Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
BY
OKAKURA-KAKUZO
G. P.
PUTNAM'S SONS
1906
cyco
Copyright 1906 by
Fox
Dui^FiEi^D
& Company
To
JOHN LAFARGB
Sensei
229601
CONTENTS
PAOS
Chapter
I.
I Chapter
ennobled into Teaism, a religion of the adoration of the beautiful among everyday facts Teaism developed among both nobles and peasants The mutual misunderstanding of the New World and the OldThe Worship of Tea in the West Early records of Tea in European writing The Taoists' version of the combat between Spirit and Matter The modern struggle for wealth and power
aestheticism,
Tea
II.
The Schools
of Tea
stages of the evolution of Tea The Boiled Tea, the Whipped Tea, and the Steeped Tea, representative of the Tang, the Sung, and the Ming dynasties of China Luwuh, the first apostle of TeaThe Tea-ideals of the three dynasties To the latter-day Chinese Tea is a delicious beverage, but not an ideal In Japan Tea is a religion of the art of life .
The three
25
Chapter
III.
The connection of Zennism with Tea Taoism, and its successor Zennism, represent the individualistic trend of the Southern Chinese mind Taoism accepts the mundane and tries to find beauty in our world of woe and worry
CONTENTS
PAGE Zennism emphasizes the teachings of Taoism Through consecrated meditation may be attained supreme self-realisation Zennism, like
the worship of Relativity Ideal of Teaism a result of the Zen conception of greatness in the smallest incidents of life Taoism furnished the basis for aesthetic ideals, Zennism made them practical
Taoism,
is
47
Chapter
IV.
The Tea-Room
The tea-room does not pretend to be other than The simplicity and purism of a mere cottage Symbolism in the construction the tea-room The system of its decoration of the tea-room A sanctuary from the vexations of the outer
world
7S
Chapter
V.
Art Appreciation
Sympathetic communion of minds necessary for art appreciation The secret understandThe ing between the master and ourselves Art is of value only to value of suggestion
No real feelthe extent that it speaks to us ing in much of the apparent enthusiasm to-day Confusion of art with archaeology ^We are destroying art in destroying the beautiful in
life
lOS
^Chapter VI.
Flowers
The Master of Flowers our constant friends The waste of Flowers^ among WestFlowers The art of floriculture in ern conmiunities the East The Tea-Masters and the Cult of The Art of Flower Arrangement Flowers The adoration of the Flower for its own sake
viii
CONTENTS
,THE CUP OF
HUMANITY
In China,
in the
eighth century,
it
The
ble
fifteenth century
into a religion
it
Teaism.
Teaism
is
a cult founded on
among
is
not mere
expresses conjointly
of view about
^
man and
it
nature.
It
is
hygiene, for
is
it
enforces cleanliness;
it
economics, for
shows comfort in
complex
and
costly;
it is
much
as
it
It represents the
by
in
making
taste.
all
its
votaries
aristocrats
The long
isolation of
Japan from
the rest of the world, so conducive to introspection, has been highly favourable
Our
home and
habits,
costume and
4
cuisine,
our very
its
all
influence.
presence.
It
humble.
Our
and
waters.
speak of the
man
''
with no tea
''
in him,
when he
is
Again we
stigmatise the
untamed
aes-
mundane
much tea " in him. The outsider may indeed wonder at this seeming much ado about nothing.
[What a tempest in a tea-cup
5
1
he will
But when we
consider
how
small
easily
dregs
in
our
shall
we
not blame
ourselves
for
making
so
much of
chus,
the tea-cup.
Mankind has
done worse.
we have even
image of Mars.
Why
warm
not consecrate
and
revel in the
stream of sym-
In
may
amuni himself.
Those who cannot
6
feel the littleness
things in
in his
and
childishness
He
was wont to
Much comment
has
the
makes our
fice
;
drawn
much of our Art of Life. Fain would we remain barbarians, if our claim to
civilisation
Fain would we
'
ideals.
When
try
to
will the
West
understand, or
understand,
the
East?
We
curi-
by the
us.
We are pic-
It
is
abject voluptuousness.
ality
Indian spirituignorance,
has been
derided as
we
ment
if
you were
to
know
all
that
we
THE CUP OF HUMANITY
have imagined and written about you*
All the glamour of the perspective
there, all
is
the unconscious
homage of
have been
wonder,
all
new and
envied,
undefined.
You
pic-
turesque to be condemned.
in the past
the wise
fricassee of
new-
most
impracticaT^J^ people
earth, for
you were
said to preach
you never
practised.
Such misconceptions are fast vanishing amongst us. Commerce has forced
the
Eastern port.
THE BOOK OF
ment of modern
TE:A!
Our
in-
we
are willing to
Some of my compatriots have adopted too much of your customs and too much of your etiquette, in the delusion that the acquisition of stiff collars
and
tall silk
West on our
Western
knees.
Unfortunately
is
the
attitude
unfavourable
The
Christian missionary
goes to
impart,
Your
information
our immense
not on the
It
is
10
The
Web
of Indian Life
"
own
sentiments.
Perhaps I betray
my own
ignorance
say,
New World
and the
of a better understanding.
The
begin-
guinary warfare
scended to
if
know Japan
What
Asia
may
also
awaken to the
Disaster.
cruel
sense of the
White
You may
much
tea,"
may we not suspect that you of the West have "no tea" in your consti-
tution?
