The connection between Buddhism and Chinese tea culture also appears in the life of Lu Yu, the author of the Classic of Tea (Cha Jing), the first major systematic work devoted to tea.
Lu Yu was raised in his youth within a Buddhist temple environment and was closely associated with the monk Zhiji.
He grew up surrounded by monastic culture and learned aspects of tea preparation during this period.
Later, he wrote the Classic of Tea, a work that would become foundational to Chinese tea culture.
The Classic of Tea is not a Buddhist scripture, and Lu Yu’s understanding of tea cannot be reduced to Buddhism alone. His work emerged from the broader cultural world of the Tang dynasty and also reflects the influence of literati culture, Confucian ideas, Daoist sensibilities, aesthetics, and everyday social life.
Still, the Buddhist monastic world formed an important part of the environment from which Chinese tea culture developed.