Common sense of Coffee Culture the ratio of Chinese tea to western coffee culture

Tea, coffee and cola are called the world's three major drinks, the largest consumption of tea and coffee. Coffee has an irreplaceable position in the lives of Westerners, whether in schools, companies, shopping malls or at home, no one does not take coffee cups to enjoy; tea is deeply rooted in Chinese life, it is not only a drink, but also carries Chinese culture. Tea and coffee represent two different cultures, Chinese and Western.

(1)History of Tea Culture and History of Coffee Culture

Since Shennong tasted Baicao tea, at the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, Bashu people had begun to drink tea. In 1066 BC, King Wu conquered Zhou, and tea was already used as tribute. In the later period of primitive commune, tea became an item exchanged for goods. During the Warring States Period, tea had a certain scale. In the Han Dynasty, tea became a special tonic for Buddhist meditation. In the Wei, Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, tea was based on the Yangtze River and popularized to the north, and the wind of drinking tea spread. Sui and Tang Dynasties, universal tea drinking, tea industry prosperity, there have been tea houses, tea banquets, tea parties, advocate guests to worship tea; at this time also produced the world's first tea culture monograph "Tea Classic." At the beginning of Song Dynasty and the end of Ming Dynasty, tea culture developed to its heyday, and tea fighting, tribute tea and tea giving were popular in the world. In the Qing Dynasty, tea culture developed further, opera and folk arts entered teahouse performances. Qing tea in foreign trade has always been in a position to exceed. With the development of history, people have enriched, enriched and developed tea culture in various activities of tea.

By comparison, coffee beans were first boiled in boiling water around AD 1000. Yemen began growing coffee around the 15th century. Venetian merchants first brought coffee to Europe in 1615. By 1683, Europe's first café had opened in Venice, and the most famous was the Florence Cafe, which opened in Piazza San Marco in 1720. During their colonization, the Dutch planted coffee in Malabar, India, and brought coffee to Java, Indonesia, in 1699. Coffee entered America in 1668 and became popular as a fashionable drink in South America, followed by coffee houses in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other North American cities. Coffee entered China Taiwan in 1884. This shows that Chinese tea culture has a much longer history than Western coffee culture.

(2)Moderation of Tea Culture and Rationality of Coffee Culture

China is located in the east of Eurasia, facing the sea, with a vast territory and abundant products. Chinese culture grew up in a relatively closed and very broad geographical space. Cultural traditions were determined by semi-closed, temperate continental geographical environment and agricultural self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy, that is, patriarchal society of "family and country integration". For thousands of years, the dominant ideology in Chinese society was the traditional Confucian ideology and culture based on the small-scale peasant economy, characterized by "moderation","regularity","balance" and "symmetry". Confucianism introduced the idea of "moderation" into Chinese tea culture. Tea is born in the mountains, bearing nectar moisture, its bitter taste with sweet, drinking it can make people clear mind, peace of mind, clear-headed, these characteristics of tea and Confucianism advocated by the doctrine of the mean. Tea is a clean thing, through drinking tea can introspect, save people, but also can raise clean, give tea to clean, noble character. Confucianism believes that through drinking tea can communicate ideas, create a harmonious atmosphere, enhance mutual friendship, coordinate interpersonal relations, and promote harmony. Confucianism derived from the doctrine of moderation and thought, in the eyes of Confucianism and is in, and is appropriate, and is when, and is everything right, no more than also. And tea culture from tea picking, tea making, tea boiling, tea, tea, drink and so on a whole set of tea activities are permeated with the idea of harmony. When making tea,"sweet and sour bitter tune Taihe, master the moderate amount of speed"; when entertaining guests,"serving tea for the elderly, preparing tea thick meaning to express strong feelings"; when drinking tea,"drinking good tea to know deep, praise this grass is Chinese and English"; the environment and mood of tea tasting is "general accident elegant to Xuhua, quiet far hidden Shen Yi". These all embody Confucian moderation, Ming theory, modesty and frugality.

Western culture originated and developed in a relatively open geographical environment, and there was no typical agricultural area that could always control the entire cultural trend like China. The birthplace of western culture is ancient Greece, Rome, islands and peninsulas on the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Island culture is not developed by agriculture, but by competitive business. The development of commodity economy and the open marine geographical environment make westerners extroverted and active. They have independent personality, pioneering spirit and trading ideas. Western countries survive in wars, competitions and struggles. The geographical environment and abnormal development of productive forces do not allow Westerners to "think twice" and must make prompt judgments and actions. European countries are relatively small in territory, unable to form the natural economic conditions of self-sufficiency and long-term isolation like ancient China. Changes in national boundaries, migration of nationalities, consistency of ancient customs, myths and folktales have laid a deep foundation for cultural exchanges and mutual exchanges between them, and have also created a spirit of cultural openness.

Western philosophers regard reason as a fundamental symbol that distinguishes man from animals, which establishes the keynote of western culture rationality. Western culture is rationalist culture, which aims to construct an abstract ideal world in self-consciousness, taking those abstract subjective laws as the essence of the world, and then achieving rational alienation of the world. This is also reflected in coffee culture. Coffee brewing from grinding coffee beans to appliances, and then to the water temperature ratio have strict requirements, brewing out of fragrance, taste strong. If fresh water is boiled, it will contain an appropriate amount of carbon dioxide to increase the aroma of coffee, but continuing to boil the water will reduce the evaporation of carbon dioxide, so the best water temperature is 95 ° C, the water temperature is too low to make the coffee taste can not be fully released, the water temperature is too high will make coffee ingredients deteriorate, too much or less is not good. Another example is that coffee for one person is 8 grams light, 12 grams strong, and 120cc water. All of this reflects the rationalism of coffee culture.

