The Way of Tea

Provided by Ame Otoko

The Japanese Tea Ceremony is based on the tea philosophy; Wa, Kei, Sei, Jaku which represents harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. It also consist of the Chinese zen philosophy; to remove negative energy and to attain inner peace and also to connect with nature as well as entertain guests.  The Way of Tea represents the life style, the commitment and preparation for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. It can also be considered as a cultural art as well as self discipline. 

The Japanese Tea Ceremony is prepared through a unique and artistic way that provides the guest of honor and the guests to enjoy the simplicity and the purity of the moment. The tea ceremony is used to communicate with the guest and it is based on the appropriate way to serve tea. The Tea is served according to sitting order and ranking, the guest of honour who is called Shokyaku; who is also the main person to communicate with Teishu, the second guest is a Jikyaku, and the others are called Kyaku; each of these guests play a crucial part in the ceremony.

Each new season brings new arrangments and different ways of preparing for the ceremony. There are many steps to prepare for the tea ceremony. Each movment and the placement are fixed before hand on the Tatami mat. The room settings, designs, everything has to be in perfect conditon as well as clean. The Tatami mats are cleaned by sweeping with a broom called the Houki. In the olden days before the invention of glass, paper was used for the sliding doors they where ideal to let sunshine in but also have some form of privacy at the same time. The sliding door papers had to be cleaned and were to be replaced with new ones if they had holes in them, or if they where too old.

Provided by moonlightbulb

There are a variety of equipments that are used for the ceremony, some of them include the Cha-ire, which is a tall and thin pot, Chakin is white, rectangular cloth that is used to clean the tea equipments. Chasen a tool that is used to whisk the tea, chashaku is a tool that is ued to scoop out the tea, this tool is important in getting the right amount of tea. Chawan is tea bowl, Fukusa is silk cloth that can be used to clean the area and it can also be used when handling hot object. Another important tool used is the hishaku which is spoon like object that is used to move hot water when making the tea.

The tea ceremony is primarily used as a way of honouring the guests, communicating with each other and also connecting with nature. The simplicity and the purity of the ceremony help to achieve an inner peace as well, and it can also be considered as a spiritual safisfaction.