UNCLE HAYTO'S TEA TALES

The Ten Virtues of Cha

According to tradition, Myōei Shonin[1]of Toga-no-ō received some tea plants from Eisai Shōnin[2] and planted them there. To this day, both connoisseurs of tea and devotees of sadō (the Way of Tea) consider this tea to be the absolute best, largely because Shonin himself used it. He once wrote down what he considered to the, as he called them, the Ten Virtues of Tea:

1. Has the blessing of all the Gods.
2. Promotes filial piety.
3. Drives away the Devil.
4. Drives away drowsiness.
5. Keeps the Five Viscera[3] in harmony.
6. Fights off disease.
7. Strengthens friendships.
8. Disciplines the mind and body.
9. Calms the passions.
10. Gives a peaceful death.
[1] Myōei Shonin is credited with being the first actual tea manufacture in Japan.
[2] Eisai (1141 – 1215) was a Zen Buddhist monk. A bit of a renegade of the Tendai Buddhist School, he took up the Rinzai school of Zen and after studying in China, brought the discipline to Kyoto and Kyushu. This drew heavy criticism from the Tendai leaders and Eisai found himself charged with heresy. In 1199 he fled to Kamakura were Hōjō Masako took him under his protection and made him abbot of Kennin-ji Temple.
[3] The internal organs in a human body can be classified into five viscera organs (Wu Zang) and six bowel organs (Liu Fu). The five zang organs are: heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys. The six fu organs are: stomach, small intestine, large intestine, gallbladder, urinary bladder and Triple Energizer (San Jiao).