Teahouse Respite

Butchart Gardens - 05 Jun 2022

1 亭前花開誘路人 Before the roadside teahouse are blossoms to entice passersby,
2 紅艷綠靜弄詩韻 Seductive reds and subdued greens to tease a poet’s rhyming.
3 世上自閑幾何得 When would we give ourselves to the luxury of having leisure?
4 茶水半壺歇今辰 With half a jug of watered down tea, a few moments in respite!

1 In ancient times, small teashops along well-traveled roads for weary travelers to rest and enjoy a cup of tea. Most were run by locals. It is also considered a great way to accumulate merits for afterlife as a charity. Flowers can also refer to a pretty maid, usually the owner’s daughter to help out the business. Family members are preferred since they can be trusted and not to mention any money earned is kept within the family.

2 Red is used to describe the rosy beauty of youth and green for her graceful demeanor. The first four characters were unabashedly adapted from 李清照’s lyrical poem, 如夢令,

昨夜雨疏風驟
濃睡不消殘酒.
試問卷簾人,
卻道海棠依舊.
知否, 知否?
應是綠肥紅瘦

3 One interpretation could be scurrying travelers are too busy to notice the beauty around them. Another is a rhetorical question that the poet is asking himself when the last time he had enjoyed himself leisurely sipping a cup of tea and the eye candy before him!

4 茶水, “tea water” means a large quantity of water is used to brew inexpensive tea. 茶水淡飯 is a self-humility phrase said to avoid bragging about one’s wealth – Chinese social etiquette. As plain rice has no taste, 淡 means there are no accompanying meats, vegetables and condiments. Traditional Chinese would coil in horror in their minds when westerners brag to the world how beautiful their wives are or smart their children are. A Chinese would humbly state his wife is as yellow as dried up old lady, 黄臉婆 or their sons as scions of dogs, 犬子. This is to prevent themselves for committing hubris. Even if the child is indeed a renowned doctor, it is preferable say “a little doctor of no importance” 小醫生. This would elicit an expected polite reply of “You are too humble” etc. This way, both sides would not incur jealousy or arrogance to each other.

Thursday, July 07, 2022