The Japanese Tea Ceremony By Sen No Rikkyu

I know want to go into more details about the Four Principles of Tea: Roji, Tsukubai, Nijiriguchi, and the Tokonoma. The Roji is the first thing that the guest will see. It is the garden that proceeds the Japanese Tea House. The purpose of the garden to have the guest walk through it and feel relaxed and ready for the tea ceremony. The second principle is Tsukubai. This is where the guests will wash their hands and purify themselves. This is a very significant part of the beginning parts of the ceremony. By purifying oneself, the guest is letting go of everything that they may be feeling and just focusing on the upcoming events. The third principle is the Nijiriguchi. In my opinion, this is the coolest part of the ceremony. When I saw this for the first time, I was amazed. The Nijiriguchi is a small crawling spot and it is the way guests get into the Chashitsu, or the spot where the ceremony takes place. Instead of just walking through a door like a normal room, you have to get on your knees and almost jump through the crawl space. This signifies the fact that no one person is better than another person. When you enter the tea ceremony, you leave your social status behind. No one person is higher on the social status during the tea ceremony. The Nijiriguchi accomplishes

All of a sudden, a light breeze caused little leaves to fall into the water. The emperor tasted the water and found it delicious (Higgins & Burke, 2014). Tea became an essential beverage in China. While the story of tea indicates that tea was introduced from Ancient China, tea has been a crucial trade product that travelled through centuries to reach almost every corner in the world. Higgins and Burke argue that from China to North American, tea developed to new variations, flavors, uses, production methods, and equipment. Also, tea rituals have developed and taken a significant place in local cultures (Higgins & Burke, 2014).

In Japan tea traditions, matcha is much more than a drink. It has been an integral part of Japanese culture, and is used in celebration of the profound grace and beauty of simple things in life — the extraordinary in the ordinary. In a quiet celebration where matcha tea is the focal point of a ceremony, it provides a great bonding experience of respect, mindfulness, as well as focus on the now.

A traditional ceremony consists of feeding friends and visitors attending, the wedding ceremony would take place in the hogan with the groom and his father or uncle sitting on the west side followed by the bride and her father or uncle. Sitting beside the boy on his right side they would be positioned towards the east which was facing the door. Starting with the girl she would pour water onto the boy’s hands and he would wash them, then he would do the same to her washing her hands, this symbolized purity and cleansing. A medicine man would then pray quietly while arranging a corn meal mush decorated with pollen, they would then take turns eating the mush starting with the boy followed by the girl. Usually they were instructed to eat it all, but if it was not all eaten it would be passed to each of the boys family members so they could have a bite. Once the mush was eaten the mother of the boy would keep the basket where the mush had been and preserve it at all times, this was important to a successful marriage. Traditional weddings were held at night, but modern traditions allow them to be held in the daytime, and because of this some believe it is the reason for divorce and family problems. Once the wedding ceremony was over the couple would stay in the hogan while family and friends went home. Traditional Navajo

Tea: Tea began as a luxury drink, and then trickled down to become the beverage of the working man. The story of tea is the story of imperialism, industrialization, and world domination. According to Chinese tradition, the first cup of tea was brewed by the emperor Shen Nung. Before tea was a beverage, it was used for medicinal purposes and foodstuff. Tea became a daily drink in China around the third century A.D. As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks. The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas. Chewing leaves and rubbing them on wounds were ways that tea was used for medicinal purposes.

The main tradition is to put altars in some homes including the cross, picture or sculpture of Virgin Mary, and photos of the deceased person(s). Members of family gather around the altar and they pray. In some newer traditions children put masks, wear costumes and go from house to house while people give them some candies or money. Some of the

After that, the engagement ceremony takes place, which is then represented as occurred by the visited female family members washing the hair of the engaged couple in a single basin, after which their hair is said to be interwoven by a process of entwining which signifies their union as being lifelong, they then walk to the edge of the mesa to pray and witness the rising sun(representing of light and new beginnings). After that, both the groom and bride are said to start from his house to the bride’s house, where they remain until the brides wedding garments are completed. The wedding attire of the bride is apparently hand woven by the groom and any men who wish to participate in the village. The wedding garment is said to contain a large belt, two complete white wedding robes, a white wedding robe which contains red stripes at the bottom and also at the top, a white buckskin moccasins and leggings, a specific string to tie her hair and the whole outfit is said to be wrapped in a reed mat. It is interesting to know that the wedding outfit also will serve as a shroud as these garments are necessary after death for the trip through the underworld. After the completion of the wedding outfit and bride's acceptance, the wedding takes place in the traditional Native American Hopi way at the groom's

