P6+Chado+Tea

Chado- The Practice of Tea

Braden S, Bharat M, Maneesha P

Chado, the practice of a tea ceremony, was part of the life of an average Japanese citizen or samurai in the Tokugawa period. In this essay, you will learn about how tea came about in Japan, the tea ceremony, and the detailed steps on how to perform it. You will also learn about the many tea ceremony utensils and the architecture of a teahouse. After reading, you will be close to an expert on the Japanese tradition of the tea ceremony. We begin at the beginning of tea.
 * Introduction**

Chado is the practice of tea in Japan. Tea in Japan has been around for hundreds of years. It all started in year 727. Tea was given as a gift to Emperor Shomu of Japan by the Chinese. In year 794 tea was planted in the Imperial gardens in Japan. In year 900, when Japanese monks went to China to study Buddhism they brought back tea with them. Next, in year 1191 a Japanese monk, Eisai Myo-an went to China and returned with tea seeds. He was the first to grow tea solely for religious purposes. Eisai Myo-an also discovered powdered tea. Finally, in the year 1400 tea became a popular drink in Japan. In 1477 a priest by the name of Murata Shuho invented the rules of etiquette for drinking tea. They were called Chanoyu-“hot water tea.” Lastly, in the year 1584, the first teahouse was built for and used for serving and drinking tea. The teahouse was developed by a man named Sen-nio Rikyu. He helped bring the simple drinking of tea into an incredible process that uses many utensils.
 * History **

The tea ceremony and the growing of tea is a very complicated ceremony and to perform it, many utensils must be used. The //Chabaka// is a box of a certain size for carrying the utensils and to present the temae, the ceremonial way of preparing and serving the tea according to custom. The //Chakin// is a white linen cloth that is about 15 by 27cm long used for wiping the tea bowl at a tea gathering. The //Chashaku// is a tea scoop made by a practitioner that communicates the personality of its maker and also is kept in a signed bamboo tube. The //Chasen// is a tea whisk made by cutting one end of a section of bamboo into up to two hundred tines used to knead or whip tea. A black thread is wrapped around the base of the tines at the node of the bamboo. A //Chatsubo// is a ceramic jar where the tea is stored for a month during the year long process of aging the tea. When presented in the tea room, they are often decorated with a special carrying net and a complicated set of decorated bowls. The //Fukusa// is a silk cloth used by the host at tea gatherings to clean and purify utensils and grasp the metal knob on the top of the kettle. They are usually about 28 by 27cm and when men used them, they were purple, but when women used them, they used red ones. The //Hishaku// is the bamboo water ladle used to move water between the kettle, the cold water container, and the tea bowl. The //Kama// is the kettle used to boil water for the tea. The //Kensui// is the water waste container used at tea gatherings. This is used to discard the access water from the tea. This tea ceremony takes place in a simple house, but the setting must follow strict format.
 * Tea Utensils**

The tea ceremony is made of three parts that make this ceremony absolutely serene. There can be up to five guests and there are the three parts, the preliminary part, the middle part, and the final part. At the start of the tea ceremony, the windows are curtained off by bamboo screens to darken the room. Also, the scroll is removed and a new one is put in its place. In the middle part, a simple meal is served, followed by sweet cakes. The guests also rest in the middle garden. In the final part, or the //nochiseki//, the scroll is replaced by a floral arrangement. The water jar, tea caddy and utensils were put in the area where the ceremony took place. The atmosphere is changed to a bright room when the host picks up the ladle. Then the host performs the ceremony in silence while the guests concentrate on his movement. This is the climax of the ceremony. The main guest will then speak to the host while the other guests stay silent. Once the tea has been drunk, silence continues. The fire is smothered by adding more charcoal to the fire and the sound of the boiling kettle dies down. The final round tea is served which signifies the ceremony is coming to an end. To drink the tea, one must know what he or she is doing and exactly how to do it.
 * The Tea Ceremony**

The tea bowl can be placed either in front of the guest or in the room where the tea is prepared. After drinking the tea, the bowl is put back where it was. If another guest has been served before you its polite to say: //o shoban sasete itadaki masu// or please let me accompany you. Next, it is polite for you to turn to the host and say //o temae o chodai itashimasu// or I'll partake of your tea. Pick up your bowl with your right hand and place it on the palm of your left hand. Then, put your fingers and you right hand around it with your thumb facing you and make a small bow to be polite. With the bowl still resting on the palm of your left hand, grasp the rim of the bowl with your thumb and forefingers and turn it 90 degrees clockwise. Take a sip and then comment on how great it tastes while dropping your right on the //tatami// before your knees. Drink the rest of the tea in mall sips and when you come to the last sip, inhale deeply making a sound loud enough to hear. After drinking, the rim of the bowl should be wiped lightly with tissue paper from left to right as you hold the bowl between your forefinger and thumb. With the bowl still resting on your left palm, turn it counter-clockwise so that that it returns to its original position before you drank it. This done with the thumb at the edge of the bowl and the other four fingers underneath it. Place the bowl on the outside of the //tatami// border and, with your hands on the mat, gaze at the bowl to appreciate the shape of it. The bowl can also be picked up more closely to view it. After drinking the tea, the bowl is put back where it was. The bowl should be turned in a 180 degree revolution so that the front of the bowl faces your host when you return it to him or her. This is how to drink tea and a little bit of background about it.
 * How to Drink Tea **

So, as you now know, the practice of a tea ceremony, or Chado, was a large part of Japanese society. The idea of this ceremony is to calm and cleanse one's thoughts and mind. Even for samurai, all thoughts of war and aggression are gone. This ceremony serves as a time to stop, look, and appreciate life, nature, and art. It is also a time of meditation. Here, one may be tranquil, peaceful, calm, and free of all thoughts of the mundane world. This is Chado, the practice of a tea ceremony in Japan.
 * Conclusion **

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"Japanese Art of Tea Ceremony." Asia-Art. Asia-Art, 2008. Web. 2-16-10 Pratt, James Norwood. New Tea Lover's Treasury. San Francisco, CA: Publishing Technology Associates, 1999. Lee, Karen. "Tea in Japan." Pacific University Asian Studies. Pacific University. 16 Feb. 2009. Minneapolis Institute of Arts. "Architecture: Teahouse." The Art of Asia. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2005. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.
 * Citations**