Japanese Tea Ceremony
A Japanese cup of tea is more than is implied by the name for the ceremony - cha no yu (hot water for tea). It
is, in fact, a quiet interlude during which host and guests strive for spiritual refreshment and harmony with the
universe. The Japanese Tea Ceremony captures all the elements of Japanese philosophy and artistic beauty, and interweaves
four principles - harmony (with people and nature), respect (for others), purity (of heart and mind), and tranquillity.
It grew from the custom of Zen Buddhist monks drinking tea from a single bronze bowl in front of a statue of their
founder, Budhidharma, during their act of worship. Over the centuries, rituals gradually developed around the religious
significance and the use and appreciation of the utensils needed for preparing and serving tea. Today, the ceremony
may be performed in a specially designed room in a private house, in a tea house within a private garden, in a
designated complex of rooms in the workplace, or in a public tea house. A full tea, or Chaji, involves a meal and
the serving of two different types of tea and can last for four hours, but shorter, simpler teas can be served
to suit individual occasions. Ceremonies are held to honour special guests, to celebrate particular occasions such
as the blossoming of the cherry trees in Spring, to admire the full moon, or simply to gather together a few friends.
For each occasion, the flowers, vase, wall hangings, and tea wares are chosen carefully to suit the event, the
time of year, and the desired atmosphere... When the guests arrive, they are not greeted at the door by their host
or hostess, but are guided through a series of open doors to a waiting room. Here they are served a small porcelain
cup of hot water taken from a kettle in the tearoom as a foretaste of the water to be used in the tea making. They
then make their way quietly and calmly into the garden and are met halfway at a gate by the host or hostess, who
opens the gate and silently greets them with a bow. This gentle passage through the garden represents a breaking
of ties with the everyday world and allows a clarifying of the senses through the enjoyment of the sweet sound
of trickling water and birdsong, and the visual pleasure of trees, plants, and blossoms. Nearby stands a stone
lantern to light the path when evening falls. The guests pause to cleanse their hands and mouth with water from
a stone basin of running water. The entrance to the tea room is so low that everyone must stoop to go through -
a symbolic gesture of humility - and once inside, guests spend a few minutes admiring the kettle, the scrolls decorating
the walls, and the flowers.. They then kneel on tatami (rice straw) mats, sit back on their heels, and watch while
their host performs the ceremony of the lighting of the charcoal fire. A meal of fine foods and saki is then served
but although this can last for more than an hour, it is not the main event but merely a preparation of the body
for the tea that is to come. After eating, the guests step back outside into the garden while the tearoom is freshened
ready for the tea brewing ceremony. They then return inside and spend the next forty five minutes sharing a bowl
of thick tea prepared by whisking powdered green tea (matcha) into hot water with a bamboo whisk. A sweet cake
made with bean curd is served and is eaten with little wooden picks that each guest has brought to the ceremony.
By this time, the fire has burnt low and the host or hostess performs a different fire-lighting ceremony and waits,
while conversation continues, for the kettle to boil for a second time. Individual bowls of thin watery tea are
then prepared and served to each guest in turn, again accompanied by little dainty sweets. Once this is over, final
greetings are exchanged and everyone leaves. Because the Tea Ceremony involves an understanding and appreciation
of a complex combination of sensual and spiritual elements, the training to become a Tea Master is long and demands
complete commitment. A student can learn enough of the basic movements and rituals to create a tea after three
years or so of dedicated study, but becoming a true Tea Master is a lifetime's work and the training process is
never really completed. Because there are so many ways of creating a tea, and because the ceremony involves almost
every aspect of Japanese life - architecture, history, food, craft, art - a student must bring to his or her training
all the knowledge and skills learned and developed in everyday life as well as human qualities such as sensitivity,
awareness, skills of communication. Although the study is long and demanding, it is also fun and very rewarding...
And whatever style of tea a host or hostess creates, each tea occasion links the people taking part to a continuous
chain of 885 years of tea history.
Its no wonder tea is the second most popular beverage in the world, second only to.....? You guessed. Water! |
