Letter to Feng Ching
Ts'ai Hsiang (1012-1067), Sung dynasty
Album leaf, ink on paper, 29.7 x 39.7 cm

Ts'ai Hsiang, a native of Fukien Province, was a famous calligrapher and one of the Four Sung Masters. A learned scholar, he also made an important contribution to the history of tea with his "Tea Record (Ch'a lu)". The earliest Sung text on the subject, it describes the production and transportation of "small dragon" tea as tribute to the court and is the first to mention the famous Chien ware "hare's fur" bowls.

This work is a letter written to Feng Ching in the fourth month of 1051 on the day that Ts'ai Hsiang left Hangchow. The contents express his regards to Feng upon embarking on his journey. Ts'ai also included a gift of "large dragon" caked tea and a Yueh celadon tea bowl. At the time, both were considered precious, especially the "large dragon" tea which was probably produced as tribute to the court at the time. Ts'ai Hsiang, when he was in office in Fukien in 1047, oversaw the production of "small dragon" tea for tribute to the court. Neither it nor "large dragon" tea were readily available to ordinary folk.

In the mid-eleventh century, tea-tasting contests became popular, as evidenced by such prized items as "small dragon" caked tea and "hare's-fur" tea bowls. Though Yueh celadon tea bowls from earlier times were still in use, they were beginning to fade in popularity by this time. That is why Ts'ai wrote that the tea was "precious" but the celadon "slightly crude".

This calligraphy in running script is steady and the characters beautiful. Some characters reveal elements of standard script while others verge on semi-cursive. The resulting mix gives this letter a sense of freedom and spontaneity that makes it a masterpiece of Ts'ai Hsiang's running script.