The Cha Pu (Chinese: 茶谱; pinyin: Chápǔ; lit. 'Tea Manual') is a short work written in 1440 by Zhu Quan, the Prince of Ning,[1] the 17th son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty, and relates the methods of tea preparation and degustation. It is considered by some to be a milestone in Chinese tea culture.
Following the Hongwu Emperor's ban[citation needed] on manufacturing of tea cake, Zhu Quan advocated a simpler way of steeping loose tea, a radical departure from the involved tea cake preparation methods of the Tang and Song dynasties, thus pioneered a new era in Chinese tea culture. There is also a short discussion of tea wares.
The Tea Manual includes a preface and sixteen chapters:[1][2]
Some of the tea wares can be derived from the tea wares of the Tang dynasty (The Classic of Tea by Lu Yu) and Song dynasty (Old Man Shen-an).