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Drinking tea is not only a healthy habit, but also a spiritual behavior.
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After lunch, I was full of wine and food, and I lazily lay on the sofa and took a copy of "Essays on the Four Seasons" and flipped through it. I saw a description: "After a walk in the cold rain, hot tea warms my whole body. As I drank tea, I looked around at the books and pictures around me, appreciating the happiness of quietly possessing them. I glance at my pipe, or refill it with tobacco thoughtfully. Indeed, there is nothing more comforting and inspiring than after tea – which is itself a mild stimulant – smoking. I couldn't help laughing, isn't this what "a cigarette after a meal, race over the living immortals"?
George · Gissing
"Essays on the Four Seasons" is a prose essay by United Kingdom novelist and essayist George ·. It is written about the life of a man named Henry · Croft throughout the year. In the preface to the book, Gissing says that Henry was a good friend of his, and that this man lived in extreme poverty by selling literature all his life. At the age of fifty, he was unexpectedly given an inheritance. So he moved to the countryside, wrote essays while living in seclusion, away from the hustle and bustle, and spent his old age in peace. After his death, Gissing compiled a collection of essays he had written.
In fact, "Essays on the Four Seasons" is an autobiographical collection of essays. The main character, Henry, is the author himself. George · Gissing is an interesting writer, born in 1857 in Wakevelt, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, and a graduate of Owens College, Manchester. In 1876, he was sentenced to a short prison sentence for stealing money to save a prostitute. Later, with the help of friends, he was sent to United States to make a living by teaching language classes. Gissing lived a destitute life in Chicago, almost on the verge of despair. At that time, he began to write short stories, which he contributed to the Tribune. Gissing returned to United Kingdom in 1877 and later went to Germany to study philosophy.
Gissing was gifted and was an honest, upright, and learned novelist. It is said that the prostitute he had rescued got married, but unfortunately his wife fell into a bad habit and eventually died tragically due to alcoholism. Later, Gissing remarried. This time, he married a female worker named Edith, hoping to make her an ideal intellectual woman through marriage, but Edith did not understand her husband and had no common language, and after giving birth to two children, the two divorced. Gisin fell into loneliness again, and seemed to have become an ascetic on the road of life. He has written novels such as "New Hanshi Street", "Born in Exile", "Eccentric Woman", etc. Most of the male protagonists in the book are also bitter characters, and the corrosive effect of poverty on people is the theme of all Gissing's novels.
Gissing believed neither in the mercy of the propertied nor in the resistance of the proletarians, and thus fell into pessimism and despair. Gissing admired the great United Kingdom writer Charles Dickens and tried to learn from his style. In 1898, he wrote A Study in Dickens. Of course, his novels could not catch up with Dickens and were not sought after by everyone.
Surprisingly, "Essays on the Four Seasons" was a huge hit in China. Many readers like it, not only because of the beautiful writing, but also because of the author's life situation: windfalls, people are full of warmth, worry-free, and leisurely life. During the day, you can go out to "enjoy flowers and grass", and at night you can go home to "embrace books and steal fun". The highest ideals of a reader and a book lover have become a reality in "Essays on the Four Seasons".
George · Gissing is an outstanding representative of the United Kingdom prose world, and his masterpiece "Essays on the Four Seasons" expresses to the audience the idea that tea is the most holy and prose is very beautiful through the description of the tea drinking customs of United Kingdom. And the combination of the two will inevitably bring the audience a very comfortable and casual enjoyment. The perfect collision of tea and reading often evokes resonance in people.
"Essays on the Four Seasons" expresses the idea that tea has become a necessity in people's lives, not only on the material level, but also on the spiritual level. While he is immersed in books and beautiful natural landscapes, tea also silently affects the creator's mood, his decision, and even his physical and mental health. This is the same as the way of drinking tea from the Chinese wise man.
Henry · Laicroft, the protagonist of "Essays on the Four Seasons", uses the tea party as a clue in his work, and expresses his feelings about the form of the tea party through the description of the time, place and characters where the story takes place. He writes:
"One of the most comfortable moments of my day was when I returned from an afternoon walk, when I was a little tired, took off my boots, changed into slippers, took off my shirt and changed into a comfortable, casual, shabby short jacket, and sat in a deep easy chair with soft armrests, waiting for the servant to bring me a tea tray.
Perhaps I feel the most relaxed when I drink tea. In the old days, I had to swallow snacks in a hurry, and I often felt anxious and distressed by the thought of my current job. I can't taste the aroma and flavor of what I drink. Now, the sweet fragrance that wafts from the teapot when it enters the room! The first cup of tea, what a comfort it brought me! After a few glasses, let me taste it slowly. After a walk in the cold rain, the hot tea warms me throughout. As I drink tea, I look around at the books and pictures around me and appreciate the happiness of quietly possessing them."
Tea drinking is often associated with life, and when United Kingdom people drink tea, they often think about their own lives, and connect with food and medicine, and show their way of tasting tea by paying attention to the taste and quality of tea. Tasting different teas will have different moods and associations. Drinking tea is not only a healthy habit, but also a spiritual behavior.
United Kingdom people have a habit of drinking "afternoon tea". Even in the Burrow, the people of United Kingdom will maintain their habit of drinking tea. In their eyes, tea drinking even carries a certain sacred aura: once afternoon tea begins, it means that the day's toiling is coming to an end. This means that you can enjoy the evening at leisure.
Not to mention, the collision of teacups and saucers alone can make people feel the happiness in it. When I went to a friend's house and drank tea, I expressed my friend's attitude of hospitality. When visiting a friend's house in United Kingdom, the host likes to bring the teapot and taste the fragrance of tea with the guest. And as a qualified guest, you will also maintain your interest in drinking tea like the host.
The United Kingdom romantic poet Keats also used poetry to describe the scene of lovers meeting for tea: "Little by little, eating bread and waiting for the arrival of a lover; In a silent sigh, wait until the tea cools. "Keats's poem has a very unique perspective. Tea has become a bridge between lovers. However, in the end, the tea is cold, and the lover does not come, and through the intermediary of tea, the poet expresses the emotional changes of the protagonist who does not wait for the lover. It can be seen that the trend of drinking tea does affect the daily life of United Kingdom people and is indispensable.
Although United Kingdom does not have the long history of tea cultivation like China, nor does it have the colorful tea drinking customs of China, the United Kingdom people get no less pleasure from drinking tea than Chinese people feel when drinking tea. I think this is probably the reason why "Four Seasons Essays" is popular with Chinese.
About the Author
Liu Yong, a native of Mianyang, Sichuan, is now a civil servant, loves literary and historical writing, and has published books such as "Wentong Commentary".