Study of the Effects of Japanese Tea Ceremony Will Give the Peace of Mind of Guests (original) (raw)
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The Journey to the Far East: Tea Ceremony as a Phenomenon of Japanese Culture
National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture and Arts Herald, 2019
This paper aims at exploring the Japanese tea ceremony as a phenomenon of Japanese culture. The authors have used integrative anthropological approach, multidisciplinary analysis, comparative, cultural historical , and descriptive methods. Practical methods of research, including personal participation in the tea ceremony of the Urasenke Tradition of cha no yu, were used. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the exploration of the Japanese tea ceremony as a component of Japanese culture, as well as in the analysis of its philosophical and aesthetic aspects. Nurturing simplicity and naturalness and being an institutionalized form of spiritual activity, cha no yu opens a window into the spiritual realm of our being and brings true peace into our souls. Tea is philosophy, which is a part of the Japanese spirit. Due to the Way of Tea, the meditative component and element of joyful rest came into life. The Way of Tea teaches people to be sincere and responsive. Thus, it is more than just a ceremony-it is the way of life.
Codified Tranquility : Ritual and Communitas in the Japanese Way of Tea
2012
This thesis is an ethnographic study of chadō, the Japanese way of Tea, with particular focus on the social and communal aspects present in a formal Tea event, a chaji. Perhaps as a result of the closed nature of the Japanese way of Tea (an invitation from the host is required in order to take part in a chaji) previous studies of the subject in English have confined themselves primarily to the aesthetic or artistic nature of chadō. In contrast, this study emphasizes the ritual and symbolic aspects of a chaji, examining Tea (the term used to describe chadō within the study), as a transition ritual, the ultimate goal of which is enlightenment or tranquillity. Through a comprehensive analysis of Tea and its practice, the findings of this study suggest that a special social-sphere is created during a chaji, a sphere which in turn fosters a sense of shared community between the participants. As a result of the ritual practice and the manifestation of symbolic communication within a chaji, shared values of respect and harmony are affirmed and renewed among the community. The initial fieldwork for this study was conducted over a period of three months in Kyōto Japan, based on participant observation at the Urasenke school of Tea as well as through conducting interviews with some of the school's students. This first-hand observation and research was then filtered through the lens of transition rituals as defined by the classic study Rite de passage of Van Gennep and Victor Turner's conceptualization of society and rituals. In linking the data to these theoretical frameworks, the findings show that in participating in a chaji, Tea practitioners are able to leave the mundane world behind them, moving through a phase of symbolic cleansing, and into the sacred or spiritual realm of Tea. This transition occurs in three distinct phases which Van Gennep defines as separation, transition, and incorporation. The study argues that it is possible to view a sense of shared community among chaji practitioners as taking place not within the realm of structured society, but rather in its margins. As such, the individual participant of a chaji is no longer defined by his or her status or role in society at large; when participating in a chaji, the Tea practitioner is sharing in a "once in a lifetime" experience of shared communal harmony. The findings also suggest that through its focus on traditional Japanese art forms (ceramics, calligraphy, flower arrangement), Tea operates as a mechanism to create a communal experience with a shared value system. Although chadō is defined by its adherents as being quintessentially Japanese, this study makes comparisons to other consumption rituals in which a communal feeling is achieved among the participants.
‘Ethnic practices’ in translation: Tea in Japan and the US
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2006
The old wood two-storied house sits on a small hill proceeded by a spacious lawn. Past the pairs of shoes lining the front entrance and beyond the dining area is a tea room that bears few traces of its origins as a study. The floor is covered with tatami 1 mats and sliding doors form a wall separating a narrow corridor leading to a preparation room where scores of small tea utensils are prepared, cleaned, and stored. On the wall a calligraphy scroll hangs over flowers arranged sparsely in a vase. However, the room is empty of other objects except for one corner where steam escapes from an old iron tea kettle on a portable brazier attended by a ceramic water jar, lacquered tea caddy, bamboo whisk, small folded cloth, and a few other utensils orderly arranged. A middleaged Japanese woman in kimono, hair pulled back, sits on her knees in front of the kettle and prepares tea. Sitting diagonally to her, the teacher, in her 70s and also wearing kimono, punctuates the student's flow of movements with verbal instructions of what comes next. "Left, right, left," she says in Japanese as the student handles the tea bowl. "No, the knuckle of your thumb shouldn't bend. It should be flat like this," and she illustrates with her hand. Two other students, both in casual clothes, sit as "guests" who will drink the tea the "host" is preparing. When the bowl of tea is whisked to a frothy green, the first guest sets aside the round sweet made of pounded rice and beans to slide forward on his knees and retrieve the bowl of tea. Three other students sit in the back of the room, outside the performance space, observing the procedure and chatting. While 1 Please refer to Appendix A for a brief definition of this and other Japanese terms repeatedly employed throughout the text. Ethnic Practices in Translation 2 the guest drinks the tea, a younger woman in the back asks about the scroll. The teacher explains the meaning and as she proceeds to discuss the day's flower arrangement another student arrives. She sits on her knees and greets the teacher formally by bowing, and apologizing for running late. The teacher, delighted to see her (busy with work, she has missed the last few weekly lessons), compliments her colorful kimono and asks how her mother is doing. The lesson proceeds with each of the students taking turns as guest or host, preparing tea in different ways depending on the types of utensils chosen. Three hours later, when all have finished, cleaned up, and chatted a bit as they gather their belongings and slip on their shoes, the students file out of the house and return to their cars to drive back home-not to the suburbs of Tokyo (although similar a scene might have occurred in Japan), but to their respective Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Comparative Study of Chanoyu Tea and Tea Serving in Yogyakarta Palace
IZUMI
The researcher's experience of studying chanoyu for one year at Urasenke Kyoto became a stimulus to compare Chanoyu tea serving ceremony and tea serving ceremony in Yogyakarta Palace. Up to this time, the tea serving ceremony in Yogyakarta Palace has never been opened to the public, unlike the worldwide Chanoyu tea serving ceremony, a particular school has even been opened to study chanoyu. With this phenomenon, researchers are interested in examining further to compare the two tea serving ceremonies. The method used is descriptive qualitative with literature study, field observation, and interview. The results show that tea used in chanoyu was called powdered matcha, while in Yogyakarta Palace it was 2 Tang powder tea. The utensil in chanoyu is free to choose according to the guests and the season. At the same time, in Yogyakarta palace, it has become the rule and only for families in Yogyakarta Palace. The philosophical meaning of chanoyu is related to the harmony seen in the ...