Let us stop the continents from hurling epigrams at each other, and be
sadder
if
of half a hemisphere.
We have
lines,
develis
but there
ment
the other.
You
is
weak
re-
the East
is
better oif in
some
West!
12
met
in the tea-cup.
It
is
the only
Asiatic
ceremonial
which
conmaands
universal esteem.
without hesitation.
is
The afternoon
tea
now an important
In the
and
ern society.
trays
know
lished
that the
instance
the
Oriental
spirit
reigns
supreme.
The
earliest
said to be
found
in the
main sources of
records the
and
tea,
Marco Polo
deposition
of a Chinese minister of
It
was
at
European people began to know more about the extreme Orient. At the
the
end of the sixteenth century the Hollanders brought the news that a pleas-
made
in the
East from
Giovanni Batista
Almeida
(1576),
Tareira (1610),
also
mentioned
14
I
the
in
It
was known
England welcomed it in 1650 and spoke of it as " That excellent and by all physicians approved China drink,
in 1638.^
called
Like
the
the
sition.
Henry
it
Saville
as a filthy
custom.
Jonas
Hanway
(Essay
on
to
men seemed
sixteen shillings a
ular consumption,
and made
it
presents being
made
16
thereof to princes
Yet
in spite of such
drawbacks tea-drinking
marvellous rapidity.
spread with
coffee-houses
The
of
London
in the
Addison
and
Steele,
who
beguiled
themselves
The beverage
life
a taxit
We
modern
history.
Colonial
America resigned
until
herself to oppression
can independence dates from the throwing of tea-chests into Boston harbour.
There
is
and
capable of idealisation.
Western hu-
16
aroma.
would therefore
in
a particular
manner recommend
set apart
tea,
these
my
specula-
nestly advise
them for
their
good to
up and
draws
to be looked
of the tea-equipage."
his
own
and shameless
tea-drinker,
his
who
for
who with
tea
amused
17
Lamb, a professed
devotee,
knew was
stealth,
to
do a good action
by-
and
to have
found
is
it
out by ac-
cident.
For Teaism
thoroughly, and
thus
humour
itself,
the
smile
of
philosophy.
may
phers,
Thackeray,
,
of course, Shakespeare.
the Decadence
in decadence?)
The
poets of
Per-
haps nowadays
consolation.
in mortal combat.
At
Heaven,
the
The
shiv-
dome of jade
aimlessly
into frag-
ments.
The
moon wandered
the Yellow
among
the
In despair
He
Out of
dragonof
Niuka,
tailed,
fire.
horn-crowned
and
rain-
rebuilt
But it is
fill
Niuka forgot
to
two tiny
souls
crevices
Thus began
the
dualism of love
two
rolling
his
The
is
world
tism
is
and vulgarity.
Knowledge
De-
sake of
like
two
life.
We
Meanwhile,
let
us have a sip
is
bright-
heard in our
kettle.
Let
21
II
II
art
to
its
blest qualities.
tea, as
We have
latter.
generally the
gle recipe for
as there are
no
sintea,
no
producing a
Titian or a Sesson.
Each preparation
individuality, its
its
and
heat, its
its
own
truly
method of
beautiful
telling a story.
The
in
it.
must be always
How
much do we not
25
Sung
remarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the spoil-
tent manipulation.
its
periods and
its
Its evolution
may
be roughly
stages:
divided
into
three
main
the
Whipped
Steeped Tea.
the last school.
We
moderns belong to
they prevailed.
sion,
For
an expres-
man
hideth not."
of the great to
dents of daily
commentary of
est
flight
of philosophy
the
\Even
as
difference in
favourite
vintage
jcrasies
alities
moods of Ori
ental culture.
boiled,
the
whipped,
steeped,
which
was
mark
pulses of the
Ming
dynasties of China.
inclined to
minology of
we might
Romantic,
schools of Tea.
early-
various
ening the
sight.
will,
It
as
externally in
form of paste
to alleviate
rheumatic pains.
it
The
Taoists claimed
as
elixir
The Buddhists
used
Yangtse-Kiang
8
val-
It
was about
this
The
have
some fragments of
their ferv-
to bestow
leaves
on
a reward for
the
eminent
services.
Yet
method of
leaves were
The
made
into
rice,
orange
tom
the Thibetans
tribes,
these
slices
who make a curious syrup of ingredients. The use of lemon by the Russians, who learned to
"
method.
^
Tang
its
dy-
crude
and lead
to
With Luwuh in the middle of the eighth century we have our first apostle of tea. He was born in an age when Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism were
The pan-
Luwuh, a poet, saw in the Tea-service the same harmony and order
Particular.
all things-.
In
"
Chaking
has since
Code of Tea.
He
Luwuh
unfold
gleam
devoted to
these utensils.
Here we
Luwuh's
^-^
31
Also
it is
interesting to ob-
on Chinese ceramics.
as
is
The
Celestial
its
porcelain,
origin in
Tang
south,
Luwuh
lent addi-
as the white
distasteful.
made
It
it
cake-tea.
ters
The Mings,
In the
the
fifth chapter
Luwuh
tea.
describes
elimi-
method of making
He
ingredients except
salt.
He
gree of boiling
it.
According to him,
is
There are
first boil is
when
fishes
the
little
boil
when
the kettle.
