“Classic of Poetry” or “Shi-jing” is one of my favorite ancient Chinese classical reading. It is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, comprising 305 works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. You may refer to its wiki link for a more detailed introduction. The reason why I love it is that language in this poetry is unfamiliarly ancient yet its subject is so vivid and resonating with its expression so passionate and full of energy. Yet, when you read this poetry orally, you will find that it’s like singing a song without rhythms! I memorize many poems from it - sometimes they provide energy and sometimes they heal your heart. That’s how amazing they are. Wisdom from our ancestors. Remarkable!

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《詩經》，中國古典文學的上乘之作，甚至是所有中國文學的共同來源。我想我不用多介紹了，可以看看這裡，回憶一下學校教過的東西。說說詩經跟我。詩經幾乎是我最喜愛的古典典籍了（說得好像我讀很多古書一樣，其實沒有），詩經文字充滿一種陌生而古老的感覺，但其題材卻充滿你我熟悉的生活場景（”大老鼠大老鼠不要吃我的米“，這也是，你相信嗎？）。詩經的音韻與文字安排，可以讓你像唱歌般地吟詠，從其文字表述，就可以感受到那個熱情、自由、奔放的上古時代氛圍，該是因為彼刻禮教的深深束縛都還沒開始吧？

Next, a poem from it.  接下來介紹其中的一首詩歌。

[From Section “The South of Zhou“ (or Zhou Nan), Chapter “Airs of the States“ (or Guó fēng), The Classic of Poetry]

You can see from the above phonetic transcription version. Its sentence structure is almost identical! Actually only one Chinese character change per line and it comes out as such a beautiful poem! Talking about the power of words… These poets are the best of the best. As you can see from the translation, it is interpreted to describe daily lives of women during a peaceful and prosperous period in Ancient China. Simple and beautiful, isn’t it!?

By the way, plantains here refer to Plantago asiatica, a kind of commonly seen weeds. Not banana trees.

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出自《詩經，國風，周南》

此詩結構簡單，每句換一字，卻琅琅上口，表現了婦女們在外採集芣苢（車前草）時，那種愉悅輕鬆的生活樣貌。由於《詩經 國風》的詩多半是朝廷官員從民間采風得來， 這首詩藉由對一群女子採集芣苢的描寫，展現了古代太平盛世時期的平和之美。即便是政令宣導吧，那也是非常高級而成功的手法啊！[說明一下，「薄言」是發語詞無意義；「采采」是茂盛貌，後一單「采」字則是採集之意。]

A rather new and delicate brand/company was founded in 2009 with a name inspired by the most frequently used term “cǎi cǎi” in the above Poem (due to different spelling system, the name of the brand becomes Cha Cha). The name tries to capture the essence of traditional Chinese culture, especially those associated with tea. The following is a quote from the company’s introduction - 

Tea as we know, it is from southern China, it is one of the cultural roots of the Han culture. Its golden color has seduced Asia, as well as western countries which consider it to be a symbol of social status and taste: Fortnum & Mason in the U.K. and Mariage Frères in France are well-known examples. Japan sharing with us many cultural traits, has undoubtedly perpetuated the tradition of the ceremony of Tea, while adding the spirit of Zen into it. Although in Taiwan, we pride ourselves to be a country of cultural sophistication, however, until now, there was not any significant Tea brand of our own, positioned on the international stage.

Wang Chen Tsai-Hsia, Designer in Chief, founder and soul of Shiatzy Chen, has always dedicated herself to the renewal of Chinese fashion. After 35 years of leadership in the world of fashion, she spent more than 2 years of reflection to create a new brand “Cha Cha Thé” in a different field, hoping to found new inspiration in developing Chinese aesthetics. 

This brand, in my personal opinion, is the proud of Taiwan, or even the proud of the entire Chinese people. As it is a refinement of our traditional culture and turns it into something modern and chic. The photos here were taken by me in a branch store of Cha Cha The. It is located in a department store so this shop focuses on pastry, freshly baked or gift-boxed. 

「采采食茶文化」是一個創立不到10年的新品牌，大家都稱之為「采采」。這名字就是來自於上面介紹的詩經〈芣苡〉當中最常聽到的「采采」二字， 有華美繁盛之意，用以形容中華文化的豐碩壯美，而另一方面也代表著禮采，引源茶與禮之於漢文化密不可分的關係。 讓我們看看其自己如何介紹品牌（大陸朋友多，我引用簡體中文版本）

源自南中国的茶品，不啻是汉民族的渊源滥觞，因为澄色如金的水相，溶化整个亚洲，甚至西方社会，而欧洲人更标志着地位与品味，然而在精致文化缩影的台湾，始终无法定位出一个属于自己的品牌，代表在国际舞台上。

坚持演义新中国时尚的夏姿•陈，设计总监暨品牌灵魂人物—陈彩霞，屹立于时装舞台三十六年的翘楚，孕酿七百多天取名自诗经「采采」食茶文化的日子，繁茂的样貌与盛心的跨界，希望在汉美学的天空下偶遇一场春雨。 

創立以來，采采提升了台灣的禮品市場與精緻糕點的水準，讓中華文化的內涵得以在其提煉下，以精緻現代化的產品，包括西方概念的糕點，呈現出東西方文化碰撞的美麗火花。我個人認為采采是台灣的驕傲，也是整個大中華族群的驕傲。我在一間百貨公司的采采分店拍攝了這些照片，這間店比較專注在新鮮烘培的糕點方面，當然其著名的禮盒也都陳列出來販售的。

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Let’s take a closer look at those sexy and elegant little devils!!

來吧！我知道你們等很久了，精緻美麗的糕點，就要出現了！

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Feel like having a bite yourself?… hmm…. Let me do it for ya!~~~ :)

想吃吧，沒問題，讓小弟代勞！

sources for translation and images - 1 ,2, 3, 4

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