净斯好茶 Jing Si Tea

慈济三义茶园隐蔽在苗栗三义乡间。日治时期，日本三井红茶公司种下了茶树。日本人离台后，佃农们各自划地照料茶园；在贫瘠的土地上，为了追求产量，使用化学肥料是成本最低也最方便的方法。茶树因此长出新叶，杂草也高了几寸，只好再撒上农药与除草剂。

丘陵地属于旱作区，不像水田有大量的水来沉淀、溶解有毒物质，这些农药、除草剂就累积在土壤里。时间一久，土里的微生物无法生存，失去养分的土壤变得越来越硬，无法生养作物，农民就撒更多的化肥。日复一日，只是让收获渐少，茶叶的品质也越来越差。

茶园由台湾农林公司转交给慈济照顾；为了维护生态，不再使用化学肥料、农药及除草剂。几年之后，一生务农的埔里农夫陈忠厚来到三义照顾这片受伤的茶园，让土地再次健康起来，让培育于友善环境的茶树烘焙出“净斯茶”独特的风味。

The Tzu Chi Sanyi Tea Garden is hidden in the countryside of Sanyi Township, Miaoli. During the Japanese colonial period, the Mitsui Red Tea Company planted tea trees. After the Japanese left, tenant farmers tended the gardens themselves. On the poor soil, chemical fertilizers became the cheapest way to boost yields. Tea trees grew, but so did weeds, leading to more pesticide use.

The hilly land is dry farmland, unlike rice paddies with water to dilute toxins, so chemicals accumulated in the soil. Microorganisms died, soil hardened, and crops suffered. Farmers added more fertilizer, but harvests declined and tea quality worsened.

The Taiwan Forestry Corporation later entrusted the tea garden to Tzu Chi. To protect the ecosystem, no chemicals were used. Years later, lifelong farmer Chen Zhong-hou came to restore the land. The soil recovered, and tea grown in this healthy environment developed the unique flavor of Jing Si Tea.

茶园永续，终生承诺
2009年，证严上人委任陈忠厚师兄管理三义茶园，并叮嘱三件事：一是照顾土地，二是将慈济精神融入茶园，三是建立完善的管理制度。在上人的期许下，他承担起经营茶山的责任。凭借日复一日与志工的辛勤耕耘，不仅传承了自然生态理念，也延续了慈济精神。他如何改变了茶山？茶山又如何改变了他？

A Sustainable Tea Garden, A Lifelong Commitment
In 2009, Master Cheng Yen appointed Brother Chen Zhong-hou to manage the Sanyi Tea Garden, instructing him to care for the land, instill the Tzu Chi spirit, and build a sound system. Working with volunteers, he restored the tea hills and upheld ecological and Tzu Chi values. How did he change the garden, and how did the garden change him?

茶树天地蕴藏大自然惊喜
因缘际会下，茶园采用自制酵素取代会侵害土地的农药化肥，杂草也少修剪。在茶园实施自然农法初期，不使用农药，结果发现摘下的叶片上聚集上百只茶虫，啃食叶面、影响收成，让人苦恼如何解决。隔天清晨，意外来了几只牛背鹭，这些白衣“大将”开始啄食茶虫。到第二天，牛背鹭飞来两三百只，如此壮观令人惊叹大自然的奥妙，茶虫问题终于不再令人担忧。土地通过生物和虫类蠕动，松动土壤空隙，保持水分并增加养分，作物也为虫类提供食物。尊重自然法则，并适时让土地休养生息，土地恢复元气，茶园健康带来最直接的回馈——丰收。

Tea Trees Hold Nature’s Wonders
By chance, the tea garden began using homemade enzymes instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, letting nature take its course. Initially, tea pests swarmed the leaves, but soon cattle egrets arrived to eat them, showing nature’s balance. Insects loosened the soil and enriched nutrients while crops fed them. Respecting this natural cycle allowed the land to recover, and the tea garden thrived with a healthy, abundant harvest.

以茶静心，以道明性
静思茶道自1989年证严上人成立第一所学校——慈济护专起，证严上人希望将静思茶道纳入孩子的生活礼仪课程。于是，当时慈济护专的张芙美校长与李六秀师姐赴日本参访茶道精神，并将其融入中华文化礼仪及慈济的人文理念。

“静思茶道”以茶香传播静思人文，以社区为教育道场，引导人们“静心思考人生方向”。2006年，由花莲静思精舍的德凡师父设立了“静思茶道八礼法”。教习学员皆须“以茶入道，以道入茶，茶道合一”，将其落实于生活中的行、住、坐、卧礼仪与美感，并进一步推广，成为自觉觉他的修行之道。

Tea Calms The Heart, The Way Enlightens The Mind
Since Master Cheng Yen founded the first school, Tzu Chi Nursing School, in 1989, she hoped to include Jing Si Tea Ceremony in students’ etiquette courses. Principal Zhang Fumei and Sister Li Liuxiu visited Japan to study the tea ceremony spirit and integrated it with Chinese cultural etiquette and Tzu Chi’s humanitarian values.

The tea ceremony spreads humanistic values, using the community as an educational space to guide reflection on life. In 2006, Master Defan established the “Eight Principles of the Jing-Si Tea Ceremony,” teaching students to unite tea and the Way in daily life—walking, sitting, standing, and lying down—promoting it as a lifelong path of self-cultivation and inspiring others.