唐代僧人飲茶詩研究

Poetry on Tea by Tang Monks

中國茶文化的發展結合雅俗，融冶儒、道、釋文化精髓於一爐。茶文化的起源很早，但飲茶與生命境界的思想結合則是到六朝以後才發展起來。六朝時期，飲茶不僅成為文人生活美學，也同時成為道教與佛教修練的憑藉。禪宗飲茶則是到唐開元時期才大興，不僅於中唐已經成了生活風尚，更進一步進入禪林文化，形成「茶禪」文化。唐代飲茶屬於「煎茶道」的興盛期，從此茶道影響中國深遠，進而傳播鄰邦，成為日本的國粹文化。日本的茶道號稱是禪宗的產物，其實日本茶道源自唐宋的煎茶與點茶，其淵源可上溯自中唐，更是中唐禪林文化的表徵。日本茶道精神講究清寂的「佗び」的禪境，也是源自中唐。
雖然唐代茶禪大興，但是我們在唐代的茶書和全唐文中卻找不到茶禪相關紀錄，只有禪林清規中有一點點記載。究竟唐代茶禪的發展面貌如何，無由得知。本文只好轉從全唐詩中尋找線索，或許可在唐代僧人飲茶詩中一窺唐代茶禪興盛的內在理路。
本文嘗試整理出唐代僧人飲茶詩共131首，僧人30家。發現唐代飲茶文化廣泛流傳於各僧院中，僧人不只飲茶參禪，也以茶供佛。僧人與文人之間，除了以詩文會友之外，也因大量飲茶與文會的結合而產生了「茶宴」風尚。可以進一步了解唐代僧俗往來、以茶會友的痕跡，更可以觀察茶與禪結合的原理與方式，還原禪茶文化中盛傳的「茶禪一味」之真相，間接證明唐代詩僧的興盛原因。

While tea meditation was popular during the Tang dynasty, extant prose from this period contains no mention of it. There are only a few statements that can be found in written rules for Buddhist monasteries. However, Tang poetry provides a possible look into the form and extent of tea culture at this period in history.This paper analyzes a total of 131 poems on tea written by 30 different monks. It is found that tea culture had spread to virtually every monastery in the Tang. Not only did monks meditate while drink tea, they also presented it as an offering to Buddha. Monks and men of letters traditionally interacted via prosaic and poetic compositions. During this time, tea also became a medium by which the two different groups came together, resulting in the prevailing custom of tea parties. These provide insights into the interaction between monks and the outside world, as well as why and how tea became a part of meditation.