TheTeaCeremony2

media type="custom" key="5445361" Tea in Japan
====The Japanese tea ceremony is a very beautiful complex ceremony. It is full of many wonderful rituals and practices. Tea is a very sacred drink and the Japanese people use it for many different things in their everyday lifes. No matter where you go in Japan, tea is everywhere. ==== ====Tea has a long and interesting history. Tea was first brought to Japan during the T'ang period. It was brought by a monk who had went to China to study. He brought tea seeds back with him. During the Nara period it was grown on the palace grounds as a medicinal drink for Priest and Noblemen. It was also used as stimulant for monks, so they wouldn't fall asleep during meditating. During the Kamakura period a priest went back to China, and brought back 1,191 tea seeds. A man named Eisai was the first person to drink tea for religious purposes. He also "helped" tea, by crushing it into powder, instead of using tea leaves like everyone else. It made the flavor stronger that way. During that time tea spread to the samurai and other rural areas. ==== ====Another aspect of Japanese culture are tea ceremonies. The purpose of the tea ceremonies was to remove yourself from the rest of the world and have a sense of refreshment and well being. It was serene process, and it was always quiet and modest. The hostess would perform ancient ritual gestures, almost like a dance. She would prepare whisked and frothed Green Tea for her guests, and then serve it to them. The guests would enter from a low doorway, teahouse so low they would have to crawl on their hands and knees. It was an act of humility to do so. They would then talk and comment onto the old teapots and kettles that the was full of. ==== ====The tea ceremonies have four important principles. The Japanese tea ceremony, also called cha-no-yu, means "hot water for tea". The tea ceremony, to the Japanese, is more than a very complicated ritual. It make the people look more into the nature, beauty, and politeness. There are 4 principles when it comes to the tea ceremony. They are harmony, respect, purity, tranquility. Harmony has to do with being harmonic to people and with nature. Respect is to have a good and long lasting relationship with other people. Purity is were people clean themselves through the five senses. The sense of hearing is purified though hearing the sound of water, the sense of sight when see the flowers, sense of touch when touch the utensils, sense of smell when smell the scent of the flowers, sense of taste when drinking tea. ====

The Japanese tea house is where the Japanese had their tea ceremonies. Tea houses were made of shingles, wickerwork, bamboo, and reeds. The door to the tea house was very low, so the people had to crawl in, for humility. The floor of the teahouse was covered with a bamboo mat called a tatami mat. The floor is decorated with celebrated tea stories. Tea houses had high ceilings, about 7-6 feet. T he alcove ceiling was made a little higher than the ceiling in other parts of the room and was covered with a piece of board, while the ceiling above the host's seat as made a little lower than the section above the guests' place in order to show humility. At first the walls were made of paper but then they advanced to make mud walls. The mud walls made it easily to create rooms with rounded corner. The windows let light into the tea house but it was made mostly for a better view of the natural plants. The host's entrance was small and the host had to crouch to enter it, making a sense of humility. The guests' entrance was made of wood and the guests' had to crouch too.

 The rules for drinking tea in Japan were very complex and very specific. The proper way to drink tea in Japan was to first pick up the bowl with your right hand and place it on the palm of your left hand. An then put the fingers and our right hand around it, with the thumb facing you, and make a small bow for politeness. Then, you had to grasp the rim of the bowl with your forefinger and thumb and turn it about ninety degrees clockwise. Next, you would have to take a sip and then comment on how good it tastes, while dropping your right hand on the tatami before your knees. Then, you would have to drink the remaining tea in small sips, and when you come to the last sip, inhale deeply, making a noticeable sound and then finish the tea. After drinking, the rim of the bowl would have to be wiped lightly with tissue paper from left to right, as you hold the bowl between forefinger and thumb. The following sentences note the main drinkers of tea in Japan and their reasons for drinking it. Originally, tea was used as a stimulant to keep **monks** from falling asleep during meditation. It was also a pastime enjoyed by **noblemen** as they dangled fishing lines in the waters of ponds and listened to music. Early in the 14th century, the taste of tea spread to the **Samurai society** and even into the **rural communities.** Later on, the **Gekokugo or the parvenus class** became interested in tea-drinking for entertainment

Citations:

Tanaka, Sen'O. //[|The Tea Ceremony]//. New York: Harper and Row, 1973. Isao, K., Varley, P. //Tea in Japan//. Honolulu: U of H Press, 1989 United S​tates. Sacred Heart Arbor. //Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony//. Do Shin Tei. Oregon: 1996. Asian-Art,. "Japanese art of Tea Ceremony." //Asian-Art.net//. Runckel & Associates, Inc., Web. 18 Feb 2010.