(3)The Unity of Heaven, Earth and Man in Tea Culture and the Dichotomy of Heaven and Man in Coffee Culture

Tea culture is a Taoist doctrine of heaven, earth and human unity. Taoism believes that heaven, earth and man are equal, and should adapt to nature and actively understand the law, so that people can get the greatest satisfaction. Tea is produced in the forest of the mountains, receives the essence of heaven and earth, and receives the rain dew of abundant earth. It contains the charm of Taoism's "indifference","quietness" and "returning to nature", that is,"man governs the earth, the earth governs the sky, the heaven governs the Tao, and the Tao is natural". Although traditional Chinese literati received Confucian education, when they suffered political setbacks, the Taoist thought of indifferent to fame and wealth and returning to nature would affect them. Therefore, they generally followed a mode of life, that is,"reaching the world and helping the world, and being poor is good for themselves." Literati use tea poems to pursue the ideal state of mind melting into mountains and rivers. Su Dongpo's "Jijiang Jiancha":"Living water must also be boiled with live fire, and self-fishing stones to get deep and clear. The big ladle stores the moon in the spring urn, and the small spoon divides the river into night bottles. The snow milk has been turned over and fried feet, and the loose wind suddenly makes a diarrhea sound. Three bowls of dried intestines are forbidden, and the length of the deserted city is changed." Through tea this drink, to understand tea ceremony, heaven, humanity.

Western culture advocates separation between man and nature, and the two are opposite relations. Man must obtain material means of subsistence from nature if he wants to survive. Westerners advocate individualism, which is embodied in its humanitarian tradition in thought and free competition in action, which is prominently manifested in the affirmation of individual personality, value, dignity and other aspects, and the respect and advocacy of individual independence. Western philosophy pursues the understanding of nature and the grasp of the law of development of everything. In order to conquer nature, he distinguishes clearly between heaven and man, subject and object and self by means of demonstration and strict speculation, so as to achieve the understanding of nature itself. Arabia, the earliest coffee eater in history, although it had mocha, the busiest port city in the world at that time, banned the export of any coffee seeds. In 1616, the Dutch finally smuggled the surviving coffee trees and seeds to the Netherlands. After understanding the objective process of coffee growth, they began to build artificial greenhouses suitable for coffee growth in tropical or subtropical climates.

(4)Zen in Tea Culture and Christian Spirit in Coffee Culture

Zen Buddhism practice content, divided into precepts, concentration, wisdom three kinds. The so-called concentration and wisdom are to ask monks to meditate and practice, rest their hearts and meditate without distractions, so as to realize the Great Way. Because sitting for a long time is easy to produce fatigue, many monks worry about dozing off, and tea has the pharmacological function of refreshing and quenching thirst, so tea and Buddhism are bound together, and the earliest opportunity may be the sleep function of tea. Later, Buddhist monks had a further understanding of tea. They found that tea tasted bitter and slightly sweet, tea soup was light and clean, suitable for the quiet and indifferent attitude of life advocated by Buddhism, and drinking tea helped to practice meditation and enlightenment. Therefore, Buddhist understanding of tea rose from the material level to the spiritual level. Many ancient famous teas in the history of our country were originally planted, picked and processed in monasteries. For example, the most famous tea in Tang Dynasty, Mengding Tea, was produced in Ya 'an, Sichuan Province. It is said that it was planted by Master Puhui of Ganlu Temple in Han Dynasty. It is the earliest artificially cultivated tea tree in China. It is classified as one of tribute tea because of its excellent quality. Buddhist monasteries not only grow tea trees, but also tea has become an important part of the daily activities of Buddhist temples. In many famous temples, there are tea halls or tea rooms, as well as "tea drums" and "tea heads". The tea in the temple is called "temple tea". Tea also plays a role in harmonizing the relationship between monks and nuns in Buddhist monasteries, making the feelings between monks and nuns more closely linked. In addition, on the Buddha's Christmas Day, special personnel bathe the Buddha's body with tea called "washing Buddha tea" for pilgrims to drink, pray for disaster extension.

According to Christian legend, in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia in North Africa, a shepherd named Kaldi, who often went out to herd sheep, suddenly noticed that his sheep were jumping and active. He looked carefully and found that they were eating red fruits on the ground. He guessed that it was the red fruits that made the sheep so excited. Then, he took red fruit to seek advice from a priest in a neighboring monastery. The priest listened to the shepherd's words and became curious. He sent several red fruits to his mouth. After a while, the priest became lively. Since then, all priests have eaten several red fruits before Mass, which were later named the addition fruit, which is the coffee fruit that has survived to this day. Thus coffee is also used for refreshment among Western Christians.

As we all know, Western civilization originated from ancient Middle East, Greece and Rome. Religious and secular consciousness constitute the basic framework of Western civilization. Westerners believe that God values the soul of the individual, and that there is an antagonistic relationship between human body and soul, between any person, man and nature. Dominated by such values, Westerners have a strong sense of personal struggle and competition. Dante believed that there was no family without individuals, and that the glory and nobility of families lay first and foremost in having glorious and noble individuals. The affirmation of human worth and dignity is first and foremost the awakening of each human being's self-consciousness, the determination and development of his own limits to his own nature according to his free will. For Westerners, life is like brewing coffee. If something you have done loses its freshness, you can re-explore and re-venture. Just like coffee, after brewing once, it loses its original flavor and becomes light and tasteless in taste. Then you can discard it and start brewing it again.