It was all tea in the Japanese Tea Gardens

by Darani Hashi Withanage

Japan has a great history of the Tea Ceremony. Japanese history art and cultural complexity can be condensed into a single gesture; The Tea Ceremony.

The Tea Ceremony Cha-no-Ya or Sado as it is known in Japan, is still practised by a large percentage of the population, mostly women.

It is still socially recognised as an important requisite for married life - again, at least for women (Hanayome-Shugyo) There are four spiritual and artistic components essential to the world of tea, 'Harmony' (WA), 'Reverence' (KEI), 'Purity' (SEI), and 'Tranquillity' (JAKU).

Throughout the tea garden, the tea room and the ceremony itself are symbolic representations of these elements. Water drawn from the stone basin, CHOZUBACHI, is considered particularly pure, is an act of reverence, the garden should project a sense of harmony rarely found in daily life, 'WAYWARDNESS' for the spirit of tea in turn produces a tranquillity unknown to most artistic and spiritual endeavours.

The qualities of Harmony, Reverence, Purity and Tranquillity are intimately entwined throughout all as peaks of the tea ceremony.

History

According to tradition, Bodhidarma who left India and Introduced CHAN Buddhism to China in 520 encouraged the custom of tea drinking for alertness during meditation.

Since the 16th century the manner of preparation in Japan has varied among masters who developed schools that promoted CHADO the way of TEA (also pronounced SADO), a highly structured method for preparing tea in the company of guests although its origins are in the tea ritual of ZEN Buddhist temples in Tang Dynasty China. The tea ceremony is a Japanese expression.

During the NARA period (710-794) the influence of Chinese Culture was great and included the introduction of tea in conjunction with Buddhism, which had been introduced from the continent in the 6th Century. At the ceremonies dedicating the temple TODAIJI in Nara, the emperor Shomu had (724-749) had tea served to 100 priests.

It was in the HEIAN period after the capital was moved to HEIANKYO that tea became part of the general culture of Japan. Aristocrats who collected the highly prized Chinese utensils served tea in their pavilions.

In the KAMAKURA Period (1185-1335) the Japanese priest Eisai returned from Buddhist studies in China with seeds from the plant. Priest Eisai wrote the benefits of tea drinking called KISSA YOJOKI.

He gave the first tea seeds to the priest Myoe who planted them near his temple KOZANJI, Kyoto. Later, Eisai's seeds became known as 'True tea' (HONOHA).

Tea schools

There are schools of Tea in Japan, which is training Japanese people and foreigners regarding 'Tea discipline'. Soshitsu founded URA SENKE, SOSA OMATE SENKE are the leading schools in Japan.

Today, with millions of students URA SENKE is representative of the commoners. In spite of the differences among the many schools of tea, they share the same disciplined spirit. The styles of the building, tea gardens and utensils and the order and etiquette of the ceremony are products of the same urge to perfect one's existence without self indulgence.

Four principles of tea

The four principles of WA-KEI-SEI-JAKU or 'Harmony', 'Respect', 'Purity' and 'Tranquillity' act as the 'Motto' of the study of the tea ceremony. These principles are an adaptation by SEN-NO-RIKYU of ideas related to Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

WA is (harmony) at the heart of much of Japanese thought, Societal harmony is prized in Most Asian cultures and is exemplified in the group consciousness, which is at the care of Japanese life. In the tea ceremony, the host and guests always strive to work for a harmonious experience and part of the study of tea is learning the necessary timing and nuances which bring the hosts and guests together.

KEI (reverential respect) is a primary virtue in Confucian thinking. KEI is demonstrated through following the etiquette of tea. In the tea ceremony the intimacy between host and guests is shown indirectly through the way the host chooses implements and makes tea and the way guests handle the implements and drink the tea.

SEI (Purity) is a primary virtue in Shintoism, the indigenous religion of Japan. The purity desired in tea is internal but it is discovered in external things such as the hand washing at the 'Tsukubai', the 'purification' by the host of all the implements (done in the view of the guest) and in not putting the 'sugar' in the tea but consuming 'Tea' and 'Kashi' separately.

Jaku (tranquillity) to the student of tea does not simply mean 'relaxed' or 'peaceful'. It refers more to the sense of calm one finds in things being natural, rather than that is showy or ostentatious. In tea Juku can be found both in the choice of implements and in the studied yet. 'Natural' movements that together promote harmony, reverence and purity.

