WellnessOptions Magazine issue06

By Michael F. Filosa
photography by Natasha Nicholson

The Japanese names for the tea ceremony are: Chanoyu, translated as “hot water for tea”, or Chado or Sado, both meaning “the way of tea.” As with any ceremony and ritual, the true meaning of the tea ceremony can only be appreciated with some knowledge of its origins, history, and symbolism. Without this background, someone attending a tea ceremony would likely find it stereotypic, formal, and even tedious.

History and origin
Japanese tea drinking and its related ceremony originated in China, where tea has been cultivated for more than 2,500 years. The ancient Chinese ascribed medicinal properties to tea, and Buddhist monks in China recognized it as an aid to maintaining alertness during meditations. Buddhist monks from Japan visiting China around 800 AD were first introduced to tea. But it was not until later that tea drinking attracted wider attention in Japan.

In 1191, Eisai, the monk who established Japanese Zen Buddhism, returned from China with tea seeds that would become much of the tea grown in Japan today. He also introduced the tea ritual that was practiced in Chinese Buddhist temples. In his book entitled Preservation of Health Through Drinking Tea, he proposed that tea drinking could prolong life and, in particular, that the bitter flavour of green tea was beneficial for the heart. Tea was used to dispel drowsiness, and Eisai also claimed that it cured hangovers, something that interested the aristocrats.

Tea drinking in Japan was very closely associated with the Zen monasteries. Offering tea first to Buddha, drinking it themselves from a common bowl, and then giving some to lay people became part of the Zen monks’ daily religious exercises. By about the 14th century, monasteries established a “rule” that set down the proper etiquette for serving tea.

Outside the monasteries, tea contests became popular with aristocrats and samurai. These contests were held in halls that displayed pictures of Buddha; paintings; and other objets d’art imported from China. The tea bowls and utensils were also expensive imports. Preparation of the tea involved an etiquette different from that used at the Zen temples.

The contemporary Japanese tea ceremony is mostly derived from Zen Buddhism practices of the late 15th and 16th centuries. It was a reaction against the upper-class secular ceremonies of the time. The Zen monk Shuko urged the aristocracy to become less ostentatious in their tea practices, suggesting that a small grass hut rather than a large, lavishly furnished hall should be used for tea. He emphasized that serving tea with a humble heart was more important than observing all the formalities. Another Zen-trained tea master, Takeno Joo, continued the trend towards simplicity.

Sen-no-Rikyu, a student of Takeno Joo, is considered the most important of the tea masters. Rikyu expanded the trend toward simplicity. He built a 2-mat (tatami) teahouse (appoximately 6 feet by 6 feet), made his own tea scoops and flower containers from bamboo instead of ivory, and designed teabowls and water vessels. He emphasized the spiritual dimension of tea and tried to interest the ordinary people in the way of tea.

The essence of Chado
Central to Rikyu’s concept of the tea ceremony was Wabi, a Japanese word that has both aesthetic and spiritual connotations. It refers to a beauty that is simple, even austere and imperfect; it sees in poverty and loneliness a richer interior life, one freed from material concerns. Wabi could be found in the small, unadorned teahouse, the rough simplicity of the teabowl, and the humility of the host serving his guests.

Since the end of the 15th century, 4 values have been central to the practice of Chado: harmony (wa), respect (kei), purity (sei) and tranquility (jaku). Harmony refers to the relationships: of the participants; with the setting including the natural surroundings of the teahouse and its interior furnishings; and with the utensils.

Respect implies that one has the humility to give respect to the participants and other elements involved in the whole ceremony. Purity involves removing worldly cares and concerns in order to immerse into the atmosphere and essence of the ceremony. Tranquility of mind and spirit when sharing and enjoying tea is the end result.

In addition to this spiritual dimension, Chado has an important aesthetic quality. Over the centuries, the tea ceremony has influenced Japanese culture, architecture, garden design, calligraphy, ceramics, textiles, flower arrangement, and even cuisine.

The ceremony
The complete formal tea ceremony can be a 4-hour affair that includes a meal and 2 types of tea, “thick tea” Koicha and “thin tea” Usucha.

The meal is served when participants first enter the tearoom and it is followed by an intermission before tea is prepared. In a less formal gathering, the meal is omitted and only tea and sweets are served. For preparations of both thick and thin teas, powdered tea (Matcha) is used, which is the same type used by Eisai in the 12th century. Unlike drinking tea with leaves steeped in hot water, the drinking of powdered tea involves consuming the leaf material itself in a much more concentrated form.

There are very strict rules governing every detail of every aspect of the tea ceremony. They include the proper setting of the tearoom including its size; decorations and atmosphere; proper procedure in the preparation of tea, including the manner and movements of the host and contents of conversations during preparation; proper utensils used in each step; proper presentation of tea, including how the host holds and turns the tea bowl before presenting; and proper manner and response expected of the guests, including when certain remarks should be made.

All are inseparable parts of an encounter, an interaction, a tea experience that is both uniquely different each time and traditionally the same every time.

References
Tea Ceremony (4th edition) by Kaisen Iguchi Hoikusha Publishing Co Osaka, Japan 1979
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura Fox-Duf.eld, New York 1906
Chado by Soshitsu Sen Weatherhill/Tankosha New York, Tokyo 1979
An Introduction to the Japanese Tea Ritual by J.L. Anderson State University of New York, Albany 1991
Japanese arts and the tea ceremony/by Tatsusaburo Hayashiya, Masao Nakamura and Seizo Hayashiya ; translated and adapted by Joseph P. Macadam. New York:Weatherhill; Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1974.