魯曉敏

唐朝初年，道教宗師、越國公葉法善在浙西南松陽縣境內(nèi)的卯山道場修煉期間，培育出極品“卯山仙茶”。在唐高宗的盛邀下，他提著一簍“卯山仙茶”跨進(jìn)了朝廷的中樞，“卯山仙茶”成為皇宮養(yǎng)生茶在歷史上陡然生輝，荒蠻的松陽第一次以茶鄉(xiāng)的身份進(jìn)入唐宮的視野。

卯山仙茶，唐宮中的養(yǎng)生茶

正宗的“卯山仙茶”當(dāng)然還要去卯山品嘗，接待我的是卯山“天師殿”一位中年道長，青衣布鞋，臉上藏斂著無數(shù)滄桑。閑聊中得知他的俗名叫葉羅生，系葉法善第53世孫，年輕時在江西龍虎山修煉多年，后回“天師殿”擔(dān)任住持。

葉道長將一只藍(lán)花碗端到我的面前，碗里鋪著一層茶干。道長提起茶壺，白騰騰的沸水灑進(jìn)碗里，茶干在沸水中翻滾、旋轉(zhuǎn)、開放、舒展，并在沸水的沖勁下呼呼地發(fā)出了嫩綠的芽兒來，一會兒工夫香氣絲絲飄逸而出，春潮漲滿碗口。久聞其名的“卯山仙茶”就在面前，深吸一口氣，裊裊清香進(jìn)入了五臟六腑。細(xì)細(xì)地啜了一口，苦澀，性烈，攜著草木的狂野，帶著鋒利的棱角，我疑惑地看著這盞茶，不由地皺了皺眉頭。

道長讀懂了我的心思，他解釋道：“這茶是實(shí)實(shí)在在的無公害無污染的有機(jī)茶。施主如果喝不慣，可以將第一道茶水倒去，第二道一定回味無窮。”依照道長所說，再斟了一碗，一口一口地慢慢品味，茶汁在嘴唇上咂著，果然味道剛?cè)嵯酀?jì)，苦中藏甘，隱約帶著一股豪氣。沖過幾道水，那碗卯山茶依舊濃釅，芳香如初。

端著一碗添得滿滿的茶水，與道長聊聊茶事，抬頭滿眼峰巒，低頭山野氣象。再細(xì)細(xì)地端詳著這碗茶，一張鶴發(fā)童顏的面影浮現(xiàn)出來……

那是唐代一個薄霧初開的清晨，葉法善踏進(jìn)了長松山的深山老林，肩上扛著一把鋤頭，身上斜斜地挎著一只竹簍，他仔細(xì)地在野草灌木中搜尋著。突然，一種熟悉的香氣撲鼻而來，一株葉子形如雀舌的草木進(jìn)入了視線，那是一株上好的野茶！他趕緊挽起袖子，小心翼翼地將它挖出放進(jìn)了竹簍。他已經(jīng)不記得這是第幾次進(jìn)山，終于找到了這株夢寐以求的野茶。其后，又陸續(xù)找到十幾株一樣的野茶，將它們移植到卯山。葉法善將野茶培育改良成茶中極品，就是后來被大書特書的“卯山仙茶”。史料記載：“卯山仙茶竹葉形，深綠色，茶水色清、味醇?！?/p>

葉法善被時人譽(yù)為“道中宗師，人中神仙，醫(yī)中華佗，茶中圣手”，在唐顯慶年間已經(jīng)名滿天下。最讓人津津樂道的是他們家族的長壽，世居卯山的葉法善享年105歲，他的家族先后出現(xiàn)了三位年過百歲的高壽之人，五代平均年齡超過了80歲，成為“人瑞”家族。在古代，超長壽往往預(yù)示著非人間的力量，這是葉法善備受推崇的原因之一。唐高宗為求長生之道，盛情邀請葉法善入宮，進(jìn)入國家最高道觀景龍觀擔(dān)任住持。唐王朝對葉法善的信任和恩寵可謂是空前的，他前后侍奉了高宗、武則天、中宗、睿宗、玄宗五代皇帝，他和張道陵是歷史上僅有的封公的宗教人士。葉法善在朝廷的另一個身份是皇帝的養(yǎng)生醫(yī)生，因?yàn)槿~法善的長壽，他的飲食習(xí)慣受到了皇室的效仿，品茗“卯山仙茶”也成為皇家的一種時尚。

