The Book of Tea, written by Okakura Tenshin(岡倉天心)

 

The Book of Tea which was written in English was published in New York in 1906.

It was not instructions on tea-ceremony or etiquette, and it was spiritual make-up cultivated within the Japanese people through the way of tea as an Art of Living.

Tea constitutes the base of a sense of values that was founded in Taoism and Zen,

and created independently in Japan. The Japanese people have come to value Symbolism and Relativity.bode of Vacancy.

 

There are three points in his work.

1. Tea is an Art of Life. Tea has no beginning and no end.

2. Someone can transcend the self through tea. Eastern Abode of Vacancy.

3. The Japanese learned the value of incompleteness.

Incompleteness means not to equate everything as complete but to deal it with a

supplementary imagination.

 

The Book of Tea has seven Chapters.

 

Chapter 1. The Cup of Humanity.

Tea-ism is a worship of the Imperfect. All have been subject to its influence.

The Philosophy of Tea is comfort in simplicity, moral geometry, enforces

cleanliness.

 

Chapter 2. The Schools of Tea.

Tea’s evolution is divided into three main stages.

1. The Boiled Tea, the Cake-tea and in the Tang dynasty(唐王朝).

2. The Whipped Tea, the Powdered-tea and in the Sung dynasty(宋王朝).

3. The Steeped Tea, the Leaf-tea and in the Ming dynasty(明王朝).

The southern Zen sect which incorporated Taoist doctrines formulated an

elaborate ritual of tea. Tea is a religion of the art of life. Aeons are but

moments. Nirvana always within grasp. The Tea-ism is one of the methods

of self-realisation. Tea with us is a religion of the art of life. The beverage

grew to be the worship of purity and refinement, a sacred function. Tea-ism

was Taoism in disguise.

 

Chapter 3. Taoism and Zennism.

Taoism and Zennism have adeas about life and art which are embodied in

Teaism. Taoism is the spirit of Cosmic Change, the Great Transition, the

Mood of the Universe. 老子 calls it the Infinite. Infinite is the Fleeting, the

Fleeting is the Vanishing, the Vanishing is the Reverting. The Present is the

moving Infinity. Taoism accepts the mundane and tries to find beauty in it.

Its Absolute is the Relative. Relativity seeks Adjustment, Adjustment is Art.

Through consecrated meditation of Zennism, the Zen-sectarians may be

attained supreme self-realization. Taoism furnished the basis for aesthetic

ideas, Zennism made them practical.

 

Chapter 4. The Tea-Room.

Sukiya(好き屋) means the Abode of Fancy. It is an ephemeral structure.

Abode of Fancy implies a structure created to meet some individual artistic

requirement.

The tea-room is absolutely empty called Sukiya(空き屋), it is an Abode of

Vacancy inasmuch as it is devoid of ornamentation. Abode of Vacancy

conveys the Taoist theory of the all-containing, and the Buddhist theory of

evanescence. Everything else is selected and arranged to enhance the beauty

of the principal theme.

The Abode of Unsymmetrical(数寄屋) is the absence of symmetry in

Japanese art objects. In the tea-room, the fear of repetition is a constant

presence.

 

Chapter 5. Art Appreciation.

The sympathetic communion of minds necessary for art appreciation must

be based on mutual concession. The spectator must cultivate the proper

attitude for receiving the message. Acollector forgets that a single

masterpiece can teach us more than any number of the mediocre products of

a given period or school. We classify too much and enjoy too little. The art

might be a universal language.

 

Chapter 6. Flowers.

The flower worship of the tea-masters formed only a part of their aesthetic

ritual. Some flowers glory in death, in short, flowers mean the symbol like

the way of Samurai’s life. We shall atone for the cutting flowers by

consecrating ourselves to Purity and Simplicity. The primeval man entered

the realm of art when he perceived the subtle use of the useless.

 

Chapter 7. Tea-Masters.

In religion the Future is behind us. In art the Present is the eternal. God has

already decided Future. Present means free, open the mind and no decision

yet. Real appreciation of art is only possible to those who make of it a living

influence. They sought to regulate their daily life by the high standard of

refinement. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be maintained, and

conversation should be so conducted as never to mar the harmony of the

surroundings. The cut and colour of the dress, the poise of the body, and the

manner of walking could all be made expressions of artistic personality.

Perfection is everywhere if we only choose to recognize it. He only who has

lived with the beautiful can die beautifully. Tea-masters were ever prepared

to enter the unknown, because he sought always to be in harmony with the

great rhythm of the universe.

 

 

 

 

 

About Wa(和): Harmony.

Wa means harmony and Japan. Japanese cuisine is known as Wa-shoku

(和食) and Japanese clothing is known as Wa-fuku(和服). Harmony is a basic

value defined as the ability of people to cooperate and work together well.

In an agricultural society, Japanese people work closely together on a

limited amount of land. Wa is the Japanese value system.

 

About Michi(道): Way.

Michi is the spiritual value. The word Michi is used when the Japanese are

describing circumstances where they must learn or polish a skill. It is a

social value with deep roots in Japanese culture. It means the method of

doing something.

 

About Ki(気): Energy.

Ki means the movement of unseen energy in our world. The atmosphere is

one type of Ki. When we walk in a morning’s clear air, we feel refreshed.

Ki is found in people’s hearts, and if we are full of good Ki, we will be

fulfilled in our personal life.