A Tea Mountain Poem

Du Mu (Tu Mu) by Shangguan Zhou (上官周, b. 1665)

Tu Mu (803–852) was a poet, calligrapher, and scholar-official who lived during the late Tang dynasty. He is best known for his romantic and lyrical poetry. He was hailed as renowned and unique during the golden age of poetry in China. 

     Tu Mu began crafting this poem while on a journey into the mountains with his family. The outing was interrupted when he was issued an Imperial decree, rerouting him to supervise the preparation of an important tribute tea at Hu-Chou (modern-day Wu-Hsing in Chekiang province). During the diversion, he was struck with impressions of the beauty of the mountains and natural surroundings where the tea was cultivated.

*This poem has been kept in short lines to preserve

the efforts of the translator in keeping the meaning

of the original poem.

A Tea Mountain Poem

Nothing in Eastern Wu

Surpasses those mountains.

The tea that grows there

Is the finest Jui Ts’ao.

The foreman may be lowly,

But, ah, how talented

At preparing tribute tea!

Near the source of the stream,

We moored our rustic boat

And planted the flag

Amidst the blue-green moss.

The willows fluttered

Like shy young ladies;

In the pinewoods, birds rustled

And chattered raucously.

Steps, mounting to lofty peaks

Lost in a sea of cloud,

Led to a large flat rock

Fronting a fairy grotto.

There, where we brushed the sky,

Cheerful voices echoed,

And a towered building

Overlooked a mountain spring,

Its waters palely golden.

From a purple cliff nearby

Came the fragrance of young tea.

Our horses’ hoofs rang loudly

On the sunlit rocks,

As our sleeves danced gaily

In the mountain wind.

Echoes of distant song

Were wafted from the valley.

Birds made music

Hidden in the trees.

Light reflected in the snow

Bathed the t’an-plum blossum

It was good to have brought

All the family,

And good to be there

By the Emperor’s decree.

A curtain of fragrance hung

Amidst the leafy shadows,

And the mountain path was strewn

With fallen petals.

But, though it was early spring,

The breath of winter lingered.

Reaching the top, we paused

For tea’s refreshment.

Throughout this climb, our feelings

Had been exuberant.

Sadly we turned back

Towards the humdrum world

-Tu Mu

A Tang style painting depicting ‘wandering in the mountains’ by Wang Wei (669-759)

Translation By John Blofeld

Sources:

‘The Chinese Art of Tea’, John Blofeld

Zhu, Jincheng. "Du Mu", Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition)

by Dr. Niko Olympiadis