The public case of Zhaozhou chan master’s “Let’s have tea” is an important prototype public case in the middle and late tang dynasty in the history of chan development, and has unique status and significant influence among “Deshan stick, Linji shout, Yunmen cake, Zhaozhou tea”. After the song dynasty, inspired by the Zhaozhou chan master’s “Let’s have tea” case, the follow-up development of the “taste chan in tea” or “taste tea in chan” thoughts have formed the unique cultural connotation and value of Chinese chan aesthetics, which deserves in-depth discussion. This article takes the formation background and development outline of the “Let’s have tea” case of Zhaozhou chan master as the approach, discusses the philosophical thoughts of chan tea of the “Let’s have tea” case, and analyzes the historical value and cultural significance of this case.This article also takes the context of Nanquan Puyuan chan Master’s thought that “The ordinary mind is the Way” as the ideological background, analyzes the chan tea thought of Zhaozhou chan Master’s “Let’s have tea” case, and analyzes different levels to explain that the chan case has broken the basic rationale of the binary opposition divisiveness. Therefore, the case of Zhaozhou chan master’s “Let’s have tea” is based on that “The ordinary mind is the Way” and the concentration of “Non-mixed mixed Minds”, which brings into the realm of chan meditation and the true form of chan enlightenment, and demonstrates the characteristics and ideology of chan life of Zhaozhou chan master. This article finally explores the possibility of the application and practice of the chan tea thought of “Let’s have tea” by Zhaozhou chan master, and argues that the corresponding combination of “Chan” and “Tea” formed the beginning of the “Chan Tea” thought in later generations. This article attemptsto discuss how the “Chan Tea” thought of Zhaozhou chan master can be applied to modern social life as the theme of argumentation. It also suggests that by the continual cultivation and practice of “meditation” of “having tea” in life. In light of this, one can thus enter the realm of “Chan Enlightenment”. The author thinks that through such an application in modern life, by the understanding and practice of the spirit of “having tea”, it becomes the core essential for practicing meditation and mindfulness, and then realize the life state aesthetics of “taste tea in chan”.
