法門寺 地宮 茶具 考察

The study of tea set unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple

This study compares the tea set unearthed at the Famen Temple with The fourth chapter of Tea Classics, and analyses the use of tea set based on the location of the unearthed artefacts and the record of the Account Tablet of the recordation of gold, silver and jewelry dedicated to Bodhisattva. The characteristics of the tea set in Famen Temple are as follows. Firstly, The material is silver, and the ornamentation is gilding.The tea set from Famen Temple is for the royal family only, which is given the supreme status. However, these features are different from the idea of Lu Yu, who advocated the elegance and simplicity of tea-drinking culture. Secondly, the tea set is generally heavy, with inscription describing weight, location of production, artisan, supervisor, and commissioner. Thirdly, The saucer was used as a tea set along with the glass teacup. The pale yellow, no pattern glass teacups and saucers are not as thransparent as those made around the same time in Western Asia, but at least they indicate that glass tea sets were already being made during the Tang Dynasty. Fourthly, The unearthed artefacts are divided into three categories, based on the records in the Account Tablet and the location where they were unearthed. The first category(6 pieces) are tea sets, the second(2 pieces) are inferred to be tea sets in comparison with The fourth chapter of Tea Classics, and the third(5 pieces) are incense utensils. Finally, tea pots from the Lu Yu period have yet to be unearthed. Based on the inclination of the unearthed teacups, it can be deduced that the tea-drinking method at the palace was not identical to the Lu Yu period, but more in-depth follow-up research is needed. The Famen Temple tea set used in the royal family is the oldest and highest ranking tea set found so far, which is fully representative.If the Tea Classic is the crystallization of the theory of contemporary tea culture, the tea set in the underground palace can be regarded as an empirical argument for the theory of contemporary tea culture.