Chaliaoji 茶寮記

Chaliaoji 茶寮記 "Records from the tea cottage" is a book on tea written during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Lu Shusheng 陸樹聲 (1509–1605), original family name Lin 林, courtesy name Yuji 與吉, style Pingquan 平泉. He hailed from Huating 華亭 (modern Songjiang 松江, Shanghai), obtained the jinshi degree in 1551 and rose to the office of Minister of Rites (libu shangshu 禮部尚書). His posthumous name is Wendinggong 文定公. Lu wrote the books Pingquan tiba 平泉題跋, Jigu congyu 汲古叢語, Maoyu zashi 耄餘雜識, Changshui richao 長水日鈔 and Lu Xueshi zazhu 陸學士雜著. His collected writings are called Lu Wendinggong ji 陸文定公集.

The book Chaliaoji was written after Lu Shusheng's retirement and as the result of discussions he had with the Buddhist monk Mingliang 明亮 from Mt. Zhongnan 終南山 when tasting teas. It is divided into seven short chapters that are more a poetic reflection about drinking tea as a social event than an expert book on tea. The chapters talk about human qualities (Renpin 人品), classes of water (Pinquan 品泉), moments of cooking tea (Pengdian 烹點), tasting tea (Changcha 嘗茶), tea time (Chahou 茶候), companions drinking tea (Chalü 茶侶) and the merits of tea (Chaxun 茶勳). The book is therefore also known as Jiancha qi lei 煎茶七類.

The Chaliaoji is included in the series Baoyantang miji 寶顏堂秘笈, Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘, Chengshi congke 程氏叢刻, Xu Shuofu 續說郛 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編. It is also quoted in the series Chashu quanji 茶書全集 and in the Gujin tushu jicheng 古今圖書集成. The version of the Yimen guangdu is enlarged by an appendix that includes the text Chuanminglu 荈茗錄, which is part of the story collection Qingyilu 清異錄.