Tomeki
Cover of The Japanese way of tea

The Japanese way of tea

from its origins in China to Sen Rikyū

By Sen, Sōshitsu

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Publish Date

1998

Publisher

Unversity of Hawai'i Press

Language

eng

Pages

229

Description:

The author follows tea drinking practices from their arrival in Japan to the time of Rikyu, considering at each stage the relevant historical changes and their significance for the Way of Tea. Shortly after its arrival during the Heian era (794-1185), tea was celebrated by Japanese poets, who attributed the same spiritual qualities to the beverage as had their Chinese contemporaries. During the medieval era, however, tea began to take on a distinctively Japanese character. Eisai (1141-1215), the founder of the Rinzai sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism, accentuated the medicinal aspect of tea and saw it as a means of salvation in a spiritually degenerate age (mappo).