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Buddhism emphasizes individual enlightenment and self-practice. The word Buddha means "the enlightened one" in Sanskrit. Buddhism advocates egalitarianism and that Buddha-nature is immanent in all beings. It claims that everyone can become Buddha through individual enlightenment. As the largest school in Buddhism, Chan Buddhism is also called "the school of mind" for its subservience to Buddhist doctrines and profound understanding of the essence of dharma.
According to legend history, when Sakyamuni Buddha gave his dharma speech on Vulture's peak, he did not open his mouth, but merely twirled a flower. No one from the over ten thousand laity and monks understood. At that moment only Mahakasyapa smiled. Buddha looked at Mahakasyapa's smile and said, "I possess the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana, the True Form of the Formless, the Subtle Dharma Gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahakasyapa." Thereby, Mahakasyapa became the first patriarch of Indian Chan Buddhism. The approach of Chan Buddhism is characterized by non-dependence on words, rejection of Buddhist orthodoxy and mind-to-mind transmission, which enable Chan Buddhism to emancipate itself from cultural accretions. Thus, t claims to have retained the original purport and quintessence of Buddhism.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang Dynasty (502-556 A.D.), Bodhidharma, the 28t Patriarch of Indian Chan Buddhism, came over the sea from India to China. He sat meditating facing a wall for nine years in Shaolin Temple. He transmitted to Hui Kethe insignia of the patriarchate. Bodhidharma is credited with bringing Chan Buddhism to China and is regarded as the First Patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism.
However, the domestication of Chan Buddhism in China is attributed to the Sixth Patriarch, Master Hui Neng (638-713 AD). He was born into a poor family and lived by cutting and selling firewood. Though illiterate, he had spontaneous and immediate insight. Once he heard one man reciting of the Diamond Sutra, his mind was opened. Later he called upon and bowed to the Fifth Patriarch and received his robe and Dharma. The prediction of Bodhidharma, that is, “when the flower has five petals, the fruits will come naturally," was later proven by Hui Neng, who did not transmit the robe and Buddha's begging bowl but only the quintessence of dharma. He transformed countless sentient beings and those who were enlightened were countless. It was in his time that Chan Buddhism flourished and reached its "golden age" in the 8th and 9th century.
At the end of Tang Dynasty (618-917 AD), the Chan Buddhism lineage was divided into five branches and seven schools. The competition among the schools led to direct permeation of Buddhism into ideology, culture and various walks of social life. Chan Buddhism gradually replaced the “dark learning", which dominated the philosophical discourses from the Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern to Sui and Tang Dynasty; and developed itself into a school of thoughts with unique characteristics, enriching cultural life and opening an unprecedented spiritual realm to people.
China has a long history of tea drinking. Lu Yu (733-804 AD), known as the Sage of Tea, attributed the discovery of tea to the Chinese legendary Emperor Shen Nong in 2737 BC. It was in his time that tea drinking became widespread and the term "Cha Dao" for tea savoring came into use. In Song Dynasty, drinking tea was considered stylish among government officers and intellectuals. Competitions for tea preparation skills were often held. In Ming Dynasty, tea became a beverage enjoyed by everyone, when the functional properties of tea became much more emphasized rather than its social connotations in previous dynasties.
Tea's functional properties discovered by Chinese medical doctors and scholars were probably the most significant reason for its popularity. Shen Nong Materia Medica recorded that Shen Nong used tea as antidote. Hua Tuo, the famous Chinese physician in Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) is often quoted for his statement, "to drink bitter tea constantly makes one think better." Tea's ability to improve mental functions may explain why tea drinking was popular among Buddhist monks in Wei and Jin Dynasties. We may find many other properties of tea such as quenching thirst, dispelling grease, suppressing dyspepsia and improving eyesight researched by scholars of later time.
Today, tea represents in China a fundamental cultural element. Tea culture is defined by the way tea is produced, prepared and consumed and how people interact with tea. It reflects ethnic, esthetic and ethic characteristics of civilization in different regions at different times. Cultural implications of tea can be mostly found in ceremonies such as wedding, funerals and daily life etiquette. Tea drinking as well as using tea for different social interactions indicates a life style. People often liken drinking tea in leisure to living outside the secular world. Elegance, simplicity, frugality and intellectuality are most significant characteristics to tea as a media for self-cultivation, health improvement and character building.