Popular for hundreds of years
This book is a thorough account of the beauty of Japan's loneliness
Text | Lead reading
01
The genre of tea
As for Chinese, it is not to mention. Since the 4th and 5th centuries AD, tea has become a favorite drink for the residents of the Yangtze River Basin. By the Tang Dynasty, cooked cake tea was popular.
Tea Saint Lu Yu has written the world's first tea monograph "Tea Classic", which describes in detail the natural nature of tea plants, the method of selecting tea leaves, the appropriate tea set, the method of boiling tea, and so on.
[Tang] Yan Liben's "Xiao Yi Earn Lan Ting Diagram" (partial)
The picture is the most representative tea powder into the bell boiling method of the Tang Dynasty. It is the earliest surviving painting showing the tea brewing method of the Tang Dynasty, showing the custom of making tea in the temples in the early Tang Dynasty
During the Song Dynasty, pink tea became popular. People put the tea leaves in a small stone mill and grind it into tea powder, and then put the tea powder into boiling water and beat it with a delicate tea basket. The Song people were more enthusiastic about tea, raising tea drinking to the level of the game of tasting and playing, and the wind of tea fighting prevailed. Emperor Huizong, who was devoted to art, was a master of tea fighting and tea sharing.
[Northern Song] Song Huizong "Wenhui Tu"
The masterpiece of tea feast painted by Emperor Huizong of Song is also a vivid portrayal of the Tea Method and drinking environment of the Dragon and Phoenix Tuan of the Song Dynasty
A generation has a generation of life, ming taizu Zhu Yuanzhang boycotted the dragon and phoenix tuan cake tea, improve bud tea, and the customs of the Ming Dynasty changed. The boiling and pointing method of tea leaves gradually faded out, and it was changed to simple bud and leaf brewing.
At the same time, because of the popularity of the new brewing method, the tea sets such as milling, grinding, luo, and reed in the previous generation were abandoned, and the teapot for making tea really appeared.
Since then, the simple brewing method has been maintained to this day and has become a modern way of drinking tea.
[Ming] Wen Zhengming"Tea Tasting Chart Axis"
In the Ming Dynasty, urbanization developed rapidly, with tea houses and gardens flourishing. Literati doctors travel in the mountains and forests, and tea tasting as a symbol has its presence in Jiyou, Farewell, Yaji, and Buju
Japan followed in the footsteps of Chinese civilization. In 805, the monk Mochi returned to Japan from the Tang Dynasty with tea seeds and began to plant tea trees. In 1191, with the return of Rongxi Zen master who had entered the Song Dynasty to study Zen Buddhism in the Southern Sect, Song tea was introduced to Japan. Southern Zen Buddhism spread rapidly, and the rituals of Song tea and the ideal of tea spread. By the 15th century, the tea ceremony was fully established in Japan.
Rongxi Zen Master
02
A unique tea ceremony culture
Why did the tea ceremony take place in Japan and not in China? Zhou Zuoren once said in the "Preface to the Book of Tea", "The tea incident began in China, and there is such a "Tea Classic", but there has never been a tea ceremony. Just as there is a "bottle history" but there is no flower path. Because he is Chinese not very enthusiastic about the Tao, because he lacks religious sentiments, so it is not easy to have a deep understanding of Taoism and Zen. ”
Shuyan Toyohara "Tea Ceremony"
The "Tao" of the tea ceremony is the "Tao" from the Taoists. The form of the tea ceremony derives from the tea-drinking rituals of Zen Buddhism, which is an important inheritor of Taoist thought. The tea ceremony is the pursuit of beauty in the daily life of mediocrity, an aesthetic religion that explores the art of life, and the embodiment of Taoist thought.
Taoists argue that the true essence of things exists only in the "void." For example, the essence of a house can only exist in the void enclosed by the roof and walls, not in the roof and the walls themselves. "Virtual" can encompass everything. A person who is humble, open-minded, and not confined to things can abide by the principle of harmony and unity and maintain a balanced harmony between things.
As the story of Kaye's smiling smile expresses, words are nothing more than an obstacle to thought for Zen's remarkable insight. The whole influence of the Buddhist scriptures is only a footnote to one's personal reflections. Zen believers see the external appendages of things as an obstacle to recognizing the truth and pursue direct communication with the inner nature of things. They argue that by meditating on the divine, one can attain the ultimate in self-actualization.
