Tea ceremony

The tea ceremony, or chanoyu, is an aesthetic pastime unique to Japan that features the serving and drinking of macha, a powdered green tea. Though tea had been introduced into Japan from China around the eighth century, matcha did not reach the country until the end of the twelfth century. The practice of holding social gatherings to drink matcha spread among the upper class from about the fourteenth century.

Gradually one of the main purposes of these gatherings, which took place in a shoin (study), became the appreciation of paintings and crafts from China in a serene atmosphere. Under the influence of the formalities and manners that regulated the daily life of the samurai, who were then the dominant class in Japanese society, there developed certain rules and procedures that the participants in these tea parties were required to follow. This was the origin of the tea ceremony. The form of chanoyu that is practiced today was established in the second half of the sixteenth century, during the Momoyama period, by the tea master Sen no Rikyu.

Chanoyu involves more than merely enjoying a cup of tea in a stylized manner. The ceremony developed under the influence of Zen Buddhism, the aim of which is, in simple terms, to purify the soul by becoming one with nature. The true spirit of the tea ceremony has been described by such terms as calmness, rusticity, gracefulness, and the "aestheticism of austere simplicity and refined poverty." The strict canons of chanoyu etiquette, which at first glance may appear to be burdensome and meticulous, are in fact carefully calculated to achieve the highest possible economy of movement. When performed by an experienced master, they are a delight to watch. Chanoyu has played an important role in the artistic life ofthe Japanese people. As an aesthetic pursuit, the tea ceremony involves the apprecia- tion of the room in which it is held, the garden attached to the room, the utensils used in serving the tea, and the decor of the setting, such as a hanging scroll or a flower arrangement. Japanese architecture, land- scape gardening, ceramics, and flower arranging all owe a great deal to the tea ceremony. It was the spirit of chanoyu, representing the beauty of studied simplicity and harmony with nature, that molded the basis of these traditional forms of Japanese culture. Moreover, the kind of formalities observed in the tea ceremony have influenced the develop- ment of the manners of the Japanese in a fundamental way.

After the death of Sen no Rikyu in 1591, his teachings were handed down from generation to generation by his descendants and disciples. Different schools were established and have continued to be active to the present day. Among them, the Urasenke School is the most active and has the largest following. These schools differ from one another in the details of their rules, but they maintain the essence of the ceremony that the great master developed. This essence has continued to the present day unchallenged, and respect for the founder is one element that all schools possess in common.