葉法善根據(jù)道家教義制定了茶道，都城長安景龍觀中設(shè)有“茶堂”，專門招待皇室成員品茶，有侍茶的“茶班”，“茶班”中的道士分工明確，有“茶頭”和“施茶道人”，甚至還有一支道家樂隊，在賓客品茶的時候演奏道教樂曲助興。掃地焚香，烹茶洗硯，道音繞梁，品茶論道，以茶悟道，葉法善使得普通的品茶變成了由俗入道的神圣儀式，將品茶者由俗世引入宗教的神秘境界，讓人產(chǎn)生無限的遐想。

“卯山仙茶”因葉法善而變得炙手可熱，每到開春時節(jié)，景龍觀道士進(jìn)駐卯山，嚴(yán)格管理卯山茶的采摘、制作、運(yùn)送，一箱箱茶葉馱在馬背上翻山越嶺離開卯山向長安進(jìn)發(fā)。“卯山仙茶”產(chǎn)量很低，皇家御用和朝廷賞賜占去大半，留在民間的少之又少，家有“卯山仙茶”成為上流社會身份尊貴的標(biāo)志。

今天的卯山依舊茶葉飄香，整座山蟄伏在抽枝的芽頭下，通體碧綠，形狀如同一只倒扣的青瓷茶碗，讓人無法想象這只茶碗億萬年前曾經(jīng)是憤怒的火山口。卯山上留下很多關(guān)于葉法善的遺跡，比如通天觀遺址、天師殿、試劍石、丹井、重修的御碑亭……但是追蹤不到當(dāng)年的那些茶樹。葉道長說，“卯山仙茶”成為貢品后，茶種在松陽廣為傳播，可以說，今天名聞遐邇的松陽茶，追根溯源就是“卯山仙茶”的品種，“卯山仙茶”已經(jīng)成為一切松陽茶的代稱。

葉法善，松陽茶文化的代表

沒有任何一個松陽人能夠像葉法善一樣，因其顯赫的道行和德行對地方文化產(chǎn)生如此深遠(yuǎn)的影響。松陽很多事物都與他有關(guān)，宗教、習(xí)俗、農(nóng)事、醫(yī)藥、養(yǎng)生、茶葉、道教、音樂等等，特別是他因?qū)λ申柌璧脑僭熘Χ蛔馂樗申柕摹安枭瘛薄?/p>

作為一個出色的農(nóng)藝專家，葉法善的制茶技術(shù)達(dá)到了一個高度。在全國絕大多數(shù)地方還采用蒸青茶的制茶技術(shù)的時候，他已經(jīng)采用了炒青茶技術(shù)，以“卯山仙茶”為代表的種茶炒制技藝，代代傳承至今，為松陽今天茶產(chǎn)業(yè)的興盛奠定了基礎(chǔ)。古代喝茶與今天有些不一樣，將茶葉末或者是茶磚碎塊放入茶壺中煮沸后，灑入茶盞中飲用，到了明代才普及茶干沖泡喝茶的模式。而早在唐代的葉法善，已經(jīng)開始使用茶干泡茶，這究竟是他的發(fā)明創(chuàng)造還是由他帶入到松陽已經(jīng)不得而知。茶磚和茶干一字之差，制作茶磚的工藝相對復(fù)雜，而且費(fèi)工費(fèi)時；茶干更好地保存了茶葉的原汁原味和自然香氣，泡出來的茶水亮澤、清新，更好地保存了茶葉美觀的外形，味道更加可口。由于葉法善的大力推動，松陽制茶技術(shù)超前全國整體水平七百年的歷史，茶葉也發(fā)展成為松陽農(nóng)業(yè)的特色產(chǎn)業(yè)。

葉法善的樂善好施深遠(yuǎn)地影響了松陽人，熱心于公益事業(yè)也形成了獨(dú)具特色的松陽茶文化。相傳，葉法善為了驅(qū)除發(fā)生在松陽的瘟疫，在道觀門口和一些路口擺放著一口陶缸，泡一缸他配制的中藥茶，供給百姓飲用。瘟疫過后，那一口口陶缸中盛滿了葉法善培植的“卯山仙茶”。從唐朝開始，在松陽的每處驛站、涼亭、村口、寺廟、道觀，即使再偏遠(yuǎn)再破敗的小廟門口，按照規(guī)矩少不了一只木桶，或者是一口陶缸，里面裝滿了釅釅的濃茶。風(fēng)塵仆仆的路人揭開木蓋，用竹筒舀著飲用，守著茶缸休息片刻，卸去燥熱和疲倦后可繼續(xù)趕路。葉法善的良苦用心收到了效果，一代代的松陽人如同傳遞接力棒，在全縣各地施茶，逐漸形成松陽施茶的傳統(tǒng)。安寧亭、洞陽亭、甘露亭等數(shù)十個茶亭成為地名或者依舊頑強(qiáng)地挺立著。涼亭修繕和施茶資金主要來自社會捐助和民眾集資，俗稱“茶谷”或者“茶水糧”，即使再窮的人家也會交上自己的那份子。

