Session 09: Pre-Tang China ①: Legends & beginnings

Topics

◊ Revisit teas for identification
❖ Chinese Legends associated with the origins of tea consumption (revisited)

• Shen Nong ("Holy Farmer") and his Materia Medica (神農本草經, Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, Han period)
• Bodhidharma

Thoughts—read before class, revisit for tests

We consider the place of tea within culture. Origin legends are an important markers for establishing and reconfirming in an ongoing way that place. We revisit the two primary legends for how tea came to China and, while we are at it, contrast this with the discovery legend of coffee. The "weight" placed on tea is seen from this other angle, since a similar "weight" is placed on coffee in the documentary we will see a portion of. Reviewing the legends before class helps make this discuss go more smoothly and we can bore down more deeply.

Sidenote: The reading for this session is light but very soon the reading required for this class gets heavier. You might want to look ahead to the next several sessions and see what I mean, and plan your work for this class accordingly. We switch gears now from tea basics to tea culture history and preparation for class becomes more challenging.

Required—to be completed for today's session

✓ Become very familiar with legend portion (from an analytic point of view — what do they suggest) of: Camellia Sinensis Origins & Physicals [bSpace, PPT].
✓ Locate on bSpace the Venn diagram worksheet titled Compare Legends (bSpace, PDF), print out at least one copy for your group (and your own copy if you want). While reading the Camellia Origins & Phsycials PPT, complete two of the three spheres, or come with ideas for your group on how to complete it. In class I will screen a video and ask you to finish the diagram, making a copy for me (tear at the dotted line), to share with the class, if time allows. YOU CAN WRITE SMALL BUT PLEASE WRITE VERY CLEARLY SINCE I WILL HAVE TO READ QUICKLY ONCE I RECEIVE YOUR SUBMISSION.

Multimedia notes

❖ Coffee legends (brief clips from a KQED TV-documentary titled "Black Coffee [Part 1]: The Irresistible Bean"

Links

⇢ No specific links. The coffee documentary is easy to locate on Google; it continues to be screened on public broadcasting networks and is available on disc via Netflix.

Other

None.

Links to each session page

Sun, Sept 1, 2013: I am migrating this site to a new site. It takes time. During this transition, there are two ways to access a particular day's web page. You can start with the new EA109 Fall 2013 Course Guide page, our official top page. It will take you directly to the new pages and redirect to old pages when necessary. Or you can use the below chart. It will take you directly to the day's session page—the new one when it exists, the old one when it has yet to be migrated. Greenhighlight means the new page exists. Sorry for the dust and mess during construction!