23rd
Who are the 12 Gentlemen?
The story behind the Twelve Gentlemen is simple and yet terribly complicated at the same time. They are a grand reflection of Chinese tea and of an historical society of perplexing dimensions.
The Twelve Gentlemen were first seen in a painting created by a famous artist of the Nan Song Dynasty (1269 A.D.) known as Shen An Lao Ren (审安老人). In an exquisitely detailed manner, Shen An Lao Ren drew up the names, the images and depictions of each. And yet, contrary to what our intuition would have, the Twelve Gentlemen were not people at all. Rather, the Twelve Gentlemen were twelve unique elements or tools for preparing tea. The elements were referred to as ‘Gentlemen’ as the term represented the highest echelons of society at the time (gentlemen were also the classical name for ‘teachers’ in Chinese). It’s said that the purpose of this painting was to reflect, through the preparation of tea, the intricacy and intimacy of society at the time.
The names of each of the twelve elements devised by Shen An Lao Ren were based on the names of Nan Song government officials. Hence, the artist intended to personify each element as the embodiment of current popular culture. Alas, the Twelve Gentlemen were in fact, not people at all.
The names of each the Twelve Gentlemen in Chinese are as follows (an English translation will follow soon):
韦鸿胪：指的是炙茶用的烘茶炉
木待制：指的是捣茶用的茶臼
金法曹：指的是碾茶用的茶碾
石转运：指的是磨茶用的茶磨
胡员外：指的是量水用的水勺
罗枢密：指的是筛茶用的茶罗
宗从事：指的是清茶用的茶埽
漆雕密阁：指的是盛茶末用的盏托（漆雕是复姓）
陶宝文：指的是茶盏
汤提点：指的是注汤用的汤瓶
竺副司：指的是调沸茶汤用的茶筅
司职方：指的是清洁茶具用的茶巾
In the meantime you can see some pics of the tea tools here: http://www.charen.cn/html/chawenhua/chaju/20070206/11211.html
