The Chanoyu: An Overview

 THE CHANOYU: AN OVERVIEW

Representing purity and harmony, the Chanoyu, Sado, or Traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, is a historical ritual, important to Japanese culture, involving special tools and movements under strict etiquette. 

Japanese tea culture originates long ago, dating back to ninth century Japan, when Buddhist monks would serve tea to the Emperor, which had been prepared in an intricate and artistic process. Later the tea ceremony became popular among the upper social classes, such as the warrior elites and aristocrats, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Matcha, green tea in a fine powdered form originating from China, is one of the many rare imports used in the Sado ritual.

Japanese tea culture gained a modest methodology as its grounding, when tea aficionados realized that it should be so. The tea ceremony was then developed into an aesthetic, philosophical practice by tea masters such as Muarata Jukou and Sen no Rikyuu. This is also when the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, referring to valuing all the perfections and imperfections of nature, came about.

With this new approach to the Chanoyu, all social classes began to participate in tea ceremonies. It also resulted in the use of smaller, minimally decorated tea rooms, and the use of local tea products for all ceremonies became the mainstay, rather than imports.

The smaller tea rooms meant that only four or five guests could be allowed to attend the ceremony. Guests and the host use a stone basin to wash their hands after exchanging a silent bow, replacing their footwear with special slippers, before entering through a small door into the tea room. Depending on the season, location, and guests the elements of a traditional tea ceremony differ.

After entering the tea room, the host meticulously cleans all their tools whilst kneeling on  a cushion. The Japanese ceramic tea wares used in the ceremony can vary in style from refined, glazed designs to more rough minimalist ones. Upon boiling the water in an iron kettle, the hot kettle is carried by the host using a special cloth made of silk obtained from their kimono. The host then mixes some boiling water with the matcha in a bowl.

Koicha and usucha refer to the two main processes in which the tea is produced. Usucha, the less formal of the two, is prepared using a number of different colorful utensils and prepared in a well-lit tea room. First, the tea is whisked until it is foamy, then served to each guest in individual bowls. To compliment the match tea's bitter flavor, the guests are also offered wagashi sweets.

The other method, Koicha, is served as a thick paste, and shared among the guests using a single bowl for the whole ceremony. Guests take turns taking a sip before cleaning the rim, turning the bowl, and passing it on to the next guest. Unlike the Usucha method, koicha is served in a dimly lit room to create a soothing, calm environment.

At the tea ceremony, guests must adhere to strict rules of etiquette. They are not permitted to make chit-chat and must solely focus on the tea's taste and preparation. Guests must also compliment the tea room's design, as well as the host, in order to show their appreciation.