a
truly virtuous man. Among the Buddhists, the southern Zen sect, which
incorporated so much of Taoist doctrines, formulated an elaborate ritual
of tea. The monks gathered before the image of Bodhi Dharma and
drank tea out of a single bowl with the profound formality of a holy
sacrament. It was this Zen ritual which finally developed into the
Tea-ceremony of Japan in the fifteenth century.

Unfortunately the sudden outburst of the Mongol tribes in the thirteenth
century which resulted in the devastation and conquest of China under
the barbaric rule of the Yuen Emperors, destroyed all the fruits of
Sung culture. The native dynasty of the Mings which attempted
re-nationalisation in the middle of the fifteenth century was harassed
by internal troubles, and China again fell under the alien rule of the
Manchus in the seventeenth century. Manners and customs changed to leave
no vestige of the former times. The powdered tea is entirely forgotten.
We find a Ming commentator at loss to recall the shape of the tea whisk
mentioned in one of the Sung classics. Tea is now taken by steeping the
leaves in hot water in a bowl or cup. The reason why the Western world
is innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained by the fact
that Europe knew it only at the close of the Ming dynasty.

To the latter-day Chinese tea is a delicious beverage, but not an ideal.
The long woes of his country have robbed him of the zest for the meaning
of life. He has become modern, that is to say, old and disenchanted. He
has lost that sublime faith in illusions which constitutes the eternal
youth and vigour of the poets and ancients. He is an eclectic and
politely accepts the traditions of the universe. He toys with Nature,
but does not condescend to conquer or worship her. His Leaf-tea is often
wonderful with its flower-like aroma, but the romance of the Tang and
Sung ceremonials are not to be found in his cup.

Japan, which followed closely on the footsteps of Chinese civilisation,
has known the tea in all its three stages. As early as the year 729 we
read of the Emperor Shomu giving tea to one hundred monks at his palace
in Nara. The leaves were probably imported by our ambassadors to the
Tang Court and prepared in the way then in fashion. In 801 the monk
Saicho brought back some seeds and planted them in Yeisan. Many
tea-gardens are heard of in succeeding centuries, as well as the delight
of the aristocracy and priesthood in the beverage. T