Tea Ceremony

Tea has been drunk in Japan since the Nara period (710–794). Soon after Emperor Kanmu established Heian-kyu (Kyoto) as his capital around 800, he sent two Buddhist monks, Kūkai and Saichō, on a diplomatic mission to China. Kūkai and Saichō not only started two new schools of Buddhism, but one or both of them may have brought back seeds for planting tea. Tea was served during the great Heian era feasts but there was no ceremonial ritual to drinking tea until much later.

In the early years of the Kamakura shogunate, Eisai, who introduced Rinzai Buddhism, promoted tea usage. Eisai was a proponent of the health benefits of green tea. He considered green tea’s medicinal attributes especially important in helping people during the time of Mappō, considered by some Buddhists to be the Age of Dharma Decline.

The Golden Age of Japanese Art and Muromachi Culture

The Muromachi Period (1338–1573) was a time of civil unrest, war and strife. The Ashikaga shogunate attempted to civilize the samurai through the tea ceremony.

During the Ōnin War, Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa gave up governing and embraced aestheticism. He established an artist colony in his Higashiyama retreat, Ginkaku-ji (The Silver Pavilion), where the Higashiyama Culture (Higashiyama bunka) came about. It was here that the tea ceremony received further refinement under the guidance of Murata Shukō (c. 1422–1502), who is traditionally credited with founding the tea ceremony.

Murata Shukō instituted several innovations. Tea was to be prepared and served in a separate structure, a small tea room called the dōjinsai. To the dōjinsai, he added the tokonoma, a small alcove in a room for hanging scrolls and placing flowers or other small decorative pieces.

Shukō encouraged tea competitions (tocha) with the goal of discerning various blends. Shukō stressed the spiritual elements of the ceremony and encouraged the display of Zen calligraphy at the ceremony.

The tea ceremony developed during this period into a simple Zen inspired ceremony. It showed warriors and priests aristocratic standards of taste. In the first century of Ashikaga rule, there were elaborate tea parties in which the host displayed his finest art treasures in a beautifully decorated room overlooking a garden. However, during the Higashiyama Bunka, the tea ceremony evolved into a simple ritualized and disciplined ceremony performed in a hut. The utensils were simple, often imperfect to express wabi-sabi aesthetics, which also celebrated the charm of such objects. The samurai and merchants found this a good way to mix with the aristocrats. Traveling priests carried the practice throughout Japan

For Buddhism the development of the tea ceremony became increasingly important because it linked religious sensibility with art. A cult of tea grew. Zen monks used tea for its medicinal qualities and as a stimulant in meditation. They also participated in a simple ceremony where the tea and utensils became objects of contemplation.

About this time the size of the tea ceremony room was standardized to four and a half tatami mats. This size is said to have derived from the tradition which holds that the meditation cell used by Vimalakirti (Yuima), an Indian disciple of the Buddha, was of the same proportions. Shelving, a recessed wall element or alcove (tokonoma), and other features provided places for displaying art appropriate to a season, mood, or other occasional intention. Implements such as teacups, water jars, and kettles were carefully arranged for the occasion.

During the Momoyama period (1574-1600), ornate castle architecture and interiors adorned with painted screens decorated with gold leaf reflected a daimyō’s power. There was a new aesthetic sense quite different from that of the Muromachi period. Fushimi-Momoyama Castle was famous for the Golden Tea Room in which the walls were covered with gold leaf.  The rulers during this time, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, lavished time and money on the tea ceremony by collecting tea bowls, caddies, and other implements, sponsoring lavish social events, and patronizing acclaimed tea masters such as Sen no Rikyū.

The tea ceremony took the shape that we recognize today under the direction of Sen no Rikyū (1522–1591). Sen no Rikyū was the great tea master of the Momoyama Era, the highest authority on chadō, the Way of Tea. He became the tea master for Oda Nobunaga and then for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi provided room for Sen no Rikyū in his lavish palace, the Jurakudai. At Kitano Tenman-gū, Hideyoshi and Rikyū hosted the Great Kitano Tea Ceremony, in which everyone was invited.

