# Luwuh — The Book of Tea character guide

> Luwuh in The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0003-ii-the-schools-of-tea

## Snapshot

The Tang dynasty tea saint whose Chaking codified the twenty-four utensils, the three boils, and the mountain spring that makes the perfect cup.

## Who they are

Luwuh wrote the Chaking, the classic treatise that turned tea-drinking into an art, and his fame was such that exquisites claimed to detect his tea from that of his disciples. A Taoist to the bone, he chose blue cups because they lent the brew an added greenness, and he ranked water by its source—mountain spring first, river and spring water after. His meticulous rules for roasting cake-tea, judging the three stages of boiling, and salting the first boil gave later tea masters both a scripture and a standard to argue with.

## Relationships

### [Rikiu](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/characters/rikiu)

_professional_

Lu Yu (Luwuh) is the ancient author of The Classic of Tea, whose work profoundly influenced Rikiu's tea practice.

## In the story

### [The Book of Tea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/chapters/the-book-of-tea)

The Chinese sage who wrote the Chaking, the first classic on tea, establishing its cultural and aesthetic foundations.

### [The Cup of Humanity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/chapters/i-the-cup-of-humanity)

Mentioned in the context of tea's history in eighth-century China.

### [The Schools of Tea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/chapters/ii-the-schools-of-tea)

First apostle of tea; wrote the Chaking, formulated the Code of Tea, and is worshipped as the tutelary god of Chinese tea merchants.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/characters/luwuh
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_book_of_tea_se/characters