唐长安西明寺石茶碾考

Study on the Stone Tea Mill of Ximing Temple in Chang'an in the Tang Dynasty

西明寺是唐长安城内一处重要寺院。西明寺石茶碾是迄今所见唐代唯一刻有名称的石茶碾,也是时代最早的茶碾,它是唐代"饼茶"饮用方式最早发现的物证。其上"石荼碾"中的"荼"字,是茶的名称由"荼"到"茶"转变历程中的一个重要记录。西明寺石茶碾对研究唐代茶文化有着重要的参考价值。

The Ximing Temple was an important temple in the city of Chang＇an in the Tang Dynasty. The stone tea mill is by far the earliest and the only grinding stone engraved with names in the Tang Dynasty. It is discovered as the evidence of the ＂tea cake＂ drinking way in the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese character, ＂ 荼 ＂ engraved on the stone is regarded as an important record in the transformation process of ＂荼 ＂（former Chinese character for tea） to ＂ 茶 ＂（present Chinese character for tea）. The stone tea mill of Ximing Temple is served as an important reference and is of great value for the study of tea culture in the Tang Dynasty.