CHANOYU: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY

Source: India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 2 (April 1976), pp. 159-161
Published by: India International Centre
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Notes & News
CHANOYU
: THE JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY
On March
12,1976,
a little bit of
Japan
came to the Centre.
Patient,
detailed
and
loving
work transformed the auditorium
stage
into the semblance of
the inside of a
Japanese
Tea House. Ten
mats,
a bamboo
screen,
a seasonal
scroll,
a
single
dramatic flower
arrangement
and
exquisite
ceremonial utensils
worked this transformation.
Two Tea
Masters,
Mr. Sadao Hirose and Miss Atsuko Hashimoto of
the Ura Senke School and three ladies from the
Japanese Embassy
dressed
in traditional kimono and obi introduced the
Japanese
traditional tea cere
monyChanoyuto
an
overflowing
audience.
Chanoyu literally
means 'hot water for tea'. It
epitomizes
the
Japanese
ideal of
beauty
and
attempts
to convert 'life itself into a work of art'.
Chanoyu
first
originated
in the
early days
of the 15th
century.
A hundred
years
later
it was established as an
elegant pastime by
a man who came to be known
as Sen
Rikyu.
The ideals of aestheticism that he laid down have influenced
not
only
the arts and crafts of
Japan,
but even the
pattern
of human and social
behaviour.
Sen
Rikyu
identified the basic
principles
of
Chanoyu
as
being
Wa :
harmony,
that is
harmony among
men and with
Nature; Kei,
respect
and an
attitude of
gratitude
towards all
things; Si,
purity,
"a desireless freshness
of
heart",
and
jaku, tranquillity.
The
expression
of
beauty
in
Chanoyu
is
"wabi". The
underlying concept
sees man as an isolated
being
whose life
is
solitary.
This
'aloneness',
if
creatively expressed, gives
rise to a sense of
contentment when
viewing simple
rustic and natural
things

which is
wabi.
Chanoyu
is thus more than a refined form of
taking
tea. But its
purpose
and essence are difficult to describe in words. It is
helpful
to recall that the
ceremony developed
under the influence of Zen
Buddhism,
the aim of which
was to
purify
the soul
by becoming
one with Nature.
In
addition, Chanoyu
embodies the
Japanese peoples
intuitive
striving
for the
recognition
of the true
beauty
of
plainness
and
simplicity.
Such terms
as
calmness, rusticity, gracefulness,
"austere
simplicity
and refined
poverty"
may help
to define the true
spirit
of
Chanoyu.
Thus the
ceremony
demands a
meticulous attention to
etiquette,
to formalities and rituals that follow a
stylized pattern.
All this has been refined to achieve the
highest possible
159
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160
Chanoyu
economy
of movement. On another
plane
these rituals
help
to raise the mental
state into a
'higher order',
to calm the mind and to make the individual
aware of his inner self. Indeed the
entirety
of the
ceremony,
its utensils and
the location etc. of the
suyaki
or tea house are intended to
help
the individual
leave the cares of the material world behind
him,
and to
regain
a
community
of
spirit
with nature.
With the death of Sen
Rikyu (1591) many
schools of
Chanoyu sprang
up, differing
in the details of the rules
prescribed by
the Great
Master,
while
maintaining
the essence
unchanged.
Reverence and
respect
for Sen
Rikyu
is what the various schools share in common.
Among
the more
distinguished
schools are the Ura Senke
School,
Omote
Senke,
the
Mushakoji
Senke and
Enshu. The Ura Senke School was founded
by
one of Sen
Rikyu's great
grandsons
and has since been headed
by
his direct descendant. The Grand
Tea
Master,
Sen Soshitsu who
currently
heads the school is the fifteenth
generation
descendant of this
great
master.
A
complete
and
regular
tea
ceremony
takes about four
hours,
and
consists of four
separate
ceremonies.
Frequently, however, only
the last or
usucha service is
performed,
which lasts about an hour. The
ceremony
that
was
performed
at the India International Centre conducted
by
Tea Master
Sadao Hirose and his
assistant,
Atsuko
Hashimoto, however,
lasted
only
half an hour. It was
repeated
with members of the audience
attending
as
guests.
The tea
room,
recreated on the India International Centre
stage
was
provided
with a
portable
brazier on which a kettle was set to boil. The
gueststhree
in allentered with ritualized manner and
gestures.
Each
guest
removed her
slippers
and
placed
them
facing
outwards.
They
then
walked around the 'tea room'
bowing
in front of the tokonoma or alcove
admired the
scroll,
the
ikebana,
and the brazier with its ceremonial utensils.
