20. Suntzu drinks tea (2) 孫子喝茶

☴ Dear stressed executive, Suntzu 孫子 was a great sage 大智 who knew the Tao 道 and tried as best as he could to guide kings in their bloody warfaring. ☲ His book, The Art of War 孫子兵法 got around places. And for those too stressed to buy his book, perhaps you would consider his book printed on your favourite tea cup? ☱ The tea cup would say a lot about the determination of its wielder to make things happen. At least passively. I mean, imagine going into a negotiation and your opponent was drinking tea 茶 from such a cup. I doubt the negotiations would go in your favour. ☷ And in the mayhem of battle, what type of tea 茶 would be served? ☰ As a tea merchant having to supply tea to an aspiring executive, I am guessing it is a tea that, while expressing the flavours of over two thousand years of bloody Chinese warfare history, it would have in its soul some chi 氣 to invigorate the mind, body and spirit. ☶ Therefore, based on my own experience, I would have recommended a good ginseng oolong 人參烏龍茶. Not American ginseng but Siberian ginseng. In TCM, American ginseng is known to restrict blood-flow. Siberian ginseng improves blood-flow thereby strengthening the mind and certain key vital organs; Best drunk first thing in the morning before breakfast. ☵ So now, a sharpened up executive would wonder: Hang on a minute, isn't he some sort of qigong 氣功 master? What's he needing ginseng 參 for? Can't he just make some chi 氣 out of thin air 气? ☳ Well... For all those questions, the answers comes best experientially. In the meantime, I would recommend for the down-to-earth fighter Pu-erh 普洱茶. The same stuff they serve in Yum Cha 飲茶: It's dark, low caffeine and goes down well with any low qi 氣 sapping fried food. Liked what you heard & want to connect with me? Join me at… linkedin.com/in/peterhainzl/