The order, art and simplicity of the Japanese tea ceremony began during the medieval period in Japan between the 11th and 16th centuries. Samurai warriors pledged to serve a shogun, a warlord of noble birth owning land and great wealth. The samurai lived and fought by strict rules of respect. Stories from the medieval period show the warrior acting by the rules of his life to be brave, honest, loyal, and faithful. Samurai practiced cultural arts and performed everyday activities with a level of awareness to bring them enlightenment. Shoguns often presented tea in a special jar to a samurai for a great achievement. The warrior prized this award of tea because he could afford to invite his family and friends to share in the tea ceremony celebrating his valor.
Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa formalized the rules of the tea ceremony in the 15th century. His invited guests walked down the garden path to his teahouse and waited in an alcove or portico to be invited in by the tea-master, a person very experienced in the tea ceremony. Before entering the sanctuary, guests removed their swords and entered without representations of social standing. Inside the teahouse the titles of shogun and samurai didn’t exist. Everyone became equal; an emperor and a peasant farmer would be held in equal esteem.
They entered the teahouse by bending over to walk through a door too short to allow them to walk through straight; in essence they bowed before entering the tearoom. The host waited until all guests knelt in a sitting position and the room fell silent except for the sound of boiling water. The tea master whipped powdered tea into the boiling water with a bamboo whisk and served cups to each guest. Conversation was not an accepted practice; guests sat in peace and drank their tea.
The popularity of Zen Buddhism during the Medieval Age contributed to new traditions growing on older customs. The monks discovered that drinking tea increased the ability to meditate and contributed to health. The benefits increased the use of tea even more and in every house the tea ceremony became important. Families either set aside a special room in the house for drinking tea or built separate teahouses, sukiya, in the garden. The buildings were of simple bamboo construction and each one was designed specifically for each tea-master.
The garden path became the first step to the tea ceremony. Invitees walked along a path designed to increase contemplation. For at least four hundred years prior to this period, gardens were made with natural materials (trees, plants, water, stones) enhanced with lanterns, bridges and waterfalls. Zen monks designed gardens with just sand, gravel and stones. Sand symbolized water and rocks symbolized mountains or clouds. Each person interpreted the garden through their own imaginings, experiences and dreams.
The tradition survived and after World War II, world leaders encouraged the Japanese people to look at the tradtions of their past to lead the way to democracy. The tea ceremony was held up as one of the great democratic rituals indigenous to their culture. Modern tea ceremonies retain many of the rituals and characteristics from the medieval period. To attend a tea ceremony increases an understanding of artistic beauty to sipping tea, continues with the traditions of equality and polite behavior and provides a moment to reflect on the meaning of life.