The Cake-tea
is
is
roasted belike
fore the
fire until it
becomes soft
a baby's
arm and
put in the
first boil,
ond.
At
cold water
Then
the beverage
was
O nectar!
The
lilies
fihny leaflet
hung
on emerald streams.
wrotq/z^'The
It was of
Tang
my
lips
ana
throat,
breaks
therein
thousand volumes of
raises
all
the
wrong of
passes
away through
my pores. At
am
cup
calls
me
ah,
but
could
my
sleeves.
Where
is
Horaisan?
Let me ride
away
''
thither/'
The remaining
king
'*
chapters of the
Cha-
summary of
illustrious tea-
drinkers, the
and
of the tealost.
The
unfortunately
The
tion
Chaking
"
the
time.
Luwuh was
fame
be-
friended
\ (
763-779 ) ,
attracted
many
followers.
Some
exquisites
were
made by Luwuh from that of his disciples. One mandarin has his name immortalised by his failure to appreciate
the tea of this great master.
came
into fashion
sec-
The
leaves were
fine
powder
in a small stone
in hot water
by a
delicate
whisk made
process led
of
to
split
bamboo.
The new
some change
in the tea-equipage of
Luwuh,
Salt
siasm of the
Sung people
for tea
knew
and
no bounds.
other in discovering
new
varieties,
be a well-behaved monarch,
on the attainment
himself wrote a
of rare
species.
He
dissertation
tea,
among
he
prizes
the
and
finest
The
from
life
ise
tea-ideal of the
Sungs differed
what
sym-
bolise.
To
the
iEons
always
Nirvana
in
immortality
the
eternal
change permeated
thought.
It
their
modes of
1
was the
not
vital.
It
was
^
completing,
the
completion,
Man
came thus
A
life.
new meaning grew into the art of The tea began f-o be not a poetical
3T
pas-
methods of
self-
Wangyucheng
its
eulogised
appeal, that
after-taste
of a
the
Sotumpa wrote of
virtuous man.
the southern
Among
the Buddhists,
rated
so
the image
tea out of
a holy sacrament.
which
finally
It
was
this
Zen
ritual
developed into
in the fif-
the Tea-ceremony of
Japan
teenth century.
'
Yuen Emperors,
destroyed
all
The
native
was harassed
by
fell
internal troubles,
Manners
no vestige
,
to leave
entirely forgotten.
We find a
Tea
Ming
shape
commentator at
the
Sung
classics.
is
now taken
\
by steeping the
I
in a bowl or cup.
the
Western world is innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained by the fact that Europe knew
39
only
at
the
close
of
the
Ming
is
dynasty.
,
To the
a de-
licious beverage,
but not an
ideal.
The
long woes of
his
him of the
life.
meaning of
say,
He
is
an
and
tions
of the universe.
He
toys with
its
flower-like
Tang
to be
has
40
three stages.
As
the
we read of
Emperor Shomu giving tea to one hundred monks at his palace in Nara.
TJie leaves were probably imported
by
prepared in the
way then
Many
and priesthood
tea reached
in the beverage.
The Sung
he
carried
Uji
district
still
name of producing the best tea in world. The southern Zen spread
41
"*
Sung.
By the
fifteenth century,
under
is
fully
and made
into
an independSince
in.
j/"
then
Teaism
is
fully
established
->-Japan.
The
us,
comparatively recent
among
being only
known
since the
It
latter
continues to hold
its
of
teas.
It
/
is
ceremony
that
of drinking;
of
life.
it is
an
to produce
of the mundane.
oasis in the
an.
common
spring of art-
Not a
rhythm of
all
such
were
the
aims
of the tea-ceremony.
it
And
strangely
was often
successful.
it all.
A subTeaism
was Taoism
Ill
.TAOISM
AND ZENNISM
Ill
THE
tea
proverbial.
We
have
al-
Zm
is
The name of
Taoism,
is
I^aotsie,
the founder of
also
intimately associated
tea.
It
written in
manual concerning
and customs that
dis-
of Laotse, who
first
at the gate of
the
Han
of such
tales,
47
by the
Taoists.
Our
life
inlies
and
embodied in what we
Teaism.
is
It
we have had
"*^
>^^^ ('^Translation is always a treason, and as a Ming author observes, can at its
best be only the reverse side of a brocade,
all
But,
there
is
which
is
easy to expound?
The
ancient
iWe
48
tematic form.
They spoke
in para-
hearers wise.
Tao, they
laugh immensely.
It
Tao unless they laughed at it." The Tao literally means a Path.
Way,
of the term by the Taoists differs according to the subject-matter of the inquiry.
it
thus:
" There
ing,
a thing which
is
all-contain-
ence of
How
si-
How
solitary!
It stands alone
and changes
danger to
the universe.
not.
It revolves without
itself
and
is
the mother of
I do not
the
and
so call
it
ance I
the Vanish-
the Reverting."
The Tao
the Path.
is
in the
It
is
Change,
forms.
the dragon,
It
and unfolds
as
Great
Subjectively
the
Mood
is
of the Universe.
Relative.
Its Absolute
the
It should be
remembered
its
in the first
legitimate
50
nese
mind in contra-distinction to the communism of Northern China which expressed itself in Confucianism. ;The
Middle Kingdom
is^
'
'x9
as vast as
Europe
and has a
sies
differentiation of idiosyncra-
marked by
the
two great
it.
river sys-
The Yangste-
Kiang and Hoang-Ho are respectively the Mediterranean and the Baltic. Even to-day, in spite of centuries of
unification, the
and
beliefs
from
In
even more
especially
I
difficult
this difference in
nounced.
