Letter From The Editor

Tea culture and appreciation have been a part of human life for centuries. Cha has sat steaming gently between great kings as they discussed the fate of empires, been the sweet cup given to the groom in a thousand-thousand weddings, and given in askance by a student seeking life and guidance from his master. It has meant friendship, been on first dates and accompanied an endless hall of other meals celebrating births, deaths and everything between. Tea has inspired great masterpieces of art— a legacy of painting and calligraphy beyond even the mountain of teaware and teapots created in its honor. It has also been the sip that moved countless pens to poetry and great literature, and the calm melody of so many concerts. Tea is at home with the highest spirituality and the most mundane of lifeways. There is great history written in the veins of this simple leaf, and oceanic presence in the water that has embraced it over and again these many ages.

How can we refrain from poetic license when our aim is the celebration of such a profound art in all its intricate and endless ways? The Art of Tea is a magazine written out of a pure joy for all things tea-related. And such a passion can’t help but convey emotion. From science to sculpture, teas to the mountains where they are grown, we will do our best to explore and cover all the history, culture and art into which tea has found its way. Every author, editor, publisher and clerk here is a tea-lover. All of us have something more than a career at stake. Many of the writers for our Chinese and English magazines are unpaid. They write purely out of a desire to share tea culture and appreciation with more people worldwide.

We aspire to become but another medium of art through which tea is commemorated. We hope that our magazine won’t just be about the art of tea, but will in fact become a part of and an expression of that art itself.