The dancers then dress and prepare him or her self in the tipi. There is a traditional dress

Tea, as a popular commodity good in late-Ming China, experienced the farming in tea plantations, picking through tea farmer’s hands, stir-frying in tea manufacturers’ houses, and then was bought and delivered by licensed merchants through the trade routes to tea markets. After it was sold, tea finally arrived at its destination, the places where tea would be consumed. Two types of space were mostly used by tea drinkers to enjoy their pleasure of tasting tea: tea houses (茶馆) and tea huts (茶寮). The tea house, which was originated in the Southern Song Dynasty and served for tea-drinkers from various backgrounds, continued developing in the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in urban areas; however, tea connoisseurs became more and more interested

During the Tang Dynasty, tea was widespread. The uprising of the tea culture brought the prosperity of literature in the Tang Dynasty because many monk-poets wrote poems about tea. Tea was very famous in the Buddhist monasteries during the Tang Dynasty. Monks drank tea as a beverage because they thought the tea can help them to stay awake, so that they could have more time to focus on their mediation. The art of serving and drinking tea in Buddhist monasteries inspired lots of Tang poets to create poems about tea.

He became very animated at this point in his descriptions saying “At this point the practice of tea drinking was very elegant and a beautiful ritual to behold. It was a social custom in which certain hospitality, preparation, and serving rules had to be applied to maintain the culture.” John was especially interested in the innovations made during this tea time. He goes on to discuss how the emperor now controlled all aspects of tea cultivation and production, establishing new systems of grading leaf tea and even determining quality of the tea.” He told us tales of how only select members of a chosen class were allowed to drink certain teas, with the precious "tribute grade" teas from revered mountains reserved exclusively for the

This religious ceremony was a way to gain spiritual renewal in ones’ self. Once the beseecher (the one searching for personal help from the spirts) gathered enough offerings, he would present them to the Elders and Medicine man who could perform the ceremony. The ceremony lasts four day beginning at sun set and ending at sun set. The construction of the Holy Lodge was simple but important. A tall tree was chosen cut down and placed in the group.

Xing, Yue and Jian kilns produced valuable stoneware tea-bowls, but this phenomenon did not mean that famous tea-bowls were only restricted to ceramics. Furthermore, tea-bowls were not the only utensil associated with tea-drinking. There were tea wares, including tea-bowls, made with gold, silver, and other metallic material, which were also considered as finest during the Tang Dynasty; in few case, the archeologists also had found fine tea wares made with glass. However, the appreciation of stoneware in tea-drinking did not decline like other metal tea wares experienced after the fall of the Tang dynasty; however, the status had improved significantly in tea connoisseurs’ mind in later dynasties.

The celebratory feast began with a welcoming of the newly appointed Husband and Wife and they took their place at the long table at the front with the rest of the bridal party. The guests were seated and speeches were given by father of the groom, best man, sister of the bride and her father before the first dance occurs. The groom led the bride to the dancefloor, after her attendants bustled her train to the back of her dress, while the guests gathered around to witness the dance. The bride and groom began the dance together while the attendants danced with the groomsmen. After the dance the bride and groom cut the cake and the guests began to give small envelopes with gifts to the bride to place inside her silk bag whilst the party continues

Knowing Chinese tea culture thoroughly is a wise way for people to explore the Chinese society and culture. As a traditional drink, it has been planted and consumed for over five thousands years. The climate of China is perfect for growing tea, which leads to large quantities and good quality of tea. According to the line diagram, “Dynamics of manufacture of tea in China, thousand tons” there were about 1,200 thousands tons of tea manufactured in 2008, which made China the biggest tea manufacture country in the world. As we can see, tea has a special position in Chinese society. Due to its popularity, Chinese tea gradually raises international interest, and leads China to be a more influential country in the