The Book of Tea
Encyclopedia
The Book of Tea The Book of Tea (茶の本) by Okakura Kakuzō
(1906), is a long essay linking the role of tea
(Teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japan
ese life.
Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English Tea classics
. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen
and Taoism
, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuzō argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art
and architecture
, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyū
and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony
.
According to Tomonobu Imamichi, Heidegger’s concept of Dasein
in Sein und Zeit was inspired — although Heidegger remains silent on this — by Okakura Kakuzō’s concept of das-in-der-Welt-sein (being-in-the-worldness) expressed in The Book of Tea to describe Zhuangzi
’s philosophy, which Imamichi’s teacher had offered to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed lessons with him the year before.
The term teaism was first written by the teaist Okakura Kakuzō in the early 20th century in The Book of Tea (茶の本). As the book talks about Japanese tea culture some only signify this with Japanese tea ceremony. It is a synthesis of Taoism, Zennism, and tea. It is likely that it alludes more to the Taoist influences on Zen, and subsequently the Chado, or the Japanese Tea Ceremony, as he makes the statement, ‘A subtle philosophy lay behind it all. Teaism was Taoism in disguise.’ Teaism is brought out for its Taoist origins; but in the second half, it is shown through its manifestations in the Chado and in Japanese culture in general.
Tea Life, Tea Mind of Soshitsu Sen XV
Teaism as tea life and tea mind. The teaist, Soshitsu Sen XV in his book Tea Life, Tea Mind, he states of non attachment to culture, “our spirit should flow through life like the wind that flows through all of nature. Identifying with nature in this matter necessarily creates a state of mind with a detached objective quality (Soshitsu Sen 66).” Once a tea grower invited Rikyū to have tea. Overwhelmed with joy at Rikyū’s acceptance, the tea grower led him to his tearoom and served tea to Rikyū himself. However, in his excitement his hand trembled and he performed badly, drowning the tea scoop and knocking the tea whisk over. The other guests, disciples of Rikyū, snickered at the tea growers manner of making tea, but Rikyū was moved to say, “It is the finest.” On the way home, one of the disciples asked Rikyū, “Why were you so impressed by such a shameful performance?” Rikyū answered, “This man did not invite me with the idea of showing off his skill. He simply wanted to serve me tea with his whole heart. He devoted himself completely to making a bowl of tea for me, not worrying about errors. I was struck by that sincerity.” — Soshitsu Sen XV Tea Life, Tea Mind
Okakura Kakuzo
was a Japanese scholar who contributed to the development of arts in Japan. Outside of Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea.-Biography:...
(1906), is a long essay linking the role of tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
(Teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese life.
Addressed to a western audience, it was originally written in English and is one of the great English Tea classics
Tea Classics
Tea as a beverage was first consumed in China no later than the fifth century BCE. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is in the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, written circa 550 BCE, although the ideogram used in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle...
. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
and Taoism
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuzō argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyū
Sen no Rikyu
, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on chanoyu, the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of wabi-cha...
and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony
Japanese tea ceremony
The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
.
According to Tomonobu Imamichi, Heidegger’s concept of Dasein
Dasein
Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to being in its ontological and philosophical sense Dasein is a German word famously used by Martin Heidegger in his magnum opus Being and Time, which generally translates to...
in Sein und Zeit was inspired — although Heidegger remains silent on this — by Okakura Kakuzō’s concept of das-in-der-Welt-sein (being-in-the-worldness) expressed in The Book of Tea to describe Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi was an influential Chinese philosopher who lived around the 4th century BCE during the Warring States Period, a period corresponding to the philosophical summit of Chinese thought — the Hundred Schools of Thought, and is credited with writing—in part or in whole—a work known by his name,...
’s philosophy, which Imamichi’s teacher had offered to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed lessons with him the year before.
