My View on Shi Kunmu

Master Shi's image, from Baidu.

I've been spending more time on Zhihu lately; this is my answer there, might as well repost it here.

Master Shi, his fans like to call Shi Kunmu 'Master', let's call him that for now. Master Shi does have some skills, here's how I see him.

As a businessman: very qualified, diligent, self-researching, publishing books, selling tea, putting on airs, touting himself everywhere, with his own set of rhetoric. He is truly a model businessman. As a fellow businessman, I am truly ashamed of myself.

As a scholar: he is an opportunist. He organizes other people's ideas, such as the knowledge of some early Taiwanese tea enthusiasts and early tea books and industry forum articles, forming his own understanding. He picks up crumbs from others and quickly forms his own theories, self-proclaiming as a master. He doesn't care whether his understanding is correct or not; as long as he can sell tea, it's fine. Based on this, he goes to some tea areas in Yunnan to swindle and bluff, pointing out the nation's tea, and forcibly becomes a master. Then he writes books and establishes theories, gaining fame for a while. But this kind of wild development, like taking aphrodisiacs, is bound to have many flaws. How many supporters he has, how many more critics. But fortunately, this master has a thick skin and deeply understands the art of shamelessness. Anyone who opposes him is considered less knowledgeable about tea than him. That's roughly the idea. He still thrives today.

In the tea industry, there are many such real businessmen disguised as masters. Let's just drink tea.