Between Science and Supernatural Power Tea and Buddhist Communities in Taiwan

This chapter explores tea and its role in the lives and practices of Chinese Buddhist practitioners within Taiwan. The general framework of inquiry treats materials as essential actors in lived Buddhism, inquiring into the ways that Buddhist actors interact, affect, and are affected by materials, taking tea as an example. The chapter begins by discussing the genealogy of tea and its intrinsic historical relationship with Buddhism in China. The following sections present several contemporary case studies of Buddhist communities engaging with tea in Taiwan. Analyzing these examples in light of the specific sociopolitical context of Buddhism in Taiwan, the chapter concludes by situating tea-related practices in Buddhism on a scale with two poles: a scientific approach to tea and a supernatural one.