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The Tea Bow
Once upon a time in 1700s China, there lived a Manchurian emperor name Qian Long who was considered the luckiest monarch who ever lived. His kingdom was peaceful, no wars were fought and he ruled in a period of great prosperity. He was such an able ruler that his people loved him, and his enemies revered him. He avidly collected art and enjoyed the best of food and drink. Best of all, he had a great taste for tea, and likes to travel to remote regions to personally inspect the spring harvests of teas he enjoyed. Tribute tea became a tithe of great honor.
With peace and prosperity came great boredom. The emperor was quite beside himself with ennui one day when he called his trusted man servant to his side, and bade him to get him ready for an incognito visit outside the palace. In those days, any journeys taken by the emperor required weeks of preparation and fuss, involving route planning, body guards, and destination preparation. Qian Long decided that he wanted to live one day as a commoner, something he has never known, and wanted to dress in the clothing of an ordinary scholar for a visit to a teahouse. After all, what better past time than to sip tea without interruption from his court, and eavesdrop on the lives of the people he ruled. His manservant acquiesced and the two dressed as scholars and left the palace in stealth. Prior to the departure, Qian Long said to his servant, ‘Make sure you do not give my identity away to anyone. One, it’s dangerous if anyone knew the emperor was out without his body guards, and Two, I want to live an entire day as a commoner. If you gave away my identity in any way, I will execute you’ The servant nodded, thinking that after all, not too many people have ever seen the emperor in person and it would not be difficult to cover up his identity.
The emperor’s heart soared when they reached a renowned and elegant teahouse, situated over a lotus pond full of fragrant blooms and koi fish. Willow trees sway gently near the open balcony Qian Long sat, sipping an equally fragrant cup of Long Jing Tea (DragonWell), his very favorite. His servant sat quietly opposite, attending to his every needs.
Suddenly, a childlike sense of mischief struck the emperor, and he poured his servant a cup of tea. The manservant, shocked, stood up and almost knocked his tea over in his attempt to get on his hands and knees and bow to the emperor.
The rule in those days was that only the emperor was served, and that the emperor never serves anyone. If the emperor so much as hand an item to someone, they must kneel immediately and bow three times to the emperor for that honor. If he didn’t, it was an executable offense.
But the servant stopped in his tracks right before he bowed. Why, if he got on his hands and knees in a crowded public teahouse like this, for sure everyone will know that this is the emperor and he would have given his identity away. That would be an executable offense. If he did not thank the emperor properly for that service of tea, it would also be executable. What should he do?
Being a quick witted fellow, the servant sat down calmly, noting the glee in the emperor’s eyes. ‘He’s testing me’, he thought. He quietly held out his hand, bent the first two fingers and rapped the table three times with his knuckles. The knuckles resembled knees, and the rapping resembled bowing. This clandestine bowing technique demonstrated both the requisite respect as well as the emperor’s request to remain incognito. No one in the teahouse knew any different. Highly approving of his servant’s solution, the emperor allowed the servant to fill his cup and did not try to give him a hard time thereafter. They satisfactorily enjoyed the afternoon with their tea, a calm breeze wafting with the scent of the lotus flowers dreamily carried the emperor back to the palace.
In memory of that occasion, today, we tap our knuckles 3 times on the table to thank our hosts whenever we were served tea. A new tradition was started that day!
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