(First, we would like to pay homage to a great man, Tenshin Okakura (1862
- 1913), who was a Japanese novelist and a manager of the Museum of Fine
Arts in Boston. He published "The Book of Tea" in the US in 1906
and introduced Japanese tea culture and Asian spiritual culture to the
West. Quoting his writing partially, we would like to pass along an introduction
to the Japanese tea ceremony as simply and comprehensibly as possible.)
Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth
century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements.
The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism
- Teaism. Teaism is founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the
sordid facts of everyday existence.
Teaism is connected with Zen. The tea ceremony was a development of the
Zen ritual. The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of the Zen concept of
greatness in the smallest incident of life. In 16th century Japan, Teaism
was indurated by Rikyu Sen (1522 - 1591) as the Wabi Cha style, which emphasizes
nature and simplicity.
Teaism encourages the appreciation of tea, art, flowers, the subtleties
of the four seasons, and so on, and is best practiced in quiet surroundings,
far from crowds of people. Teaism made an enormous impact on Japanese architectural
style, habits, costume and cuisine, porcelain, lacquer, painting, and literature.
Konnichi-an and Yu-in, which are both the consecrated Tea-Room of the Japanese
Tea Ceremony.
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| Kabutomon at Konnichi-an |
Yu-in |
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Konnichi-an
The tea masters completely revolutionized classical architecture and interior
decoration, and established a new style which to whose influence even the
palaces and monasteries built after the sixteenth century have all been
subject.
The tea-room does not pretend to be other than a mere cottage - a straw
hut. The tea-room consists of the tea-room proper, designed to accommodate
not more than five persons, an anteroom (midsuya) where the tea utensils
are washed and arranged before being brought in, a portico (machiai) in
which the guests wait until they receive the summons to enter the tea-room,
and a garden path (the roji) which connects the machiai with the tea-room.
The tea room is unimpressive in appearance. It is smaller than the smallest
of Japanese house, while the materials used in its construction are intended
to give the suggestion of refined poverty. Yet we must remember that all
this is the result of profound artistic forethought, and that the details
have been worked out with care perhaps even greater than that expended
on the building of the richest palaces and temples. A good tea-room is
more costly than an ordinary mansion, for the selection of its materials,
as well as its workmanship, requires immense care and precision. Indeed
carpenters employed by the tea-masters form a distinct and highly honored
class among artisans, their work being no less delicate than that of the
makers of lacquer cabinets.
The roji, garden path which leads from the machiai to the tea-room, signified
the first stage of meditation - the passage into self-illumination. The
roji was intended to break connection with the outside world, and to produce
a fresh sensation conductive to the full enjoyment of aestheticism in the
tea-room itself. One who has trodden this garden path cannot fail to remember
how his spirit, as he walked in the twilight of ever greens over the regular
irregularities of the stepping stones, beneath which lay dried pine needles,
passed beside the moss-covered granite lanterns, become uplifted above
ordinary thoughts. One may be in the midst of a city, and yet feel as if
he were in the forest far away from the dust and din of civilization. Great
was the ingenuity displayed by the tea-masters in producing these effects
of serenity and purity.
Thus prepared, one will silently approach the sanctuary, and, if a samurai,
will leave his sword on the rack beneath the eaves, the tea-room being
preeminently a house of peace. Then he will bend low and creep into the
room through a small door not more than three feet in height. This proceeding
was incumbent on all guests, - high and low alike, - and was intended to
inculcate humility. It makes all guests put aside any authorities, celebrities,
or fortune in real world to creep into the room through the small door.
Even in the daytime the light in the room is subdued, for the low eaves
of the slanting roof admit but few of the sun's rays. Everything is sober
in tint from the ceiling to the floor. However faded the tea-room and the
tea equipage may seem, everything is absolutely clean. Not a particle of
dust will be found in the darkest corner.
In the tea-room the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The various
objects for the decoration of a room should be so selected that no colour
or design shall be repeated. If you have a living flower, a painting of
flowers is not allowable. If you are using a round kettle, the water pitcher
should be angular. A cup with a black glaze should not be associated with
a tea-caddy of black lacquer. The pillar of the tokonoma should be of a
different kind of wood from the other pillars, in order to break any suggestion
of monotony in the room.
