too hot and become exhausted industrial chemicals even in filtered were thought to feed all of the water or too slightly rendering its heat drinking water, we more and more in China. The alchemical conjunc- impotent. The water must be pure realize that the situation is dire. tion of opposites with water (the and undefiled while balanced with From the waters that quench thirsty abysmal k’an) and the fire (the cling- the fire in proper proportion or the tea plants to the water in the pots ing li) express symbolism employed results will be too strong or bitter or and kettles, the tea drinker has both in feng shui, alchemy and the bed- too weak to awaken the flavor of the a practical and spiritual imperative room arts of Daoist macrobiotic tea. to vocalize the need to be stewards practices. Their respective trigrams Lu Yu’s writings have a sub- of water, the very foundation of life. are “Yin without and Yang and Yang tle esoteric dimension as do his without and Yin” and are compli- symbols on his teaware. As dis- menting and completing in the cussed above, the legs of the bra- alchemical fusion. zier expressed the elements of fire, There is deep significance that wind and water. Scholars note the these two trigrams in alternat- brazier’s resemblance to the Ding ing positions should complete the used for ceremonies and formal I-Ching’s permutations in the 63rd sacrifices to the gods. His devoutly and 64th hexagrams. The 63rd hexa- Buddhist upbringing and displea-

References Dannaway, F. 2009.Yoked to Earth: A Treatise on Corpse-Demons and Bigu. http://sites.google.com/site/delawareteasociety/yoked-to-earth-a-treatise-on-corpsedemons-and-bigu Eiichiro, I. retrieved 2009. The Kappa Legend, A comparative ethnological study on the Japanese water Spirit. http://www.scribd.com/ doc/3830212/The-Kappa-Legend-AComparative-Ethological-Study-on-the-Japanese-WaterSpirit-Kappa-and-Its-Habit-of-Trying-to- Lure-Horses-into-the-Water Girardot, N.J. 1983. Myth and Meaning in Early Taoism. Berkeley: University of California Press. Graham, P. 1998. Tea of the Sages: The Art of Sencha. University of Hawaii Press Hirota, Dennis. 2002. Wind in the Pines: Classic Writings of the Way of Tea as a Buddhist Path. Asian Humanities Press.

Needham, J. 1983. Science and Civilization in China, Vol. 5, pt. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Needham, J. 1974. Science and Civilization in China, Vol. 5, pt. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sadler, A. L. Cha-No-Yu: . Tuttle Publishing. Soshits. S. and Morris, Dixon V. 1998. The Japanese Way of Tea. Honolulu: Universityof Hawaii Press. Valery, Paul H. 1995. Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu. University of Hawaii Press.

37/ Vast Waters The alchemy of tea starts with water and fire meeting like old friends here to share tea again.