A zen statue of the Six Patriarchs of Zen Buddhism in Japan
The organizational form of the zen temple is also of extraordinary significance. The monks were assigned special work to take care of the zen temple. These services form part of the Zen monk's practice. Many important Zen questions and answers are carried out in the process of sweeping the garden and boiling water to make tea. The whole ideal of the tea ceremony comes from the Zen concept of finding greatness in the trivialities of life.
The famous tea ceremony master QianLixiu was a faithful practitioner of Taoist thought. He strives to regulate his daily life with the high standards of elegance he has acquired from the tea room. No matter where you are, always keep your mood calm. He always seeks to harmonize with the great rhythm of the universe.
Sen no Rikyu
There is a story that fully illustrates his ideas. Li Xiu asked his son Shao An to sweep the open ground and sprinkle water. After Shoan finished, Li Xiu said, "No, it's not clean enough." "Order him to clean again.
Shao An reluctantly worked for another hour, then turned to his father and said, "Dad, there is nothing more to do." The stone path had been washed three times, the stone lanterns and trees had been sprayed with enough water, and the moss and lichen were verdant. Not a single branch or leaf was left on the ground. ”
"Silly child," the tea master scolded, "that's not how the open floor is cleaned!" With that, Li xiu came to the garden and shook a tree. Suddenly, golden and crimson leaves flew down, and the garden floor was covered with autumn tapestry-like fragments. Lishu's pursuit is not only cleanliness, but also beauty and nature.
03
A prophet of the Modern Japanese Enlightenment
Make the orientals' own voices sound with the tea ceremony
Okakura Tenshin is an enthusiastic advocate and promoter of this oriental culture and oriental art. Okakura was a famous artist, critic, and thinker of japan during the Meiji period, known as the "Meiji Wizard", and one of the most important figures in the enlightenment period of modern Japanese civilization.
Okakura Tenshin
He graduated from the Faculty of Literature of UTokyo in 1880. In 1890, he became the principal of the Tokyo Fine Arts School, where he cultivated a large number of artists. Later, together with Yokoyama Daikan and others, he founded the Japan Academy of Fine Arts and led the New Japanese Painting Movement. Since 1893, he has visited China and India many times, deepening his understanding of Oriental culture. In 1910, Okakura became the Head of the Chinese and Japanese Art Department of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, collecting art for the museum.
He devoted his life to the cause of fine arts, not only as a pioneer and guide of modern Japanese art, but also as a propagandist of Oriental culture and art, emphasizing that Asian values should contribute to the progress of the world. Liu Zheng, a famous book critic, said that Okakura Tenshin can be said to be the Lin Yutang of Japan, but he wrote books in English to introduce Asian civilization, thirty years before the Lin Yutang.
The Book of Tea is Okakura Tenshin's masterpiece. In this book, he examines the various types of tea ceremonies, appreciates the art and spirit of tea ceremonies, and thus expounds his ideas about Oriental aesthetics. Since its publication, it has swept the western world, with many translations in French, German, Spanish and other translations, and has been selected as a textbook for American middle schools. Not only that, but there are also many popular versions in Japan and China, which can be called a Japanese cultural classic comparable to "Chrysanthemum and the Sword".
The original English version of the Book of Tea
04
A different version
Douban high score recommended translation new reprint
This edition strives to be close to the Japanese cultural style. Translator You Haiyan is a professor in the Japanese Department of East China Normal University, who has long been engaged in the research and translation of Japanese literature, and her "Book of Tea" published by Beijing Publishing House in 2010 was highly recommended by Douban readers. This re-edition, I hope to be perfect and live up to expectations.
In terms of design, the natural stretch shape of the tea leaves is the main element, and the cover and waist seal are mainly based on the green of the tea leaves, with a small portrait of the author Okakura Tenshin, which fits perfectly with the book.
In front of the book, 13 tea ceremony flower ceremony ukiyo-e paintings are selected and printed in full color, arranged in the order of tea houses, tea gardens, tea rooms, tea ceremonies, and flower arrangements, showing the Japanese tea culture and flower arrangement culture in different scenes.
The pages of each chapter are accompanied by a picture of the Japanese classical flower path selected from the "Ikefang Model Flower Pattern Atlas", "Flower Path Ancient Book Integration", and "Hua Daojia Yuanchifang Lisheng Flower Collection", presenting the classic style of Japanese flower arrangement, a total of seven paintings.