The simplicity of the tea-room and its freedom from vulgarity make it truly
a sanctuary from the vexation of the outer world. There and there alone
can one consecrate himself to undisturbed adoration of the beautiful.
Toyobo Tea-Room at Kennin Temple in Kyoto
The Roji, Garden Path of the Tea-Room
This garden path which leads from the machiai to the tea-room, was intended
to break connection with the outside world, and to produce a fresh sensation
conductive to the full enjoyment of aestheticism in the tea-room itself.
One who has trodden this garden path cannot fail to remember how his spirit
was uplifted above ordinary thoughts.
In this connection there is a story of Rikyu which well illustrates the
ideas of cleanliness entertained by the tea-masters. Rikyu was watching
this son Shoan as he swept and watered the garden path, "Not clean
enough," said Rikyu, when Shoan had finished his task, and bade him
try again. After a weary hour the son turned to Rikyu: "Father, there
is nothing more to be done. The steps have been washed for the third time,
the stone lanterns and the trees are well sprinkled with water, moss and
lichens are shining with a fresh verdure; not a twig, not a leaf have I
left on the ground." "Young fool," chided the tea master,
"that is not the way a garden path should be swept." Saying this,
Rikyu stepped into the garden, shocked a tree and scattered over the garden
gold and crimson leaves, scraps of the brocade of autumn! What Rikyu demanded
was not cleanliness alone, but the beautiful and the natural also.
The tea-masters enormously impacted garden design too. All the celebrated
gardens of Japan were laid out by the tea masters.
The Roji at Yu-in
The Roji at Shohka-do in Kyoto
Flowers
Surely with mankind the appreciation of flowers must have been coeval with
the poetry of low. The primeval man in offering the first garland to his
maiden thereby transcended the brute. He became human in thus rising above
the crude necessities of nature. He entered the realm of art when he perceived
the subtle use of the useless.
Anyone acquainted with the ways of our tea-and flower-masters must have noticed the religious veneration with which they regard flowers. They do not cut at random, but carefully select each branch or spray with an eye to the artistic composition they have in mind. They would be ashamed should they chance to cut more than were than were absolutely necessary. It may be remarked in this connection that they always associate the leaves, if there be any, with the flower, for their object is the whole beauty of plant life. In this way, their method differs from that in Western countries, where we often see only the flower stems and heads, without any leaves, arranged in a vase.
When a tea-master has arranged a flower to his satisfaction he will place
it on the tokonoma, the place of honor in a Japanese room. Nothing else
will be placed near it which might interfere with its effect. It rests
there like an enthroned prince, and guests or disciples on entering the
room will salute it with a profound bow before making their addresses to
the host. When the flower fades, the master tenderly consigns it to the
river or carefully buries it in the ground. Monuments even are sometimes
erected to their memory.
The tea-master deems his duty ended with the selection of the flowers,
and leaves them to tell their own story. Entering a tea-room in late winter,
you may see a slender spray of wild cherries in combination with a budding
camellia; it is an echo of departing winter coupled with the prophecy of
spring. Again, if you go into a noon-tea on some irritatingly hot summer
day, you may discover in the darkened coolness of the tokonoma a single
lily in a hanging vase; dripping with dew, it seems to smile at the foolishness
of life.
A solo of flowers is interesting, but in a concerto with painting and sculpture
the combination becomes entrancing. Sekishyu once placed some waterplants
in a flat receptacle to suggest the vegetation of lakes and marshes, and
on the wall above he hung a painting by Soami of wild ducks flying in the
air. Shoha, another tea-master, combined a poem on the Beauty of Solitude
by the Sea with a bronze incense burner in the form of a fisherman's hut
and some wildflowers of the beach. One of the guests has recorded that
he felt in the whole composition the breath of waning autumn.
All tea ceremony equipment was originally classified as craft objects as
well as art objects - functional art, which is beautiful as well as useful.
They have a characteristic feature that they first create an aura of beauty
when they are appreciated while they are used well. In order to use tea
ceremony equipment well and receive the beauty of them, people are required
to build up exquisite five senses (touch, taste, hearing, eyesight, and
smell) through mature exercise.
