It’s easy to get “Cha Chan” (茶禪) and “Chan Cha”(禪茶) confused, and many do. As you may already know, “Cha” (茶) means tea. “Chan” (禪) is the Chinese equivalent of Zen (read more about Chan Buddhism here). Chan (meditation) Buddhism emphasizes attention to one’s embodiment, and Cha (tea) often assists in that practice. “Cha Chan” is the practice of achieving Chan through tea. “Chan Cha” traditionally refers to tea made by monks. Today, we’re going to talk about the tradition of Chan Cha, and where the practice stands today.
Historically, Chan Cha has served several purposes. It has served as a way for monks to provide hospitality to guests visiting the temple, as well as giving monks work that yields a product that helps their communities.
In the past, “Chan Cha” had a narrower meaning, referring specifically to tea made by monks. Today, the term is often used more loosely; “Chan Cha” may refer to tea that is associated with a temple (such as Wu Yi Yan Cha from 天心永樂禪寺), or even a tea that has simply been blessed by monks. It’s hard to find true, handmade Chan Cha—that is, tea made by monks—nowadays. In fact, we are only aware of two cases of monks making traditional Chan Cha: a group of female monks in Meng Ding Shan at the Yong Xing Temple (永興寺) who make yellow tea, and Fa Yu Fa Shi, a monk who makes tea entirely on his own in Jiu Lian Shan.
Fa Yu Fa Shi’s Chan Cha is made using long-abandoned, century-old tea trees he found in Jiu Lian Shan. The cultivars of these trees are typically used for making Wu Long, but he makes them into red teas. Fa Yu Fa Shi makes his tea all himself, almost entirely by hand. We think it is one of the most special teas on earth.
Fa Yu Fa Shi used to make green tea, but has shifted focus to red teas. Red tea is a practical choice for many reasons. For one, it is a style of tea supposedly well-suited to a vegetarian diet. According to Chinese cultural knowledge, lighter teas have a cooling effect (and are therefore best consumed in the summer, or by people with a hotter constitution), and heavier/darker teas have a warming effect (and are therefore best consumed in the cooler months, or by people with a cooler constitution). On this cultural framework, women and vegetarians both have naturally cooler constitutions, and red tea is consequently beneficial for monks to drink due to their vegetarian diets.
Red tea also requires relatively little infrastructure or equipment to make by hand. As pictured above, Fa Yu Fa Shi ferments his teas naturally on bamboo trays in handmade wooden sheds. He sorts the teas manually using traditional gong fu red tea sifting trays and fan, a practice almost extinct for decades now! With his expertise, Fa Yu Fa Shi treats his Chan Cha as a service to his village, teaching local farmers and villagers to sustain themselves by making tea.
For July’s Educational Tea Club, we have the privilege of sharing one of Fa Yu Fa Shi’s teas. It’s a sweet, yolky, and full-bodied red tea made from the Huang Dan cultivar. Huang Dan is an indigenous Min Bei cultivar most often used to make Min Bei (e.g., Tie Guan Yin-style) Wu Long. It is the parent cultivar of both Huang Guan Yin and Jin Mu Dan, two teas you may recognize from our collection. Join our Educational Tea Club today to receive a monthly supply of world-class teas like this one!