Teaism
When tea is more than a drink and the tea ceremony is understood and practiced to foster harmony in humanity, promote harmony with nature, discipline the mind, quiet the heart, and attain the purity of enlightenment, the art of tea becomes teaism. The term “chadao” has two words, the first word is tea and the second is Chinese loanword tao/dao/道, native suffix -ism (also Japanese: 主義), the term can be written as teaism. And it can be used to describe tea ceremony as the interests in tea culture and studies and pursued over time with self-cultivation. Teaism is mostly a simplistic mode of aesthetics, but there are subtle insights into ethics, and even metaphysics. Teaism is related to teamind. A sense of focus and concentration while under the influence of great tasting tea. Teaist is a person who performs or enjoys the art of tea and teaism. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures, they all have well developed teaism.History
The Book of Tea Okakura KakuzōThe term teaism was first written by the teaist Okakura Kakuzō in the early 20th century in The Book of Tea (茶の本). As the book talks about Japanese tea culture some only signify this with Japanese tea ceremony. It is a synthesis of Taoism, Zennism, and tea. It is likely that it alludes more to the Taoist influences on Zen, and subsequently the Chado, or the Japanese Tea Ceremony, as he makes the statement, ‘A subtle philosophy lay behind it all. Teaism was Taoism in disguise.’ Teaism is brought out for its Taoist origins; but in the second half, it is shown through its manifestations in the Chado and in Japanese culture in general.
Tea Life, Tea Mind of Soshitsu Sen XV
Teaism as tea life and tea mind. The teaist, Soshitsu Sen XV in his book Tea Life, Tea Mind, he states of non attachment to culture, “our spirit should flow through life like the wind that flows through all of nature. Identifying with nature in this matter necessarily creates a state of mind with a detached objective quality (Soshitsu Sen 66).” Once a tea grower invited Rikyū to have tea. Overwhelmed with joy at Rikyū’s acceptance, the tea grower led him to his tearoom and served tea to Rikyū himself. However, in his excitement his hand trembled and he performed badly, drowning the tea scoop and knocking the tea whisk over. The other guests, disciples of Rikyū, snickered at the tea growers manner of making tea, but Rikyū was moved to say, “It is the finest.” On the way home, one of the disciples asked Rikyū, “Why were you so impressed by such a shameful performance?” Rikyū answered, “This man did not invite me with the idea of showing off his skill. He simply wanted to serve me tea with his whole heart. He devoted himself completely to making a bowl of tea for me, not worrying about errors. I was struck by that sincerity.” — Soshitsu Sen XV Tea Life, Tea Mind
Terminology of dao/do with respect to tea
In this sense tea is more than a drink and more than an art, it is integrated in the culture and the mind. The term Chinese:chadao or Japanese:chado in English is a difficult translation task. In most common use and easy to express translation is “tea ceremony”. A direct translation is “the way of tea” or “the way of tea”. The term “teaism” is by some only signifies this with Japanese tea ceremony. Similar terms are “tea arts” and “tea culture”. While the word lore is usually not used in this context, another term used is tea lore.See also
- Tea ceremonyTea ceremonyA tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. The term generally refers to either chayi Chinese tea ceremony, chado Japanese tea ceremony, tarye Korean tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is more well known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times....
- Japanese tea ceremonyJapanese tea ceremonyThe Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called . The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called...
- Tea cultureTea cultureTea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking, it includes aspects of: tea production, tea brewing, tea arts and ceremony, society, history, health, ethics, education, and communication and media...
- UrasenkeUrasenkeis the name of one of the main schools of Japanese tea ceremony. It is one of the san-Senke ; the other two are Omotesenke and Mushakōjisenke....
- Tea classicsTea ClassicsTea as a beverage was first consumed in China no later than the fifth century BCE. The earliest extant mention of tea in literature is in the Shih Ching or Book of Songs, written circa 550 BCE, although the ideogram used in these texts can also designate a variety of plants, such as sowthistle...
External links
- The Transform of Tea Drinker’s Aesthetic Inclination of Ming Scholars
- The Book of Tea (2,8 MB), published in The TeX showcase and typeset by William Adams
- The Book of Tea (html text)