2018
Japanese tea ceremony extends beyond the mere act of tea drinking: it is also known as chadō, or "the Way of Tea", as it is one of the artistic disciplines conceived as paths of religious awakening through lifelong effort. One of the elements that shaped its multifaceted identity through history is the evolution of the physical space where the ritual takes place. This essay approaches Japanese tea ceremony from a point of view that is architectural and anthropological rather than merely aesthetic, in order to trace the influence of Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism on both the architectural elements of the tea room and the different aspects of the ritual. The structure of the essay follows the structure of the space where the ritual itself is performed: the first chapter describes the tea garden where guests stop before entering the ritual space of the tea room; it also provides an overview of the history of tea in Japan. The second chapter figuratively enters the ritual space of the tea room, discussing how Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism merged into the architecture of the ritual space. Finally, the third chapter looks at the preparation room, presenting the interplay of the four cognitive systems within the ritual of making and serving tea. Each chapter also follows the different phases of a hypothetical tea gathering, in order to facilitate the comprehension of the architectural features by examining the ritual space in terms of the activities taking place in it.
2017
The thesis of this paper is that despite the differences in traditional Chinese and Japanese tea cultures, both cultures had members of their elite society using their tea culture to enhance their own prestige. This paper will focus on the time from the mid-8th century to the early 17th century. Three aspects of tea culture will be discussed in this paper: government, religious, and material culture. The government aspect will deal with tea as used by the Chinese emperors, specifically Emperor Huizong (1100-26) who wrote a treatise on tea. For Japan, the government aspect will focus mostly on the shoguns, the military dictators of feudal Japan who used tea culture to increase their prestige through peaceful means. The religious aspect will focus completely on Buddhism, which featured prominently in East Asian tea culture. For China, the major figure that will be discussed is Ennin, a Japanese Buddhist monk who travelled through China in the 9th century and commented often on tea. Zen Buddhism played a huge role in Japanese tea culture, particularly in the person of Sen no Rikyu (1522-91) who was a devout follower of Zen and a revolutionary figure in the Japanese tea ceremony (chanoyu). Rikyu was a merchant, who would traditionally ranked very low in society, but tea culture increased his otherwise low prestige. The third aspect is material culture, particularly tea bowls, which were viewed as prestigious works of art well worth acquiring in both China and Japan to show off one’s wealth and taste. Overall, the purpose of this paper is to compare the tea cultures of China and Japan, as most scholarly research focuses on one or the other instead of noting the similarities- in this case, the elite societies’ use of their tea cultures to increase their reputation amongst their peers.
Tea in the Historical Context of East Asia: Cultural Interactions across Borders
This paper treats the principal regions of East Asia, such as Japan, the Ryūkyū Islands, Korea, China, and Vietnam, as individual entities to which the custom of tea was transmitted from China to become an integral part of each local culture. These cultures entail not only tea drinking, but cultivation of the tea plant, and historical and cultural backgrounds related to tea and tea drinking. The similarities involved in tea cultures have often overshadowed important regional historical and cultural adaptations. It is our intention to correct this oversight.
The Ideologies of Japanese Tea
The Ideologies of Japanese Tea
Rikyu# as representative: tea as national pride Rikyu# in wartime tea literature 'Zen is Tea' as imperialism: Zen is the sword, Zen is Bushido# Wartime tea literature The Way of Tea in citizen education Debates about the values of the Way of Tea 6 Grand Master: Iemoto Historical background of the Grand Master system Sensational location: iemoto in popular culture and literature Thousand Cranes by Kawabata Yasunari 7 Tea Teachings as Power: Questioning Legitimate Authority One context: teaching and research connected Read the text so closely it alarms its protectors How discourse shapes experience in institutional contexts Reading against Anderson from outside: Kramer versus Anderson The hard reflexivity of future tea 8 Teshigahara's Rikyu# # as Historical Critique: Representations, Identities and Relations The film Rikyūas a considered historical intervention Written history: qualifying the legendary status of Sen no Rikyu# ix Contents