These utensils are
usually antiques, being
the works of
great
masters and the
pride
of the host. The
guests
then took their
places,
with the chief
guest
seated in line with the host. The
guests brought
with them a small
folding
fan and a
pad
of kaishi
(small-sized paper napkins).
When the
guests
were
seated,
low
keyed
conversation
appropriate
to
the occasion took
placeany
discussion on
politics
is
strictly
forbidden !
Meanwhile the host entered the tea room
carrying
a
receptacle
for
waste
water,
a bamboo
dipper
and a stand for the lid of the tea kettle or for
the
dipper.
In his obi he carried the chakin or
piece
of linen with which the
implements
were to be
wiped according
to the
prescribed
rules.
The
preparation
of tea is of course undertaken
according
to a fixed
ritual
particular
to the Ura Senke School. Tea Master Sadao
Hirose, having
bowed to the
guests
in
welcome, wiped
and cleaned the utensils. He then took
a
dipper
full of hot water from the
kettle, poured approximately
one-third
into a tea bowl and with the
special
bamboo
whisk,
mixed in the matcha
or tea
powder.
For this
type
of
ceremony young
tea leaves of
plants
that are
three to fifteen
years
old are used. Meanwhile his
assistant,
Atsuko Hashi
moto,
also a Tea
Master,
offered the
guests
the traditional
cake,
or sweets.
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The "tea room" as recreated on the IIC
Stage
(Photograph
: Pablo Bartholomew)
Tea Master Sadao
Hirose, prepares
the tea while the
guests
eat cake
(Photograph
:
Raghu Rai)
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The chief
guest
admires the tea bowl
according
to the
prescribed ritual, while the
Assistant Tea Master Atsuko Hashimoto offers tea to the other
guests
(Photograph
: Pablo
Bartholomew)
Guests
admiring
the tea-brazier and tea-kettle at the end of the
ceremony
(Photograph
: Pablo
Bartholomew)
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Notes < News 161
The
prepared
bowl of tea was then
placed by
the hearth or brazier
from where it was lifted
by
the assistant and offered to the chief
guest.
The
guest,
bowed to the
host,
to the assistant and then to the fellow
guests (in
apology
for
being first),
and
placed
the bowl on the
palm
of her left
hand,
supporting
the side of the bowl with her
right
hand.
The bowl was turned around with thumb and
finger,
so that the
guest
did not drink from the same side as was offered to the Gods. Each
guest
received her individual bowl of
tea,
with the
required bowing
and ritual.
When the tea was drunk the tea bowls were admired for their
antiquity
and
their
beauty.
The host then carried the utensils out of the 'tea room' with the same
dignity
and
quiet
that had characterized his
entry.
Tea Master Sadao Hirose
made a silent bow to the
guests, indicating
that the
ceremony
was over.
Once
again
the
guests
walked around
admiring
the
decor,
the
antique
tea
brazier and tea kettle before
leaving
the 'tea room'.
The
ceremony
was
repeated
with members of the audience
making up
the
guests.
Their awkward movements and their
inability
to sit
kneeling
with
the ease of the
Japanese,
revealed the
degree
of
training
and custom that
underlay
the
grace
and the
seemingly
effortless
gestures
of both the
Japanese
'guests'
and 'hosts'.
ALL INDIA WORKSHOP FOR
WRITERS,
EDITORS
AND INDEXERS
The success of the first All India
Workshop,
held in
February
1973 under
the
auspices
of the India International Centre and the
Ministry
of
Education,
prompted
the India International Centre to
propose
the
organization
of
another
workshop.
The second All India
Worskhop
was held from Feb
ruary
26 to March
10, 1976,
with the
support
of the
Ministry
of Education.
The
Workshop
also received active assistance from the Authors Guild of
India,
and
many
of the Course lecturers were drawn from the Guild.
These
workshops
were the first of their kind to be held in
India,
and
were intended to initiate
writers,
editors and indexers into the
techniques
employed by
the
writing
and
publishing
world. The first
workshop
covered
a number of
aspects
in this field. The lectures etc. were later
revised, ampli
fied and
incorporated
into a Handbook
for
Indian Writers
*
It was decided
that a
repetition
of the
topics already
covered should be avoided. The second
Workshop
therefore discussed
subjects ranging
from research
methodology
to the final task of
preparing
a
manuscript
for the
publisher.
The lectures
will be
compiled
to
prepare
a
companion
Handbook
for
Writers.
Response
from those in the field was
good. Twenty
nine
applicants
were
finally
selected to
participate
on the basis of
journalistic
and
writing
*edited
by
H. K. Kaul and
published by
Ms. Munshiram
Manoharlal,
1975.
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