The
art
and
poetry^ of the
61
other.
In
Laotse and
and
find
in
Kutsu-
Kiang
nature-poets,
we
an
ideal-
northern writers.
Laotse lived
five
iThe
germ of Taoist
speculation may-
The
Book of Changes, foreshadow his thought. But the great respect paid
to the laws
classic
Chow
B. c.^
^f
the
the establish-
ment of innumerable independent kingdoms that it was able to blossom forth in the luxuriance of free-thought. Laotse
of the
New
School.
his
On the
other
hand
Confucius with
numerous
disciples
We
lute
'?
In
ethics the
relative terms.
always limitation ^the " unchangeless " are but terms exand
pressive of a stoppage of growth.
Said
63
THE BOOK OF
Kuzugen,
world."
^'
TEAi
The
Sages
move
the
Our
but
is
same?
traditions
Education, in
order to keep
up
We are wicked
self-con-
we
are
frightfully
We
cause
we know
we
ourselves are in
the wrong.
We nurse
a conscience be-
cause
we are afraid to tell the truth to others; we take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to ourselves.
How
the
so
The
64
spirit
of barter
everywhere.
Honour and
Chastity!
retail-
buy a
I
so-called Heligion,
really
but
common
flowers
and music.
Rob
the Church of
hind?
Yet the
quickly,
known
public
Why
much?
Is
it
The
its
virility
of the idea
lies
not
less in
capacity
Taoism was an
unification
active
name China, It would be interesting had we time to note its influence on contemporary thinkers, the mathematicians,
writers
of
the
Yangste-Kiang.
We
was
solid,
nor the
who,
like the
Zen
philosophers, revelled
Pure and the Abstract. Above all we should pay homage to Taoism for what it has done
toward the formation of the
56
Celestial
a certain capacity
''
warm
as
Chinese history
is
full of in-
princes
and hermits
alike,
followed
The
tale will
not be without
its
quota of instruction
It will be rich in
and amusement.
anecdotes,
allegories,
and aphorisms.
We
who never
We
may
it
we
ourselves
the
Aged One
of the Hoang-Ho,
who
be-
lived betwixt
Even
57
in that grotesque
imagery impossible to
cult.
find in
>
any other
But
Taoism
\^ aesthetics. Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism as the '' art-o^
I
it
deals with
in us that
ourselves.
It
is
God
parts
the
from to-morrow.
Infinity,
The Present
the
is
moving
legitimate
Relativity seeks
is
Adjustment; Adjustment
Art.
The
ac-
ment
the
to our surroundings.
Taoism
cepts the
mundane
as
it is
and, unlike
Confucians
and the
Buddhists,
tries to find
and worry.
The Sung
68
allegory of the
Sakyamuni,
Confucius,
and
Laotse
^the
emblem of
life
in his
Buddha
nounced
called
it
bitter,
sweet.
The
of
if
life
comedy
could be
made more
interesting
To keep
own
and
was the
secret
of success
in the
mundane drama.
We must know
must never be
ual.
lost in that
of the individ-
favourite
He
vacuum
lay
The
reality of a
by
the roof
and
and walls
themselves.
The
usefulness of a water
was made.
cause
all
Vacuum
is
all
potent be-
containing.
In vacuum alone
motion becomes
could
possible.
One who
vacuum
into
make of
himself a
become master of
all situations.
The
in-
to those of fencing
jitsu, the
owes
its
name
In
teiking.
draw
60
by
non-resistance,
serving one's
own
In
In
it.
A vacand
fill
uum
up
there for
you
to enter
to the full
emotion.
He who
the Taoist.
was the
Ileal
Man
of
He
own
is
brightness
in order to
merge himself
scurity of others.
He
61
"reluctant,
who
hesitating as one
who
bourhood;
respectful,
guest r
about to melt
unassuming,
like
troubled waters."
To him
the
Econ-
name
Dhyana, which
tation
signifies meditation.
may
realisation.
Meditation
is
one of the
six
may
on
affirm that
this
stress
method
According to
their tra-
on to successive patriarchs
reached Bodhi-Dharma,
twenty-eighth.
Bodhi-Dharma came
first
is ofl
the
sixth
There
much
its
these patriarchs
and
their doctrines.
In
Zennism
seems to have
j
on one hand to
Nagarjuna
to the
Gnan
phil-
The
first
teaching of
Zen
as
we know
it
at the present
to the sixth
Chinese patriarch
Yeno
63
THE BOOK OF
so-called
TEA'
its
from the
fact of
predomi-
He is closely
living influence in
government.
In the
discussions of the
Zen
time of Baso
sion of native
trast to
Whatever
may
assert to
Zen
and the
Taoist Conversationalists.
teiking
In the Tao-
we
64
of Zen meditation.
Some of the best commentaries on the Book of Laotse have been written by Zen scholars.
Zennism,
like
Taoism,
is
the worship
defines
of Relativity.
One master
Zen
Again, Zennism,
like
Nothing
which con-
own
minds.
monks watching
is
the flag of a
pagoda
One
;
said " It
the
is
" It
own
"
in the
when a hare
scur-
Why does
kujo.
