Tea ceremony

SECRETARÍA DE EDUCACIÓN PÚBLICA

DIRECCIÓN GENERAL DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR

INSTITUTO CULINARIO DE MÉXICO

ESTUDIOS CON RECONOCIMIENTO DE VALIDEZ OFICIAL

CLAVE SEP 21MSU0012G

Japan Tea ceremony and history

PRESENTA

RAFAEL IGNACIO PEÑA BLESA.

PUEBLA, PUE., MARZO DE 2011

history

Tea was originally brought to Japan in the 9th century, by the Buddhist monk Eichū , who had returned to Japan from China. This is the first documented evidence of tea in Japan. The entry in the Nihon Kōki states that Eichū personally prepared and served sencha (unground Japanese green tea) to Emperor Saga who was on an excursion in Karasaki (in present Shiga Prefecture) in the year 815. By imperial order in the year 816, tea plantations began to be cultivated in the Kinki region of Japan. However, the interest in tea in Japan faded after this.

In China, tea had already been known, according to legend, for more than a thousand years. The form of tea popular in China in the era when Eichū went for studies was "cake tea" tea compressed into a nugget in the same manner as Pu-erh. This then would be ground in a mortar, and the resulting ground tea decocted together with various other herbs and/or flavorings.

The custom of drinking tea, first for medicinal, and then largely also for pleasurable reasons, was already widespread throughout China. In the early 9th century, Chinese author Lu Yu wrote The Classic of Tea, a treatise on tea focusing on its cultivation and preparation. Lu Yu's life had been heavily influenced by Buddhism, particularly the Zen–Chán school, His ideas would have a strong influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony.

Around the end of the 12th century, the style of tea preparation called "tencha" in which matcha was placed in a bowl, hot water poured into the bowl, and the tea and hot water whipped together, was introduced by Eisai, another Japanese monk returning from China. He also brought tea seeds back with him, which eventually produced tea that was of the most superb quality in all of Japan.

An open tea house serving matcha and a　peddler selling decoctants in Muromachi period illustrated in 24th poem match in Shichiju-ichiban shokunin utaawase , Seventy-one Poetry Matches on the (142) Occupations, a copy of Tokyo National Museum reproduced in 1846, originally compiled in 1500). Ippuku issen's monk clothing depicts the relationship between matcha culture, tea ceremony, and Buddhism.This powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries. By the 13th century, when the Kamakura Shogunate ruled the nation and the samurai warrior class ruled supreme, tea and the luxuries associated with it became a kind of status symbol among the warrior class, and there arose tea-tasting parties wherein contestants could win extravagant prizes for guessing the best quality tea—that grown in Kyoto, deriving from the seeds that Eisai brought from China.

The next major period in Japanese history was the Muromachi Period, pointing to the rise of Kitayama Culture centered around the gorgeous cultural world of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and his villa in the northern hills of Kyoto and later during this period, the rise of Higashiyama Culture, centered around the elegant cultural world of Ashikaga Yoshimasa and his retirement villa in the eastern hills of Kyoto (Ginkaku-ji). This period saw the budding of what is generally regarded as Japanese traditional culture as we know it today.

For at least the past 500 years, the Japanese tea ceremony developed as a "transformative practice", and began to evolve its own aesthetic, in particular that of "Wabi-sabi". "Wabi" represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of our lives. Its original meaning indicated quiet or sober refinement, or subdued taste "characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry simple, unadorned objects and architectural space, and the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials."

"Sabi" of "Wabi-sabi" represents the outer, or material of life. Originally, it meant "worn," "weathered," or "decayed." Over time, the meaning of both words ("Wabi" and "Sabi") took on a more lighthearted and hopeful tone and the humble Wabi Sabi images "emptiness" and "imperfection" took on a distinctly enlightened tone. Particularly among the nobility, understanding emptiness was considered the most effective means to spiritual awakening, while embracing imperfection was honored as a healthy reminder to cherish our unpolished selves, here and now, just as we are - the first step to "satori" or enlightenment.

Murata Jukō is known in chanoyu history as the early developer of the tea ceremony as spiritual practice, and therefore is generally counted as the founder of the Japanese "way of tea". He studied Zen under the monk Ikkyū, who revitalized Zen in the 15th century, and this is considered to have influenced his concept of chanoyu

By the 16th century, tea drinking had spread to all levels of society in Japan. Sen no Rikyu, perhaps the most well-known—and still revered—historical figure in tea ceremony, followed his master, Takeno Jōō's, concept of ichi-go ichi-e, a philosophy that each meeting should be treasured, for it can never be reproduced. His teachings perfected many newly developed forms in Japanese architecture and gardens, fine and applied arts, and the full development of chadō, "the "way of tea". The principles he set forward—harmony, respect, purity and tranquility (are still central to tea ceremony.

The tea ceremony is a very special event in Japanese culture. The host spends days going over every detail to make sure that the ceremony will be perfect. There are various styles of tea ceremonies and it is recognized that every human encounter is a singular occasion that will never recur again in exactly the same way, and so every aspect of the tea ceremony is savored. The ceremony takes place in a room called the chashitsu.

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