Sen no Rikyū brought form and substance together in the tea ceremony. Despite the ostentation of the times, he kept the ideals of wabi-sabi as well as adding major innovations. For instance, he believed that all should be equal during the ceremony, so he made the entranceway to the tearoom very small so that the samurai would have to leave their swords behind. He added the kaiseki food course of soup, rice, pickles, and side dishes. He carefully chose ceramics to compliment the food to appeal to sight as well as taste. It was during this time that bamboo was adopted for use in the tea ceremony, thus keeping with the rustic theme of the ceremony.

Rikyū’s heirs continued the tea tradition. When Rikyū’s grandson Sotan retired he divided his property among his three sons: Koshin Sosa, Senso Soshitsu, and Ichio Soshu. From their practice of the tea ceremony arose three traditions called the “san-Senke” (three Senke schools), the Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakojisenke traditions of Tea, respectively. These three schools are considered to be the schools which are closest to the origins of the Way of Tea.

Other lines of tea schools developed from Rikyū’s pupils and from Urasenke and Omotesenke. During the Edo period (1600-1867), each school catered to a particular class of society: noble, samurai, or merchant.

The Edo Period

The Tokugawa regime that ruled Japan during the Edo Period imposed harsh measures to control society. However, artisans and merchants who were ranked at the bottom of the social hierarchy were free to reap the benefits of peace and prosperity. The tea ceremony, which had been adopted by all classes since the Momoyama era, became the medium in which literary and artistic traditions of the past were assimilated and transformed by highly cultivated men.

Genroku Era

The urban commoners, especially the merchants with surplus wealth, enjoyed themselves at teahouses, taverns, pleasure quarters, theaters, and public baths, especially during the Genroku era (1688-1704). Urban entertainment districts with prostitution in inns and tea houses, such as Shimabara in Kyoto, were established. It was a floating world, ukiyo, the art and culture of merchants, samurai, and townspeople.

Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (1646 – 1709) who reigned during the Genroku Era put a damper on ukiyo, the floating world. He was heavily influenced by his mother, and from her he derived his strict Buddhist beliefs. Tsunayoshi outlawed prostitution, did not allow waitresses to be employed in tea houses.

Meiji Era and beyond

The Meiji Restoration in 1868 helped bring about the collapse of the feudal system, which led to the decline of the tea tradition. The tea ceremony had been performed in the samurai society and protected by samurai families, but there were no more samurai.  During feudal Japan, each daimyō (feudal lord) was served by his own tea master, who held tea ceremonies and taught the Way of Tea. However, in the Meiji period (1868-1912) the daimyō class was dismantled and the tea masters were out of their jobs. With Westernization, traditional arts like the tea ceremony were considered old-fashioned. It was a very difficult time for tea ceremony schools.

Many schools survived by being sponsored by large businesses. For instance, Omotesenke was sponsored by an immensely wealthy company, Mitsui. Mushanokōjisenke also received financial support from entrepreneurs. The Urasenke grand master, Ennosai (1872-1924) found some businessmen to lend their support. However, the succeeding Urasenke grand master went even further than the others.

Tantansai (1893-1964) formed a national organization for Urasenke followers and began introducing the tradition of tea abroad. Tantansai’s effort was continued by his heirs and through their work Urasenke has become the largest tradition of the Way of Tea both in Japan and around the world.

The tea ceremony became a form of cultural training for young women in the later Meiji Period thanks to Urasenke. As part of its survival strategy, Urasenke promoted the idea that the Way of Tea became a subject for young women as part of their education. Through the centuries, the tea ceremony was performed only by men belonging to the upper class; however in the Meiji era women began to perform the tea ceremony.

The educational reasons were compelling. In the process of learning the procedures of the tea ceremony, one comes to understand the importance of considering the feelings of others and being restrained in one’s behavior. For this reason, tea ceremony was seen as an ideal subject of study in the education of young people. (Perhaps other school systems can learn from this.) The tea ceremony is now taught in club activities in elementary schools and the tradition of Urasenke is almost always taught.