葉法善一方面將高雅的道家茶文化推向上流社會，另一方面也將飲茶習(xí)慣向松陽普通百姓普及，春秋一盞溫茶滋補(bǔ)，夏天一碗涼茶清肺，冬天一杯熱茶養(yǎng)胃。松陽人性情溫順，勤懇簡樸，吃苦耐勞，這些性格的養(yǎng)成與長期飲茶的習(xí)慣是分不開的。

千年積淀，成就中國名茶之鄉(xiāng)

卯山路口，豎立著一塊松陽地圖的標(biāo)示牌，圖上標(biāo)明“卯山國家森林公園”的方位及面積。從地形上看，松陽縣仿佛一張葉子，現(xiàn)實(shí)中松陽聞名于世的也是三張葉子：茶葉，桑葉，煙葉。如今，桑葉和煙葉已經(jīng)悄然淡出了視野，惟有茶葉承接著歷史光華，至今馥郁如初。

松陽建縣于公元199年，距今已有1800多年的歷史，茶的歷史無疑更加久遠(yuǎn)。早先越人采茶為藥，漢代開始種茶，三國茶葉進(jìn)入市場流通，唐宋時茶產(chǎn)業(yè)已經(jīng)相當(dāng)成熟，明成化年間松陽茶成為貢茶，明朝以后茶業(yè)成為松陽稅收重心，民國時松陽成為浙江規(guī)模最大的產(chǎn)茶縣之一，松陽茶葉獲得首屆西湖博覽會一等獎。現(xiàn)在的松陽依然處在中國產(chǎn)茶核心區(qū)域，身處名茶包圍的松陽，依靠獨(dú)特的地理優(yōu)勢、傳統(tǒng)的歷史積淀和先進(jìn)的種植制作技術(shù)突圍而出，開創(chuàng)了一條自己的路子。2011年，松陽已有茶園11.3萬畝，茶產(chǎn)量1萬噸，茶葉產(chǎn)值8.08億元；“浙南茶葉市場”茶葉交易量達(dá)5.59萬噸，交易額接近26億元，成為浙江省最大的茶葉交易市場。

10萬農(nóng)民從事茶產(chǎn)業(yè)，他們運(yùn)用傳統(tǒng)的栽培方法，結(jié)合現(xiàn)代的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化加工技術(shù)，種植、培育、生產(chǎn)、加工技術(shù)已經(jīng)與國際接軌，“銀猴”、“碧云天”、“觀音露”、“福運(yùn)天”、“松陽山蘭”、“玉峰”、“綠谷青帝”等一個個知名品牌應(yīng)運(yùn)而生。在歷屆茶博會中，松陽茶23次獲得金獎。茶葉成為松陽最具影響力的名片，松陽成為“中國綠茶集散地”、“中國綠茶價格指數(shù)發(fā)布地”，被譽(yù)為“全國重點(diǎn)產(chǎn)茶縣”、“全國十大特色產(chǎn)茶縣”、“中國茶產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展示范縣”、“中國名茶之鄉(xiāng)”、“中國茶文化之鄉(xiāng)”。葉法善對鄉(xiāng)人的福澤以茶的形式得到了兌現(xiàn)，這些林林總總的名茶，它們的底色均來自那清爽醇香的唐朝“卯山仙茶”?！?/p>

Taoist Master and Tea in Songyang County

By Lu Xiaomin

Songyang is a rural county landlocked in mountains in the south of Zhejiang Prov-ince. In history, the agricultural county was famed for tea, mulberry, and tobacco. Now-adays, tea is a pillar industry of the countys agriculture. More than 100,000 farmers work the tea plantations across Songyangs mountains and the tea output amounts to 10,000 tons a year. In the Southern Zhejiang Tea Market, the provinces largest tea trade powerhouse located in Songyang, 55,900 tons of tea and 2.6 billion yuan change hands a year.

