THE BOOK OF TEA Annotated edition by Kakuzo Okakura Politics Social Sciences eBooks
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The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many times.
In the book, Kakuzo introduces the term Teaism and how Tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life. The book is accessibile to Western audiences because Kakuzo was taught at a young age to speak English; and spoke it all his life, becoming proficient at communicating his thoughts to the Western Mind. In his book, he discusses such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of Tea and Japanese life. The book emphasises how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity. Kakuzo argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyu and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony.
According to Tomonobu Imamichi, Heidegger's concept of Dasein in Sein und Zeit was inspired — although Heidegger remains silent on this — by Okakura Kakuzo's concept of das-in-dem-Welt-sein (to be in the being of the world) expressed in The Book of Tea to describe Zhuangzi's philosophy, which Imamichi's teacher had offerred to Heidegger in 1919, after having followed lessons with him the year before.
THE BOOK OF TEA Annotated edition by Kakuzo Okakura Politics Social Sciences eBooks
This books is a quick and informative introduction to the philosophy underpinnig "Teaism". The book outlines how tea masters tried to live their lives according to the simple grace of the Japanese tea ceremony.For those looking for detailed instructions on conducting a tea ceremony, look elsewhere. But for those who want a handbook on a way of life, read further
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THE BOOK OF TEA Annotated edition by Kakuzo Okakura Politics Social Sciences eBooks Reviews
I love this book!
It is not only a guide through history of tea, but a guide through the history of humanity, history of the relation between East and West and its values. The way it is written is poetic but it is still showing what the main differences between East and West are and how we are unable to understand the beauty of the moment, the beauty of present time, which is in the center of the tea ceremony.
Western people are so determined to stick to their past and trying so hard to conquer their future that they forget to enjoy the only time they really can feel, the only time in which they can do something the present time.
First off, not really about tea. It's an overview of the history and philosophy of China and Japan through talking about tea. Okakura is a Japanese author who learned English at a young age, written in 1906.
I found this book by clicking around on some links about Wabi-Sabi and because of my love for Chinese Tea I decided to read this one. The tea ceremony's I have been involved in are certainly rich, simple, peaceful experiences, it has a similar effect as yoga on mind and body. I hope to drink several cups of various asian varieties of tea every day for the rest of my life.
I would recommend this short book to anyone interested in Asia, it's history and philosophy, and as well, it's tea. Especially the westerner. The author being Japanese but well versed in western thought (through his early command of the english language) offers a great rebuttal to the attitude of the west towards Asia, which I wish so bad us westerners could catch on to. That can be found especially in the beginning, but certainly throughout.
"They (the tea-masters) have given emphasis to our natural love of simplicity, and shown us the beauty of humility."
Some more quotes
"There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible and capable of idealization."
"Lotung, a Tang poet, wrote “The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second cup breaks my loneliness, the third cup searches my barren entrail but to find therein some five thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth cup raises a slight perspiration,— all the wrong of life passes away through my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified; the sixth cup calls me to the realms of the immortals. The seventh cup— ah, but I could take no more! I only feel the breath of cool wind that rises in my sleeves." --- Surprisingly, the tea after drinking a couple cups has these effects! It's way different than the caffeine high from coffee as well. It's a much more hydrated, non-jittery feeling. The author describes the tea ceremony as being derived from the practice of Buddhist monks drinking tea before their altars. It can easily be a spiritual, life-giving experience.
“If people of inferior intelligence hear of the Tao, they laugh immensely. It would not be the Tao unless they laughed at it.”
"Hide yourself under a bushel quickly, for if your real usefulness were known to the world you would soon be knocked down to the highest bidder by the public auctioneer. Why do men and women like to advertise themselves so much? Is it not but an instinct derived from the days of slavery?"
Published in 1906, Okakura’s ‘Book of Tea’ espouses that tea is the foundation for a system of life, a philosophy, and it’s associated benefits all conspire to bring together that which is fundamental, holistically and spiritually. From Taoist and Zen upbringings, Teaism (not a typo!) comes with an admixture of the two as a world-philosophy, disposition and mindset. Being in the here and now and as Okakura writes ‘The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this Zen conception of greatness in the smallest incidents of life.’ (308) And beyond the philosophy which is the works pertinence, we are given a glimpse of the importance of the things of everyday life and how they should be approached, also we get both an education in tea-making and architecture.
