『Dabo』 Written by Jugueon: Study on the Tea Culture Based on the Thought of Similarity between Tea and the Life of Reclusion: Focusing on the 「Seo」 Section

Abstract

The representative text 『Dabo』 from the early Ming dynasty is a book that describes the inner thoughts and perception of tea in the life of hermit through personifying the tea and comparing its virtues to human, which had to be inevitably chosen in accordance with the historical circumstances, unlike the Confucian scholars of the Tang and Song dynasties. The form of Jugueon’s reclusion embodies the philosophy of both Confucian scholars and Taoist scholars. As a member of royal family, he sought to avoid the power struggles of the troubled royal court by adopting a prudent and protective stance for self-preservation and aspired to a life of pursuing inner cultivation of spontaneous wandering. In the section titled 「Seo」 the author describes the deep inner thoughts as a hermit and the life of reclusion in harmony with tea . Internally, it expresses the author's inner feelings of pursuing a Confucian aesthetic by sublimating the virtues of tea and radiating the brilliance of a gentle and modest attitude, while also portraying the passion and madness of wanting to pour out one's emotions to the world without hesitation, drawing them into a deep and wide personal world without inadequacy. Externally, it reveals the author's desire to distance himself from the secular world through the culture of playing and engaging with tea culture. Through the philosophy of Jugueon's reclusion depicted in 『Dabo』, one can discern the characteristics of tea culture in the Ming dynasty, distinct from that of the Song dynasty.