Rikyu Sen, who indurated teaism, said "In order to keep the exquisite
five senses always, one should constantly train oneself in everyday life."
Another way of saying, he said "If you would like to receive the beauty
of anything existing in the natural world (including art objects) you have
to ennoble your individuality and moral character on a regular basis."
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Raku-Yaki:
Rikyu Sen, who indurated teaism, asked a craftsman living in Kyoto to make
matcha bowls only for the tea ceremony. It was the beginning of Raku-Yaki
and of all matcha bowls. There is Kuro (black) Raku and Aka (red) Raku,
and both of them complement the green color of matcha much more than any
other colors. Raku-Yaki has a feature of being very soft and warm to the
touch by hands or mouth, and is the highest grade matcha used for the tea
ceremony. |
Kyo-Yaki:
All of the ceramics and earthen ware made in Kyoto is called Kyo-Yaki.
Raku-Yaki is also classified as Kyo-Yaki. There are many multicolored overglaze
painting ceramics in Kyo-Yaki. Supported by aristocratic culture and court
nobles, sophisticated decoration became one factor of Kyo-Yaki features. |
Hagi-Yaki:
Hagi-Yaki is made in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Taiko Hideyoshi, kanpaku (powerful
ruler) in Japan, who supported Rikyu Sen, sent ceramics craftsmen from
Goryeo (now a part of Korea) to Japan, and asked them to begin to make
matcha bowls. It was the beginning of Hagi-Yaki. It is soft to look at
Hagi-Yaki. Hagi-Yaki has a water-absorbing property. Used for a long time,
the surface color changes. It is called "Cha-Nare" which means
"conformed to matcha" and is prized.
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Shino-Yaki:
At the end of the 16th century, a Japanese craftsman invented white glaze
like that of white porcelains. It was the beginning of Shino-Yaki. It was
the first white color earthenware and enabled Japanese artisans to draw
patterns on the white glaze. Until then, patterns on color earthenware
were made only by line engraving or imprint. After this white glaze was
invented, various pattern techniques were developed. |
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Confectionery of the Tea Ceremony
There are two types of confectionery for the Japanese tea ceremony. One
is omogashi, unbaked cake, and another one is ohigashi, dry confectionery.
Both of them are made in the motif of nature or scenery, customs of the
four seasons, historic literature, or traditional arts.
Especially omogashi is often designed and made to meet each tea ceremony's
specific needs and to be in harmony and balance with the tea ware. Artisans
tried to express subject and concept as much as possible by omogashi.
In addition, a long time ago, there were not any refrigerators. So in summer, omogashi must be expressed only with visual effects. It is very poetic. Through the above processes, Japanese confectionery techniques have been cultivated and developed.
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| Heaving to rock: clear blue color agar rolling up centered bean jam. It
reminds us of a cool feeling. |
Chute: Omogashi featured centered clear blue color kudzu. Exterior white expresses Chute. It reminds us of a cool feeling. |
Confederate rose |
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| lmy ice and balloonflower |
Reed and ice |
Little waves and paper fan |
Manifold have been the contributions of the tea-masters to art. They completely
revolutionized the classical architecture and interior decorations, and
established the new style to whose influence even the palaces and monasteries
built after the sixteenth century have all been subject. All the celebrated
gardens of Japan were laid out by the tea-masters. Our pottery would probably
never have attained its high quality of excellence if the tea-masters had
not lent to it their impression, the manufacture of the utensils used in
the tea-ceremony calling forth the utmost expenditure of ingenuity on the
part of our ceramists. Many of our textile fabrics bear the names of tea-masters
who conceived their colour or design. In painting and Lacquer it seems
almost superfluous to mention the immerse service they have rendered.
Great as has been the influence of the tea-masters in the field of art,
it is as nothing compared to that which they have exerted on the conduct
of life. Not only in the usages of polite society, but also in the arrangement
of all our domestic details, do we feel the presence of the tea-maters.
Many of our delicate dishes, as well as our way of serving food, are their
innovations. They have taught us to dress only in garments of sober colours.
They have instructed us in the proper spirit in which to approach flowers.
They have given us the beauty emphasis to our natural love of simplicity,
and shown us the beauty of humility. In fact, through their teachings tea
has entered the life of the people.
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