Tea Ware Pictorial () is a book by "Old Man Shenan" () compiled in 1269 and is the earliest picture book on tea ware used in preparation of Song dynasty tea cakes for drinking.
Tea during the Song dynasty was prepared by using the whisking tea method. The green tea was ground into a fine powder and hot water was added then whisked in a bowl with a brush to make tea and foam, this Chinese method of preparing tea spread to Japan and became the way matcha tea is made in Japan today. While in China this method gave way to the brewing tea method, which is the infusion of loose tea.
Old Man Shenan’s 12 Tea Ware This book described 12 tea wares ():
Some of the tea terms of Shenan and Lu Yu, author of The Classic of Tea, have the same names and use because some of the tea wares from the Tang dynasty were also used in the Song dynasty. Shenan does give them special names noted in parentheses.
Brazier () Crushing Block () Crushing Roller () Stone Mill () Gourd Scooper () Sieve Box () Brush () Bowl Basket () Bowl () Water Vessel () Tea Whisk () Tea Cloth ()
The above tea wares, except for stone mill () and tea whisk (), were also mentioned by Lu Yu in The Classic of Tea.
See also The Classic of Tea (Tang dynasty)
References Tea Terms 2010 中英文茶術語
External links 抹茶法 - Whisking (Fine powder) Tea Method