" Because he
afraid of me,"
said the master,
instinct."
One
How
delight-
His
are
friend spake to
him thus:
"You
not a
fish;
that the
fishes are
You "how
To
on per-
n
^/r-j
)
was
this love
the
Zen
to
pixfer, black
and white
coloured
^/^.^
sketches
to
the
elaborately
^'
Some of
clastic as
the
^(D
icono-
recognise
Buddha
find
in
themselves
and sym-
We
Tankawosho breakstatue of
ing
Ion
I
up a wooden
a wintry
Buddha
fire.
day to make a
67
the
horror-
stricken bystander.
I wish to get
But you certainly will not get Shall from this image!" was the angry retort, to which Tanka
rejoined the Zen.
replied,
"
" If
do not,
this
is
cer-
to
warm
fire.
A
the
special
of Zen to
recognition of
mundane
as of equal importance
and
great,
an atom
The
must discover
2
in his
own
in
of
68
The
organi-
sation of the
To
taking of the
more irksome and menial tasks. Such services formed a part of the Zen
and every
least action
discipline
must
be
Thus
many a weighty
or serving tea.
is
aesthetic
practical.
^69
iv;
THE TEA-ROOM
THE TEA-ROOM
TOup
European
on the
architects
brought
of stone
traditions
method of building with wood and bamboo seems scarcely worthy to be ranked
as architecture.
It
is
we
could hardly expect the outsider to appreciate the subtle beauty of the tea-
room,
1
its
principles of construction
and
The
We
&
refer to
Baker
Taylor Co.,
New
York, 1905.
73
a straw hut, as we
inal
*Abode of Fancy.
may
V
signify the
Abode of Vacancy
or
the
is
is
an ephemeral structure
It
as
is it
a poetic impulse.
an Abode of
is
Vacancy inasmuch
placed in
devoid of
may
be
to satisfy It
some
is
aesthetic
an Abode of
it
is
Xpir.
74
THE TEA-ROOM
perfect, purposely leaving
some thing
of Teaism
influ*
The
ideals
The
the
first
creation
Senno-Soyeki,
his later
com-
monly known by
kiu,
name of Ri- /^
tea-masters,
the
greatest
of
all
and brought
to a high state of
ceremony.
The proportions of
the tea-
75
The
early tea-room
by
off
gathering.
The portion
appKed
partitioned
was
called the
still
Kakoi (enclosure),
to those tea-rooms
a name
The Su-
an anteroom
before
washed
brought
..the
and
in,
arranged
being
summons
,>
and a
which connects
The
76
THE TEA-ROOM
tea-room
It
is
is
unimpressive in appearance.
Yet
is
we must remember
result of
the
profound
artistic
forethought,
details
and temples.
costly than
A
an
good
ordiits
tea-room
is
more
workmanship,
precision.
requires
form a
distinct
and highly
their
honoured
class
among
artisans,
work being no
less delicate
than that
The tea-room
is
77,
archi-
Japan
it-
Our
ancient
noble
edifices,
mere
size.
The few
still
two
by
The
material and
mode of
confire,
struction,
proved
itself
earthcli-
In the
THE TEA-ROOM
Golden Hall of Horiuji and the Pagoda
of Yakushiji,
we have noteworthy
These
buildings
ex-
have
nearly
practically
stood
intact
for
twelve centuries.
old temples
The
interior
of the
decorated.
we
can
still
canopy and
and mother-of-pearl,
and
the
Later,
at
Nikko and
in
NijQ^jQastle^inJKyot^
we
see structural
utmost gorgeousness
The
simplicity
tea-
for
the
monks.
Its
pil-
The room
a statue of
earliest
Zen
patri-
are offered
memory of
the great
made
it
We
was the
4)
ritual instituted
by the Zen
monks of
THE TEA-ROOM
Dhama, which
laid the foundations
of
the tea-ceremony.
We might
add Here
the place
All our great tea-masters were students of Zen and attempted to introduce
the spirit of Zennism into the actualities
of
life.
like the
doctrines.
The
is
of Vikramadytja.
In that
interesting
of Buddha in a room of
this
theorj^
THE BOOK OF
truly
enlightened.
TBJi
1
roii,
from the
passage
stage of meditation,
self-illumination.
^the
into
The
^oji
was
and
to produce a fresh
ment of
self.
it-
Dne who
path cannot
spirit, as
fail to
remember how
his
thoughts.
One may be
away from
82
in the midst of
city,
and yet
feel as if
he were in the
forest far
THE TEA-ROOM
of
civilisation.
with
different
tea-masters.
loneli-
Some,
ness,
like Rikiu,
aimed at utter
secret of
mak-
"I
look beyond;
Nor
tinted leaves.
On
A solitary cottage
Of
stands
was to be found
THE BOOK OF
'*A cluster of summer
TEA]
trees,
not
difficult to
n^ly awakened
soul
still
lingering
past, yet
and yearning
beyond.
will silently
if
a sa-
Then he will bend low and creep into the room through a smaU door not more than
preeminently the house of peace.
three feet in height.
This proceeding
was incumbent on
low
alike^
all guests,
^high
and
incul-
THE TEA-ROOM
cate humility.
one by one
and
ithe tokonoma.
