On Confucian Tea Rites from a Perspective of Interpersonal Communication

The Confucian tea rite is the non-linguistic code in traditional interpersonal communication in China. It takes tea products and procedure as carriers and train people in rites, morality, values and aesthetic abilities. The kindness, tolerance and honesty conceptions implied in tea rites are in fact a kind of cultural contract which has permeated into people’s social life of different classes and guided people’s communication and led to standardized and harmonious social order.