Songyang owes its flourishing tea pro-duction and trade to Ye Fashan (616-720), a Taoist master who cultivated his energy and explored Taoist perfection at Mount Maoshan in Songyang County in the early years of the Tang Dynasty (618-906). Tao-ism had run in his family before him and it has been running in the family since him in Songyang County. His great great grand-father, great grandfather, grandfather, and father were all Taoists and they lived long enough to allow people to think the family must have had some longevity secrets.

A prominent figure in his lifetime, Ye Fashan was considered more than a Taoist master. He was regarded as an immortal, a doctor, and a tea master. He tamed wild tea and set up the first tea plantation in the county. The homemade beverage was known as Immortal Tea of Mount Maoshan. Ye Fashan became so well known that Em-peror Gaozong (628-683) summoned him to Changan, the capital of the central empire. The master brought a basket of Immortal Tea of Mount Maoshan to the court.

The master lived to the age of 105 years, long enough to serve five emperors of the Tang Dynasty. The tea became the health beverage of the royal house and Songyang in the remote wilderness of Zhejiang be-came known as a tea production place. He was appointed abbot of Jinglong Taoist Temple in the capital. He was granted the title of dukedom. Zhang Daolin (34-156), the founding father of Taoism as a religion in the Han Dynasty (202BC-220AD), was also granted a title of dukedom. They were both Taoists and they were the only two re-ligious masters ever honored this way by a royal house in the Chinese history.

Ye Fashan established a teahouse in the capital to entertain his royal guests. The Taoist teahouse was an organization com-posed of tea waiters and a band. Ye invent-ed a whole series of ceremonies to serve tea and provide entertainment of religious magnitude.

The Immortal Tea of Mount Maoshan enjoyed popularity because of Ye Fashan. In the spring, some Taoists from Jinglong Taoist Temple came all the way to Mount Maoshan to supervise the production. After all the tea was packed, a caravan of horses carried the tea and traveled all the way from Songyang to Changan. The travel was more than 1,000 kilometers. The quantity of Immortal Tea of Mount Maoshan during the Tang was low, the largest proportion be-ing consumed by the royal house and given away as gifts. What remained was distrib-uted among the high-society people.

Ye Fashan is considered the very symbol of tea of Songyang. Locally, he is known as god of tea. He invented a series of tech-niques for tea processing. Ye processed tealeaves by baking them in a wok while other regions across the country steamed tealeaves. In ancient times, tea brewing was different from what it is today. Powdered tealeaves or tea bricks were boiled in a ket-tle before tea was poured into teacups. Ye brew tea differently. He put dried tealeaves into a cup and then pour boiled water in the cup. It was not until the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) that Yes method was widely adopted. Most of us use this brewing method today. In other words, Ye was about 700 years ahead of the rest of the country to process tealeaves and brew tea differently.

Yes impact on Songyang is more than tea. What he created and left to the people in the county is more than a flourishing tea industry. The masters footprints can be seen in various aspects of the local life: Taoism, custom, agriculture, medicine, health regime, music. Mount Maoshan is what is left by an ancient volcano. Today, a Taoist sanctuary sits quietly in the mount. Ye Luosheng, the 53rd-generation descend-ant of Ye Fashan, is abbot of the temple at Mount Maoshan. In his youth, he studied Taoism for many years at Dragon and Tiger Mountain, the sacred place of Taoism, in Jiangxi Province before he came back and assumed the abbotship at the local temple. Many sites at Mount Maoshan go back to the Tang Dynasty. However, the tea bushes, first cultivated by Ye Fashan, are nowhere to be seen at the mount today.

The master was a kind-hearted man. When a pestilence broke out in the county, he placed many a large pottery urn in front of the temple and by major roads and filled them with an herbal oral solution for people to take free of charge. After the pestilence, the large urns became containers of tea for passersby. From the Tang dynasty on, travelers in Songyang could always get tea drinks from a wooden tub free of charge at post houses, temples, village entrances, and roadside pavilions. A wooden tub had a cover and a bamboo ladle and tea was pre-pared every day for travelers. Some people do not believe the tea hospitality provided Songyang residents, but dozens of local place names retain the word pavilion (亭) and many roadside pavilions can still be seen in Songyang today. These roadside pa-vilions and free tea were made possible by donations from the public. □