P7+Chado

=P7 Chado=

Chado: The Practice of Tea Jackie R  Brett F   Period 7 Tea has gone back very far in Japanese history. The Japanese got the traditional drink from the Chinese who the Japanese wanted to be just like. The Japanese have always admired the Chinese, and that is why they started to drink tea. There are tea ceremonies, tea gardens, teahouses, even tea utensils. Tea was also made in a very special way. The tea ceremony became a very important ceremony in Japanese history. In Japanese it is called Chanoyu, which literally means hot water tea. Even though this is for the samurai, no swords are allowed at the ceremony. The rules of etiquette (like the no sword rule) were created by a Buddhist priest named Murata Shuko. The ceremony is to lead some to a moment of spirit. The ceremony is to have people respect each other and just calm down, to ignore what is happening outside. The tea ceremony is so important you have to wash out your mouth just to go inside.  The tea garden is the entrance to the tea house; it is a vital transition between the outside world and the calm atmosphere inside. There is a series of gates to make you feel like you’re travelling a long way. It is supposed to look old and timeworn, even if it’s in the middle of a huge urban area. The stones in the pathway are placed strangely to slow the minds and pace of the visitor. At the end very end of the tea garden is a cedar spoon provided by the host, you use clean water from a basin, and you wash your hands and mouth and then you walk into the tea house.  Tea Ceremonies were held in teahouses. Teahouses were designed to look like abandoned huts. The walls are fastened from straw and mud. They were supposed to look like the forest surrounding them. The size of teahouses can vary. They usually have thatched roofs, clay walls, and are constructed of inexpensive materials such as cedar, bamboo, paulownia, and pine. Teahouses stand in contrast to ordinary Japanese household architecture in its lack of openness. In teahouses window openings are small and carefully placed to put light exactly where it will be most effective. The floor of the teahouse is covered with a bamboo mat called a tatami mat. The houses were built with high ceilings though it was found that the height in a small tea room made guests feel not restful. The guests enter the teahouse from a small opening and the hosts have their own opening.  When tea is being drank there are many utensils that have to be used. A Chabaka is an old fashioned basket that is used to carry utensils. There are some utensils such as Hakin which is a napkin used to wipe the tea bowl at the end of the ceremony is made by interns and not a professional. Some of the utensils are cloth napkins or silk cloths used to gather up utensils. There are many utensils used for a ceremony.  The way tea was made was a very complex. First in the seventh century tea leaves were pressed against bricks to be crushed into powder. To prepare the tea pieces of the tea brick were shaved off and mixed into various flavorings and then boiled into hot water. The look of tea resembled paste. The two main flavors of tea were ginger or salt. It took many years to master the art of tea making. media type="custom" key="8455664" [] [] [] Kalman, Bobbie. Japan The Culture. The lands, peoples, and Cultures Series. Toronto: Crabtree Publishing Company. Print [] [] [] 2/21/11 [] 2/21/11