'xhe room until
The
all
ing to break the silence save the note of the boiling water in the iron
kettle.
may
fled
by
ing
a rainstorm sweep-
IKng
Even in the daytime the light in the room is subdued, for the low eaves of
85
Everything
is
sober in tint
ments of unobtrusive
mellowness of age
is
colours.
The
every-
over
all,
However
absolutely
may
seem, everything
is
clean.
Not
any
not a tea-master.
One
of the
is
first requisites
of a tea-master
the knowledge
of
how
is
to sweep,
clean,
an art
in
A piece
of an-
THE TEA-ROOM
housewife.
may
In
this
be
of
dew and
a story of
coolness.
connection there
is
of
cleanliness entertained
ters.
by the tea-mashis
son Shoan
as he swept
path. "
Not
when Shoan had finished his task, and bade him try again. After a weary
hour the son turned to Rikiu " Father,
:
there
is
The
trees
and the
and
ground."
"
Young
87
not the
way a
gar-
Saying
leaves, scraps
of
What
Rikiu
alone,
also.
cleanliness
implies
indi-
some
The
tea-
room
is
made
is
there-
The
own
is j
chief occupant.
Perhaps there
may
88
THE TEA-ROOM
realised sanitary reason for this practice.
on account
we
find the
Im-
removed
from one
site to
The
Sun-Goddess,
is
an example of one of
still
obtain at
The observance of
possible with
was only
down,
easily
ing brick and stone, would have rendered migrations impracticable, as in-
THE BOOK OF
period.
TEA!
ISTara
With
i
the predominance of
Zen
in-
Zenn-
escence and
its
of
spirit
The body
itself
was but as
made by tying
grew around,
In the
tea-room fugitiveness
suggested in
bamboo support,
THE TEA-ROOM
monplace materials.
be found only in the
The
eternal
is
to
spirit which,
em-
subtle light
of!
refinement.
built to
some individual
taste
is
an enforce-
ment of
It
is
not
we should ignore the claims of posterity, but that we should seek to enjoy the present more. It is not that we
should disregard the creations of the
past, but that
late
we should
to
try to assimiSla-
them
vish
conformity
and
We
can but
weep over those senseless imitations of European buildings which one beholds
91
THE BOOK OF
in
TEA'
marvel why,
modern Japan.
We
among
Western
of obsolete
styles.
Perhaps we
of demthe
are
establish a
new
dynasty.
Would
that
we
p
^
them
antique.
'
of Vacancy, besides
all-
The tea-room
is
absolutely
may
be placed
mood.
Some
is
93
THE TEA-ROOM
brought in for the occasion, and everything else
is
^
selected
and arranged to
principal
listen to different
One cannot
same time, a
real
only
through
concentration
upon some
central motive.
Thus
it
will
opposed to that
often converted
into a
museum.
To
a Japanese, accus-
tomed
and
to simplicity of ornamentation
frequent
change
of
decorative
perma-
tures, statuary,
and
bric-a-brac gives
of riches.
It calls for a
mighty wealth
and
limit-
tistic
who can
is
exist
America.
The "Abode of
cal
"'
the Unsymmetri-
orative scheme.
Con-
deep-seated idea of
Buddhism with
were in no way
worship of a
trinity,
As a
matter of fact,
if
we study
the
the
THE TEA-ROOM
Nara
stant
period,
we
striving
after
syiBmetry.
The
decidedly regular in
its
arrangement.
per-
was
different.
The
dynamic nature of
upon the process through which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty could
more
stress
The
virility
for
In the tea-room
it is left
for
complete
not only
Uniformity
y
^r
freshness of imagination.
scapes, birds,
Thus, land-
^
\
^
\^
^^
We
it
much
in
evidence as
and
in spite of our
is
apt to be-
come monotonous.
%
repetition
jis
The
various ob-
jects
If you have
is
the
water pitcher
should
be
angular,
should not be
a tea-
In placing a
I
it
THE TEA-ROOM
divide the
pillar
The
of
any suggestion of
method of
monotony
in the room.
Here again
the Japanese
from that of
we
and elsewhere.
In Western houses we
what appears
We
find
it
trying to talk to a
man
back.
We
wonder which
is real,
he
^^m^-
talks,
and
feel
Many
97
a time have
we
dining-room walls.
Why
these
pic-
and
fruit?
Why
The
its
and
it
truly a sanctuary
from
the vexations of
In
and statesmen
engaged in the
unification
and recon-
struction of Japan.
In the seventeenth
98
THE TEA-ROOM
the
it
Tokugawa
free
rule
for the
spirits.
there
was no
between dai-
Noware-
making true
V
V
world over.
Do we
ever?
99
ART APPRECIATION
ART APPRECIATION
Taoist tale of
Taming of
^
the
Harp?
Once in the hoary ages in the Ravine of Lunginen stood a Kiri tree, a veritable
king of the
forest.
It reared
its
its
roots
earth,
mingling
sil-
bronzed
And
it
came
of
to pass that a
this tree
stubborn
spirit
For long the instrument was treasured by the Emperor of China, but all in vain were
the greatest of musicians.
1
103
who
in turn tried to
its strings.
In
re-
with
the songs
At
last
harpists.
caressed
He
and
and flowing
waters,
all
young
cataracts, as
branches.
budding
Anon were
voices of
sects, the
summer with
104
myriad
in-
ART APPRECIATION
wail of the cuckoo.
