Cai Xiang (1012–1067) was a Chinese calligrapher, scholar, official, structural engineer, and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

. Cai Xiang had the reputation as the greatest calligrapher in the Song Dynasty.

Life

Cai Xiang's Style name was Junmo (君谟), and his posthumous name

Posthumous name

A posthumous name is an honorary name given to royalty, nobles, and sometimes others, in East Asia after the person's death, and is used almost exclusively instead of one's personal name or other official titles during his life...

 was Zhonghuei. He was born in the Xiangfu reign of the Song dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 in Xianyou (仙游) county of Xinghua (兴化) prefecture, now Xianyou County

Xianyou County

Xianyou is a county in the municipal region of Putian, FJ.-Administration:The county executive, legislature, and judiciary are in Licheng Street Committee , along with the CPC and PSB branches.-Towns :*Linan *Laidian...

 in Putian

Putian

Putian is a prefecture-level city in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders Fuzhou City to the north, Quanzhou City to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east.-Administration:...

 of Fujian

Fujian

' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...

 Province.

During the Chingli reign (1042–1048 AD), Cai Xiang was the Officer of Transportation ( Zhuanyunshi) in Fujian. While acting as a prefect in Fujian, he also was in charge of overseeing the construction of the Wan-an Bridge at Quanzhou

Quanzhou

Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It borders all other prefecture-level cities in Fujian but two and faces the Taiwan Strait...

. In Tiansheng the eighth year (1030 AD) Cai Xiang obtain the degree of jinshi. His highest rank was Duanmingdian Xueshi, (secretariat Drafter of Duanming Court ) in charge of written communication of imperial government.

He pioneered the manufacturing of small Dragon Tribute Tea Cake of superlative quality, as it was reputed to be harder to obtain than gold. In his Tea Note written between 1049 and 1053, he criticized the traditional method of mixing small amount of Dryobalanops aromatica

Dryobalanops aromatica

Dryobalanops aromatica, commonly known as Borneo Camphor, Camphor Tree, Malay Camphor, or Sumatran Camphor, is a species of plant in the Dipterocarpaceae family. The species name aromatica is derived from Latin and refers to the smell of the dammar...

 camphor into tea cake:

"Tea has intrinsic aroma. But tribute tea manufacturers like to mix small amount of Dryobalanops aromatica camphor, supposedly to enhance the aroma. The local people of Jian'an never mix any incense into tea, afraid to robe the natural aroma of tea".

"Tea abhors incense".

Works of Cai Xiang

• Calligraphy: Wan'an Bridge Report Tablet
• Poetry: Collected Works of Cai Zhonghuei
• Essay: Tea Note (1049–1053)
• Letter: Letter on Cheng Xin Tang Paper