The Tea Garden- 'Roji'

The Tea Garden becomes the larger field in the rejuvenation of spiritual values which today have become synonymous with the natural world of earth, plants, water, air. It was two levels of communication of man and nature, the perception of geological nature and the religious experience of geological nature as a tangible manifestation of higher truth.

The Tea Garden can be infused with a wildness through the care and gratitude of its visitors. The courage required to maintain harmony, reverence, purity and tranquillity in the tea garden can be expanded to include the larger garden of our planet.

The garden serves the human soul. It is a secular stage where upon our spirituality is brought into play and reflected back to us. The guests arrive before the appointed hour and gather in the MACHIAI (now also called YORITSUKI) a room in which a hanging scroll may be displayed.

They are served cups of hot water, SAYU, so that they may sample the water to be used in making the tea and preparing the food. The water may be served by the host or by an assistant, 'Hanto'.

When the guests finish they proceed through the garden to a covered waiting bench Koshikake Machiai. The garden is called ROJI and has a wooded appearance with evergreens and shrubs, ferns and a moss ground cover. The guests, wearing sedge sandals or wooden clogs used only in the Roji tread on large stones set in the ground.

The relationship between the tea garden and tea ceremony have grown with the burning demands of the twentieth century. As the tea ceremony was gaining popularity at the time, there are many tea houses on the grounds and the architecture design and flora tend to be subdued.

In the Japanese Garden the shapes of natural mountains, rivers, lakes and the wilderness of forests are simulated and expressed in a heightened poetic way. The Japanese Garden is a tangible realization of the aesthetics of shinto nature worship and the ideals of Buddhist Philosophy, the twin spiritual foundation of Japanese culture.

It is the type of Japanese Garden known as a wet walking garden, although it has a Zen garden or dry garden areas as well.

In Japanese Culture, a Garden is considered to be one of the highest art forms expressing in a limited space the essence of nature through the use of specially selected plants and stones.

Often rocks and shrubs are placed to express a traditional symbolic meaning. Pines are a much loved tree in Japan and the symbol of dignified old age and are picturesquely sculptured by the elements into wonderful shapes in nature.

Aesthetics of tea

The first tea master of the past to emphasize the spiritual aspect of the tea ceremony was (the father of tea ceremony) SHUKO, who taught the importance of the right frame of mind, purity of mind, and that superficial appearances of cleanliness should be aimed for all times. In relations between the host and his quests, self-restraint and consideration are the key attributes.

A person of a lower social status should be given the same degree of respect as who comes from a high social level. Riku's influence during his lifetime helped to preserve the purity and simplicity of the tea ceremony from deterioration into a mere fashionable past time.

Katagiri, Sekishu, a feudal lord himself wrote a book called an essay on WABI, he described two types of tea masters, one who loves the formality of the ceremony, the elegance of the atmosphere and the beauty of the utensils and the true tea devotee who loves the spirituality of the ceremony.

Zen philosophy and the tea ceremony

It was the Zen-priest "Elsai" who first brought the idea of drinking powdered green tea to Japan and encouraged tea drinking among his fellow priests. Zen and Chanoyu is the development of the fine arts of 'calligraphy, painting and pottery. The first scrolls (Kakemono) to hang in the tea room alcove were specimens of highly prized calligraphy executed by the Sung and Yuan priests of China.

The close affinity between Chanoyu and the simplicity and purity inherent in the religion influenced the form that the tea ceremony took in effect, the same harmony of mind attained upon entering a Zen temple could now be achieved in the screen atmospheres that pervaded the tea room.

Harmony with nature

Harmony with nature is the basis of Chanou for it is regarded by its originators as the ultimate means of awakening aesthetic appreciation. The special styles of tea houses and garden are an indication of this ideal and unlike western homes and garden, which are for the most part built to stand apart from nature. Japanese tea rooms and gardens are designed to blend in with their surroundings.

The Japanese have always observed nature very closely and their preoccupation with the changing of the seasons can be observed in the oldest anthology of poems complied at the end of NARA period.

The Manyoshu who found aesthetic enjoyment in the tea ceremony also possessed great sensitivity to nature which is why observance of the passing of the seasons become such an important part of the art.