You may have seen a barista pour milk foam into a coffee, upon which a beautiful pattern appears. But have you seen the art in a cup of tea?
你或許見過咖啡師把奶泡倒進(jìn)咖啡，在表面拉出一個美麗的圖案。但在茶湯上，你見過這種藝術(shù)嗎?

Dian cha is a tea art from the Song Dynasty. The art begins with pouring water over fine powdered tea, creating a paste and then adding more hot water, constantly whisking it by hand with a bamboo whisk. It is believed that the art later spread to other parts of East Asia, including Japan. In 2019, it was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Runzhou district, Zhenjiang city, Jiangsu province.
點(diǎn)茶是一門起源于宋代的茶藝。首先，將水倒入茶粉中，調(diào)和成茶膏，然后向（余下的）茶粉里注入更多熱水，手持茶筅不斷擊打。人們認(rèn)為點(diǎn)茶技藝后來傳播到包括日本在內(nèi)的東亞的其他地區(qū)。2019年，點(diǎn)茶被列為江蘇省鎮(zhèn)江市潤州區(qū)的非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)。

“It’s like adding bells and whistles to tea and giving people a stronger sense of occasion, so drinking tea is more fun,” said 40-year-old Han Zheming.
40歲的韓喆明說：“對茶進(jìn)行藝術(shù)加工，可以讓人們有更強(qiáng)的儀式感，增加品飲的趣味。”

The Shanghai designer has been fascinated by dian cha since childhood.
來自上海的設(shè)計師韓喆明從小就對點(diǎn)茶著迷。

“My mother loves traditional culture and I have been leaning toward it under her influence,” said Han.
韓喆明說：“我母親是傳統(tǒng)文化愛好者，受她的影響，我也踏上了這條道路?！?/span>

After he graduated from the China Academy of Art in Zhejiang province in 2006, Han began his attempt at reviving the art form.
2006年，韓喆明從浙江中國美術(shù)學(xué)院畢業(yè)，之后開始嘗試復(fù)活點(diǎn)茶這一藝術(shù)形式。

He said during the process of dian cha, the froth resembles paper while the tea paste is like ink. But “drawing” on the tea foam is not easy.
韓喆明說，點(diǎn)茶的泡沫類似紙張，而茶膏則像墨水。但在茶湯泡沫上“作畫”并不容易。

“When it comes to traditional paintings, it is about the soft brush against the hard paper, but with the tea, it is the other way round,” Han said. “It’s the hard teaspoon against the soft froth.”
“在國畫里，毛筆在紙上作畫是‘軟碰硬’，但是在點(diǎn)茶中正相反，” 韓喆明說，“用茶勺在松軟的茶湯泡沫上作畫是‘硬碰軟’。”

Creating patterns on the tea foam is cautious but quick work. Usually, the whole process has to be completed within 10 minutes. The ideal state is when the tea’s temperature is around 40 C and ready for the palate. It was through trial and error that Han got the hang of dian cha. “Usually, it takes a year of practice for one to be able to do it,” Han added.
在茶沫上作畫，下筆需謹(jǐn)慎且快速。一般來說，從開始點(diǎn)茶到畫作完成，時間必須要控制在10分鐘內(nèi)。創(chuàng)作的理想條件是茶的溫度在40攝氏度左右，剛好可以入口時。韓喆明經(jīng)歷了反復(fù)試驗，終于掌握了點(diǎn)茶的竅門，他補(bǔ)充道： “通常，一個人需要經(jīng)過一年的練習(xí)，才能完全掌握點(diǎn)茶的技巧?！?/span>

To spread dian cha culture, Han put the process of tea-whisking and drawing on social media platforms, including Xiaohongshu, Bilibili and Douyin, attracting more than 20,000 followers.
為了推廣點(diǎn)茶文化，韓喆明把點(diǎn)茶作畫的過程發(fā)布在小紅書、嗶哩嗶哩和抖音等社交媒體上，吸引了超過2萬名粉絲。

Speaking about his understanding of this tea art, Han said it’s “to increase the aesthetics” rather than change the essence of tea.
談到對這種藝術(shù)的理解，韓喆明說，對于茶的藝術(shù)加工是為了“提升美感”，而不是取代茶的本質(zhì)。

“As well as poems, calligraphy and paintings that were created back then, I want more people to understand the items used by people to drink tea, and the reasons behind the ways they prepared tea,” he explained.
韓喆明說，“除了宋代文人在玩茶時留下的詩詞、書畫作品等，我希望大家可以了解宋代飲茶的器物，以及當(dāng)時文人為什么要那么玩茶。”

以上文章內(nèi)容選自《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報高中版》，詳情請見《21世紀(jì)學(xué)生英文報高中版》高二869期