【正文】 close connection with religion in China. In the history of China tea is usually regarded as a kind of drink that would refresh oneself and make the mind calm. Refraining from daily pressures, and sitting and amusing themselves with Buddha’s teachings are the Buddhists aim. Tea is their ideal drink to cultivate their moral character. In Buddhism tea is praised as a sacred thing given by god. The Taoist thought stressed the relationship between man and the nature and believed that it was the mon law of the universe that kept nature and society operating. Therefore, material and spirit, and human and nature could not be separated. Chinese tea culture, integrated with tea’s natural and material functions and human spirit, absorbed the Taoist spirit. Despite Buddhism and Taoism have played greatly important roles in the development of tea culture, Confucian thought is regarded as the core of the spirit of Chinese tea ceremony, which is demonstrated in the following two aspects: tea’s gentle and 6 peaceful characters embody the golden mean of the Confucian school and the spirit of tea cultivate one’s honesty, elegant taste and active attitude towards life. (Wang 152) 4. Tea and literature Literature is a mirror of life. As tea has been closely woven into the life of the Chinese people, so has it been into literature. There are several thousands of classic poems about tea left to us. The great poet of Tang Dynasty (618907)Bai Juyi（白居易） was particularly fond of tea. He wrote more than fifty poems about tea. In his famous poem of a Pipa player(《琵琶行》 )there are these lines: The merchant cared for money much more than for me. One month ago he went away to purchase tea. (Zhou 158) The great patriotic poet of Southern Song Dynasty(11271279)Lu You(陸游 ) wrote more than three hundred poems in which tea is mentioned. Tea has entered almost every other form of literature and artnovels, paintings, plays, songs, and dances, couplets. In the great novel of Qing Dynasty (16441911), a dream of the red mansions, there are about three hundred mentions of tea. So people say the novel is permeated with the fragrance of tea(一部《紅樓夢》 ,滿紙茶葉香 ). There are a variety of paintings describing teadrinking affairs and the scenery in tea fields and there are a variety of teapicking dances among the minority nationalities in China. So we can find these lines frequently quoted: Tea can add virginity to heroes While tea can stir up men of letters to create. 5. Chinese tea art Tea drinking is an art in china. “Art” means a special process of making, cooking and tasting tea. (Wang 40) However, before you start to learn tea art, you should first study skills of meditation. “Artistic tea” means to process of enjoyment as if reading a pure and fresh verse, or appreciating a piece of beautiful music. To Chinese, tea is a spirit in the world. When it enters your body as a drink, you will be filled with the nutrition of sunshine, the bright moon and the land, and the wonder of the whole universe. Therefore, all the famous Chinese tea culture experts have had the experience of 7 planting, picking and making tea by themselves, or learning the spirit of the labor from tea growers. Now, let’s talk about the relationship between water and tea art. Please imagine gurgling springs, the waves of rivers, misty vast lakes, and sweet and clear well water. The relationship between water and tea is similar to that between Tea and water. All Tea experts understand that excellent water quality is essential for the best Tea, while tea art is even stricter with water. It is impossible to make fragrant tea without good water. Lu Yu discussed tea water exhaustively in the book of tea. According to him, the ordinary drinking water is not good enough to brew tea. Water from mountains are best, river water are inferior, and well water are low grade. As the old idiom runs, “it is necessary to have effective tools to do good work.” It refers to ordinary people and creations. As a material activity, tea art is a spiritual and artistic creation。 crosscultural munication Table of Contents I. Introduction................................................................................................................. 1 II. China Tea Culture ..................................................................................................... 2 A. The origin of tea ................................................................................................. 2 B. Kinds of Chinese tea........................................................................................... 2 1. Green Tea ..................................................................................................... 2 2. Black Tea...................................................................................................... 3 3. Oolong Tea ................................................................................................... 3 4. White Tea ..................................................................................................... 3 5. Scented Tea .................................................................................................. 3 6. Tea Lump ..................................................................................................... 3 C. Customs and rites of tea ..................................................................................... 4 1. The great therapeutic effects of tea .............................................................. 4 2. Funeral and sacrificial customs and tea rites ............................................... 4 3. Tea and religion ............................................................................................ 5 4. Tea and literatu