Hark
a tiger roars,
It
is
au-
moon upon
reigns,
the
Now winter
and
upon
Then Peiwoh changed the key and sang of love. The forest swayed like
an ardent swain deep
lost in thought.
On
high, like a
And
Lung-
In ecstasy the
105
Celestial
mon-
but of themselves.
choose
its
theme, and
knew not
truly
harp.''
The masterpiece is a symphony played upon our finest feelings. True art is Peiwoh, and we the harp of Lungmen. At the magic
of art appreciation.
touch of the beautiful the secret chords
and
thrill in
response to
its call.
Mind
un-
speaks to mind.
spoken,
We
listen to the
we gaze upon
the unseen.
The
of.
master
calls
forth notes
we know not
all
come back
new
significance.
by
Hopes we dare
106
ART APPRECIATION
not recognise, stand forth in
new
glory.
Our mind
artists
is
the canvas
on which the
masterpiece
is
of ourselves, as we are of
the masterpiece.
The
sympathetic
communion
of
The
spectator
must
the artist
it.
The
tea-master,
Kobori-Enshiu, him-
mem-
In order
mas-
fore
least
it
utterance.
An
107
eminent
Sung
THE BOOK OF
critic
TEA!
once
made
In
a charming confession.
my young
days I praised
judgment matured I praised myself for liking what the masters had
as
my
chosen to have
me
like."
It
is
to be
In our stubborn ignorance we refuse to render them this simple courtesy, and thus often miss the rich repast
ters.
master has
always
something to
oifer, while
cause
To
masterpiece
becomes a living
towards which
we feel drawn in bonds of comradeship. The masters are immortal, for their
loves
and fears
It
is
live in
again.
108
ART APPRECIATION
man than the technique, which to us, the more human the
hand, the
appeals
call the
deeper
is
our response.
It
is
because of this
secret
understanding
re-
down
bling the
Comedy of
suff^er
Errors, in which
twin brethren
identity.
through mistaken
said
" This,''
Chikamatsu,
of the drama,
spirit
ation.
The
public
is
permitted to
know
109
It
knows where
poor
fig-
lies,
and
pities the
who
innocently rush
The great masters both of the East and the West never forgot the value of
suggestion as a means for taking the
spectator into their confidence.
Who
How
they
familiar
all;
and sympathetic
are
how
mod-
ern comumonplaces!
feel the
In the former we
of a man's
sa-
warm outpouring
Engrossed
modern rarely rises above himself. Like the musicians who vainly invoked the
Lungmen
self.
ART APPRECIATION
but are further from humanity.
We
truly
man
cannot love a
is
man who
fill
is
no crevice in
up.
his heart
In
art
vanity
is
Reeling, whether
Nothing
is
union of kindred
At
the
moment of
not.
scends himself.
At
once he
is
and
is
He
Freed from
It
rhythm of
things.
is
thus that
mankind.
It
is
this
which makes a
In the
was
intense.
The
tea-masters
guarded
secrecy,
and
it
open a whole
another,
itself
series
before
reaching
the
silken
wrapping
within
holies.
to the initiated.
At
the time
in the
work of
territory as a
reward of victory.
Many
Dharuma by
112
ART APPRECIATION
fire
through
the
negligence of
the
all
samurai in charge.
Resolved at
all
means of
Thinking
slashes
by the
flames.
only
his
of
the
picture,
he
open
his
body with
his sword,
wraps
and plunges
into the
gaping wound.
The
fire is at last
extinguished.
is
Among
found a half-
consumed
rible as
by the
set
fire.
Hor-
we
upon a masof a
trusted samurai.
We
art
is
speaks to us.
might be a universal
113
THE BOOK OF
language
if
TEA!
we
in our sympathies.
Our
finite
nature,
|
the
power of
tradition
and conventioninstincts,
ality, as well as
our hereditary
enjoyment.
Our very
individ-
own
It
affinities
is
in
true that
to enjoy
many
expressions of beauty.
But, after
all,
we
own image
in the uni-
verse,
our
particular
idiosyncracies
dictate the
mode of our
perceptions.
The
which
One
is
reminded in
114
this connection
ART APPRECIATION
of a story concerning Kobori-Enshiu.
his disci-
on the admirable
''
taste he
had
dis-
Each
piece
is
such that no
It shows that
taste than
had Rikiu,
by one beholder
Enshiu
in a thousand."
Sorrowfully
only proves
replied:
"This
love only
Verily,
much
to be regretted that so
much of
In
this
democratic
115
men clamour
for what
is
of their feelings.
They want
the
costly,
To
worthy product of
ism,
their
own
industrial-
digestible
food
Ashikaga masters,
whom
As
complained
criticise
many
centu-
People
It
is
a picture by
their ear."
this lack
is
of genuine
appreciation that
o^Ov
us wherever
is
that of
The
ART APPRECIATION
veneration born of antiquity
the best traits in the
is
one of
human
it
character,
cultivated
The
old masters
The
mere fact that they have passed unscathed through centuries of criticism
to us
still
covered with
commands our
respect.
if
But we
we valued
historical
on the score
of age.
sympathy
probation
in his
crimination.
We
the individual in
is
the
collector
anxious to ac-
117
We
classify
too
little.
The
sacrifice
scientific
the bane of
many museums.
The
life.