It’s a pretty neat, quick, read if you have any interest in Eastern Philosophy / Religion.
Broken into brief segments the work includes
1. The Cup of Humanity.
2. The Schools of Tea.
3. Taoism and Zennism.
4. The Tea Room.
5. Art Appreciation.
6. Flowers.
7. Tea-Masters.
The work begins with Okakura’s reaction of the end of Japanese Isolationism (mid-1600’s to mid-1800’s), the bemuddled feeling of the people when they’ve realized that their governments xenophobia has led them to all sorts of bizarre conceptions and contrarily, that Westerners also have laid many poor misconceptions upon the Japanese people. However, the binding, humanitarian element throughout the discourse between the east and west, the thing that weaves together our humanity, has been the reverence and esteem toward good tea – ‘The white man has scoffed at our religion and our morals, but has accepted the brown beverage without hesitation.’ (53), since at least 1610 when the Dutch East India Company brought tea first to Europe.
The second part of the work deals with the beginnings of tea. It focuses on preparation boiled (Sang), whipped (Tong) and steeped (Ming) - (100). Okakura acknowledges that the Western world is bereft of the prior two methods because Europe entered the picture at the end of the Ming Dynasty (in China 1368-1644). He elaborates on the preparation methods, detailing them finely and with the care one would expect of a teaist.
The third segment of the book brings about a discussion regarding Taoism and it’s component philosophies as they relate to both enhancing characteristics of Zen and Confucianism, the major players in, then, Eastern philosophy / religion. The major tenants include present-mindedness, laughter at absurdity, an easy demeanor and path, way, means, mode… of being, existing, in the world.
The fourth section puts on display the tea-room and it introduces the tea ceremony. Much time is given the architectural process and much thought put into criticizing Western architecture for using oft repeated styles and this is usually coupled with, upon strolling the inside, a lack of modesty so great as it regards material matter, that one is stricken by its indecency. Whereas the tea-room was a small, non-descript, humility begging structure, which may have one or two decorations and seat no more than usually 5 at a time. A very intimate gathering, and one full of custom as Okakura goes on to explain in the sixth section during his analysis of the use of flowers during the tea ceremony.
Sections 5 and 6 are brief and deal mainly with what truly appreciating the respective titles means (art, flowers) and their usefulness and symbolism in Japanese culture, and specifically as it may relate to the tea rooms. Here is learned a snippet of some of Japan’s earliest competitive decorative florists the Ikenobos (Formalistic School)! But Okakura finds that to be a topic which would be too long discussed and probably insubstantiate a work about tea.
The work concludes with a summary of how a tea-master lives his life and directs his abilities. There is found here much accreditation, justly due, to the inventions of Japans tea-masters.
Quotes
‘Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence.’ (3)
‘… scarcely any attention has been drawn to Teaism, which represents so much of our Art of Life.’ (24)
‘Teaism is the art of concealing beauty that you may discover it, of suggesting what you dare not reveal.’ (78)
‘Teaism was Taoism in disguise.’ (192)
‘People are not taught to be really virtuous, but to behave properly. We are wicked because we are frightfully self-conscious.’ (229)
‘How can one be serious with the world when the world itself is so ridiculous!’ (231)
‘But, after all, we see only our own image in the universe, - our particular idiosyncrasies dictate the mode of our perceptions.’ (505)
Okakura's book is a timeless dissertation on both the nature of tea and of Japanese culture that adapted it from earlier origins in China, transforming the simple act of making and serving a humble beverage into a quintessential microcosm of the Japanese traditional art of living. Though written for the edification of Westerners in another age, the author's wonderfully crafted prose still convincingly conveys the significance of green tea in a manner that doesn't require you to become a Zen follower to appreciate.
This books is a quick and informative introduction to the philosophy underpinnig "Teaism". The book outlines how tea masters tried to live their lives according to the simple grace of the Japanese tea ceremony.
For those looking for detailed instructions on conducting a tea ceremony, look elsewhere. But for those who want a handbook on a way of life, read further
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