The Japanese Tea Ceremony
More
Than a Snobby Tea Party:
The
Japanese tea ceremony is a formal tea-drinking experience
that has been practiced for centuries. However, there is
more than tea slurping going on in there.
Through
ritualistic attention to detail and respect for beauty in
the smallest doses, guests of a Japanese Tea Ceremony learn
to value the ordinary facets of their day-to-day lives.
They experience small-scale harmony at a level that is almost
spiritual in nature. Beyond tea enjoyment, the ceremony
urges a serene simplicity that can be applied to one’s
everyday life.
Everyone
should experience a Japanese Tea Ceremony. Many Japanese
restaurants are starting to offer tea ceremonies combined
with selections from their menus. You may also check your
local Japanese tearoom or teashop for ceremony opportunities.
Origination
of the Japanese Tea Ceremony
1422-1502
• The Japanese tea ceremony first emerges, created
by a Zen priest named Murata Shuko. The ceremony is called
Cha-no-yu, literally meaning "hot water tea" and
celebrates the beauty and mundane aspects of everyday life.
• Japan's shogun Yoshimasa encourages tea ceremonies,
painting, and drama.
End
of 1500s
• Japanese tea master Sen-no Rikyu opens the first
independent teahouse and evolves the tea ceremony into its
current simple and aesthetic ritual.
1675-1763
• Japanese monk Baisao of the Obaku sect of Zen Buddhism
began selling sencha tea (green tea in leaf form rather
than powdered form) in his early sixties. He praised its
excellence and spent the last years of his life seeking
the ultimate sencha tea. His belief in the superiority of
sencha tea led to the beginnings of the sencha tea ceremony,
which is less known worldwide.
Today
The chanoyu tea ceremony, which offers Japanese green tea
in the powdered and whisked form (maccha), is still the
most widely practiced of the Japanese tea ceremonies. While
its traditions may slightly vary from tearoom to teahouse,
the basics are the same. Here’s what one can expect
to experience at a tea ceremony.
•
The host or hostess will don a kimono.
• In tea ceremonies held in a detached teahouse, guests
will wait in a garden portico for their host’s summons.
• Guests will take part in a ritual hand washing.
• Upon entering the teahouse or tearoom, guests should
stop to admire the hanging scroll, art piece, floral arrangement,
or other decorative element set out for their enjoyment.
• Guests may be served a light meal with sake or a
small offering of sweets. They should bow lightly when either
is presented.
• Sweets are selected and eaten with a wooden pick
called a kuromoji. Once selected, sweets should be placed
on the special napkin called a kaishi.
• The host ritually cleanses and arranges all the
tea utensils: tea bowl, whisk, tea scoop.
• The host then begins making the tea, using precise
measurements of powdered green tea and water, specific whisking
techniques, and other formal procedures.
• Guests should keep conversation minimal and enjoy
the sights, smells, and sounds of the teahouse and the tea-making
process.
• The tea bowl is served to the guest of honor or
first guest who exchanges bows with the host.
• The first guest should then bow to the second guest
and lift the bowl in respect to the host. Always handle
the bowl with delicacy and care.
• Before drinking, the guest should rotate the bowl,
avoiding drinking from the front of the cup. Then take two
or three sips, wipe the rim with his fingers, rotate the
bowl back, and pass it to the second guest with a bow. The
guest may wipe his fingers on the kaishi.
• Once all the guests have been served, the host ritually
cleans the utensils. The guest of honor or first guest should
ask to examine the utensils. At this time, all the guests
should admire each utensil with respect and gentle care.
• If the host serves everyone tea in separate tea
bowls, guests should admire and examine the bowl when they’re
finished as well.
• The host will gather up the utensils, dismiss the
guests, and bow his farewells from the door.
References
McCoy,
Elin and John Frederick Walker, Coffee and Tea, G.S. Haley
Company, Inc., 1998.
www.japaneselifestyle.com.au
www.kateigaho.com
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