Tea Ceremony Introductory Video
Showa Period Tea CeremonyJapanese tea ceremony 昭和の日本
Tea Ceremony Kyoto Maikoya Japan
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Wonderful article from the MET Museum, by Anna Willmann
Although the Japanese word for the tea ceremony, chanoyu, literally means “hot water for tea,” the practice involves much more than its name implies. Chanoyu is a ritualized, secular practice in which tea is consumed in a specialized space with codified procedures. The act of preparing and drinking matcha, the powdered green tea used in the ceremony, is a choreographed art requiring many years of study to master. The intimate setting of the tea room, which is usually only large enough to accommodate four or five people, is modeled on a hermit’s hut. In this space, often surrounded by a garden, the participants temporarily withdraw from the mundane world.
In the tea room, the emphasis is on the interaction between the host, guests, and tea utensils. The host will choose an assemblage of objects specific to that gathering and use those utensils to perform the tea preparations in front of the guests. Each tea gathering is a unique experience, so a particular assemblage of objects and people is never repeated. The guests are expected to abide by tea room etiquette with regard to the gestures used to drink the tea and the appreciation of the utensils. When presented with a bowl of tea, a guest will notice and reflect upon the warmth of the bowl and the color of the bright green matcha against the clay before he begins to drink. The ceramics used in this context—tea bowls, water jars, flower vases, tea caddies, and so forth—are functional tools valued for their practicality as well as artworks admired for their aesthetic qualities. A key element in this practice is the host’s connoisseurship skills; the host acquires a collection of objects that conform to a shared aesthetic standard and selects which objects to use in a particular gathering.
The tea ceremony as it is known today emerged in the sixteenth century. It was an elite artistic pursuit that provided a forum for the rulers of Japan, the warrior elite, and wealthy merchants to forge and reinforce social ties. The first ceramic utensils appreciated in this context were ancient ceramics from China that had been handed down in Japan for generations (91.1.226). Imbued with the potency of age and the glamour of ancient Chinese civilization, which the Japanese had long revered as a source of culture, these objects were treasured in Japan. A shift occurred in the mid-sixteenth century, pioneered by influential tea masters such as Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591). These tea masters began to incorporate rustic ceramic vessels from Korea and Japan, and found beauty in unrefined, natural, or imperfect forms. By the authority of their recognized connoisseurial abilities, the leading tea men of the time elevated these objects to the same level as the ancient Chinese treasures. This aesthetic, which celebrates austerity, spontaneity, and apparent artlessness, is known as wabi.
Many of the Japanese-made ceramics used in this ceremony are unglazed stonewares first intended as utilitarian vessels for farmers. Such wares were made at a variety of kilns, including Shigaraki and Bizen ). These sites produced vessels as early as the Heian period, long before the development of the tea ceremony or the wabi aesthetic. The different clay in each location resulted in specific colors and textures when the piece was fired. Shigaraki ware, for example, is characterized by a fiery orange color and a speckled, bumpy surface caused by the feldspar in the clay. Bizen ware, on the other hand, is known for its deep reddish to blackish brown color.
Since their purpose was not decorative, these vessels were not necessarily made with aesthetic considerations in mind. Large jars would usually be shaped using a method of coiling bands of clay, instead of the more precise potter’s wheel, often resulting in asymmetrical vessels. When fired in the kiln, ash would settle on the shoulders of jars, melt, and drip down the sides, resulting in natural ash glazes. Therefore, the ultimate appearance of these rustic pieces was unpredictable, shaped more by the forces of fire and the natural characteristics of the clay than by a careful hand. With these ceramics we can especially notice the role of tea practitioners in assigning value. Not every agricultural storage jar in Japan was deemed a work of art when the wabi aesthetic arrived. Rather, tea practitioners discovered certain objects and recognized specific qualities in the glaze, shape, and texture that they considered worthy of artistic merit. Each instance in which these “found objects” passed from one famous tea master to another contributed to their pedigree, further increasing their value.
Although the notion of wabi is useful in helping us to understand the high value placed on certain wares that may have gone unnoticed in other contexts, ceramics used in the tea ceremony came in a variety of styles. From sleek, dark Chinese tea bowls, to rough, unglazed Shigaraki jars, to the brilliantly enameled incense containers of Ninsei, a spirit of eclecticism can be found in the tea room. In fact, the contrast between these ceramics serves to highlight the unique beauty of each.
To read:
Guth, Christine M. E. Art, Tea, and Industry: Masuda Takashi and the Mitsui Circle. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
Ohki, Sadako. Tea Culture of Japan. New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 2009.
Pitelka, Morgan, ed. Japanese Tea Culture: Art, History, and Practice. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.
Varley, H. Paul, and Kumakura Isao, eds. Tea in Japan: Essays on the History of Chanoyu. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 1989.
Every Day a Good Day: Fifteen lessons I learned about happiness from Japanese tea culture
by Noriko Morishita
Chigusa Jar Princeton Art Museum
The Story of Chigusa: A Japanese Tea Jar's 700-Year History
by Louise Allison Cort , Andrew M. Watsky
Also:
The Nobility of Failure, by Ivan Morris