PDA

View Full Version : Chado



Soulend
3rd September 2001, 21:34
Wasn't sure if this would be more appropriate in 'Food and Drink' or not, but does anyone know of a book or handbook (or even a good website) explaining the basics of the Tea Ceremony? I have looked in different sections in book stores to no avail, and a web search turned up no sites with specifics. I have no illusions of becoming a tea master, but it is something I would like to know a bit more about...

Thank you in advance for any help!

Mark Brecht
3rd September 2001, 21:47
This is really good:

Links to Tea Information websites (http://home2.highway.ne.jp/hinachan/sadookokusai.htm)

No worries, just that page is in Japanese. The links are in English.

Have fun ! :p

Soulend
4th September 2001, 03:39
Excellent! Good stuff there- Thanks Mark.

Jeff Hamacher
4th September 2001, 04:45
Originally posted by Soulend
... but does anyone know of a book or handbook (or even a good website) explaining the basics of the Tea Ceremony?
David,

it looks like Mark gave you a very good source, but i'll chime in with a couple of ideas. i currently study Omote Senke tea here in japan and my textbooks are in japanese, but these two books are probably better suited to your needs. there is at least one book by Sen Soushitsu XV i've read (which i think is simply titled Tea Ceremony, but i'll double-check), and i think the above-mentioned website has links to his other english publications. there is also another book that i've seen quite commonly in japan entitled The Book of Tea which i understand is a very good read. hope this helps and if you have further questions please don't hesitate to write on- or off-board.

hikari
4th September 2001, 12:15
Here's a link to the etext for The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura:

ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext97/tboft10.txt

Hope this helps ^__^

Soulend
4th September 2001, 22:04
Wow, glad we have some chajin on e-budo! I am wondering...I see that smoking materials are sometimes offered after the tea, but are more symbolic of relaxation than actually accepted and used. Was there a time when these were used? Why is it no longer-the demonization of smoking in general?

I also wonder if anyone knows a mail-order or internet source for good tea? The green tea available where I live is awful weak stuff. Need good rich green cha :) And would anyone have a good source for simple hand-thrown chawan?

Jeff Hamacher
5th September 2001, 02:29
Originally posted by Soulend
Wow, glad we have some chajin on e-budo!
well, it may be a while yet before i call myself chajin, but i guess i can always claim to be trying.;)

I am wondering...I see that smoking materials are sometimes offered after the tea, but are more symbolic of relaxation than actually accepted and used. Was there a time when these were used? Why is it no longer-the demonization of smoking in general?
the japanese, like many other asian societies, have yet to really "demonize" tobacco consumption as has happened in "western" nations, so i don't think that comes into play here. as i understand it, the smoking tray and pipes would be presented at some intermediate point in the ceremony, probably after food but before the tea, since the tea serving is the culmination of the whole show. at a real full-on ceremony "strong tea" (sort of like watery green mud) is served first, followed by "weak tea" (don't let the name fool you). the smoking tray might be presented between the two teas, but once again i'll have to double check.

update: check this link, which suggests that the tobacco tray is brought out between the two teas (along with pillows!?!).New York Tea Ceremony (http://www.teahyakka.com/chaji/chajiElayout.html)

and as for the Sen Soushitsu book i mentioned upthread, i pulled it out last night to check the title and promptly forgot it. i believe it's called Tea Life, Tea Mind, and it's published by Weatherhill. there are some very striking passages to be found in those pages; many a martial artist would do well to read them and apply that knowledge to their training, not to mention their everyday life.

thanks, Hikari, for the Book of Tea link.

Joseph Svinth
7th September 2001, 10:15
See also Christopher Benfey, "Tea with Okakura," New York Review of Books, May 25, 2000, pp. 43-47 and "Okakura Tenshin and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston," edited by Saeko Yamawaki, Nobuko Sakamoto, Makiko Yamada, and Hitomi Sato (Nagoya, Japan: Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1999). To be expected, actually, Boston having had tea parties for hundreds of years now, and in all seriousness, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where Okakura was curator of the Asian collection until his death, is one of the best Japanese art museums in the world.

For some descriptions of the book, see http://www.nagoya-cci.or.jp/e/museum.html , while for a very up-to-date biographical sketch, see http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:3keeCOmyVJk:www.anb.org/articles/17/17-01634-article.html+okakura+tenshin+boston&hl=en .

Stash Tea out of Portland offers Japanese teas at a reasonable price. Yamamotoyama is the brand name, which is not to be confused with Neil, who's more into expensive Scotch than moderately priced green tea. Most supermarkets around Seattle carry it, but if yours don't, the relevant Stash Tea website is http://www.stashtea.com/mocat_30.htm .

Neil Yamamoto
7th September 2001, 17:40
Check in the food and drink older posts. There was a thread on green tea a few months ago and I posted some links for online places to buy good green tea as did a few other.