The
art of to-day
is
that which
it is
our
it
In condemning
ourselves.
condemn
We
It
^who
indeed
all
our rhapsodies
so little at-
we pay
own
possibilities.
Strugin
gling
artists,
ART APPRECIATION
the
In our
self-centred century,
what inspiration
past
do we offer them?
The
may
well
We are destroy-
Would
that
119
VI
FLOWERS]
VI
FLOWERS
the INdawn, when the birds were whisper-
among
the
felt that
they were
ciation
of
flowers
must have
been
Where
its
unconsciousness,
its silence,
fragrant because
of
of a virgin soul?
in
off'ering
the
garland to his
He became human
He
123
realm
of
art
when he
In joy or
dance, and
constant friends.
flirt
We
with them.
and
We have worshipped
in battle array
with the
lotus,
lily,
we have charged
We
we
How
could
without them?
It frightens one
presence.
What
solace
do they not
sick,
what a
weary
in
stores to us our
waning confidence
FLOWERS
beautiful child recalls our lost hopes.
When we
they
it is
who
as
graves.
Sad
it is,
we cannot
conceal the
soon show
man
and
at
ten
is
an animal, at twenty a
lunatic, at
at
Perhaps he becomes a
real to us but
be an animal.
Nothing
is
own
ever
is
we burn
is
ourselves.
his
Our god
is
great,
and money
125
What
atrocities
trate in the
name of
and
refine-
ment!
Tell me, gentle flowers, teardrops of
the stars, standing in the garden, nod-,
you may
mer.
close
sumwill
To-morrow a
around your
ruthless
hand
throats.
You
will
be
The
wretch, she
may
still
be passing
fair.
lovely
126
FLOWERS
blood.
It
may
hole of one
you
in the face
It
may
even be your
be confined in
some narrow
Flowers,
if
you were
in the land of
the Mikado,
He
would
call
himself
a Master of Flowers.
the rights of a doctor
He
would claim
you know a
and
twist
you
sitions
which he thinks
127
proper that
He
would contort
your bones
dislocate
any osteopath.
He
would burn
your
to
into
coals to stop
you
your
with
He
would
alum,
diet
you
vinegar,
and
sometimes,
vitriol.
seemed ready to
faint.
It
would be
his
life
within you
Would you
first
when
were
you were
captured?
What
flowers
among
U8
FLOWERS
palling than the
way they
are treated
by Eastern Flower Masters. The number of flowers cut daily to adorn the
ballrooms and banquet-tables of Europe
and America,
mous;
if
to be
thrown away on
garland a continent.
carelessness of
life,
Flower-Master becomes
He,
economy of
to their remains.
the fancy of
all
a moment.
Whither do they
go,
these flowers,
when the revelry is over? Nothing is more pitiful than to see a faded flower remorselessly flung upon a dung heap.
129
and yet
so hapless?
Insects can
sting,
will fight
bird^
when brought
is
to bay.
The
whose plumage
fly
sought to deckits
from
pursuer,
to have wings
the butterfly;
all
others
If
We
who
love
and serve us
may
shall
we
Have you
It
year?
may
I
Much may
who
pot
is
FLOWERS
Perhaps they have
cultivates plants.
far
scissors.
We
with
parasites, his
horror
of
slowly, his
when the buds come rapture when the leaves atIn the East the
and
art of
is
and song.
dynasties
tacles
With
the development of
jewelled palaces.
A
131
special attendant
was
detailed to wait
and
to
wash
its
rabbit hair.
that the
by a handsome maiden
by a
pale, slender
monk.
In Japan,;
is
based upon
The
friar
is
in reality
no other thani
Hojo-Tokiyori,
the
Haroun-Al-Rasis
not
without
fails to
its
reward.
tears
draw
from a Tokio
audi-
Em-
132
FLOWERS
peror Huensung, of the
Tang
dynasty,
hung
in his
it
birds.
He
in the springtime
A quaint tab-
monasteries.^ It
a notice put
up
for
After
cuts a
Whoever
a finger therefor."
laws
could
Would
that such
be
enforced
nowadays
destroy^
art!
against those
flowers
who wantonly
133
THE BOOK OF
TEA!
Yet even in the case of pot flowers we are inclined to suspect the selfishness
of man.
their
Why
bloom mid
it
strange surroundings?
Is
not like
sing
and mate
cooped up in cages?
Who
knows but
by the
arti-
flowers
is
he
who
them
Taoyuenming,^ who
broken
bamboo fence
Chowmushih
134
slept in
FLOWERS
was
same
spirit
"If I pluck
thee,
my
art,
hand
will
defile
Flower!
thou
However,
taL
magnificent.
let
(^ ^
Let us be
Said
Laotse
"
Heaven
pitiless."
Said Kobodai-
of
life is
Die,
die, die,
die,
death comes to
Destruction
faces us wherever
we turn. Destruction
is
and before.
nal,
Change
as
why not
welcome Death as
135
They
of the other,
Night and
becomes
Day
of
Brahma.
of the
Through the
disintegration
possible.
old, re-creation
many
dif-
ferent names.
It
is
even to-day.
The
mystic
fire
From
the
realisation
of
manhood.
Why
we can
in our
the
world idea?
FLOWERS
Purity
and
Simplicity. >
Thus reasoned
the tea-masters
when
ways
the
They
se-
do not
lect
cull at
mind.
may
be remarked
to present the
life.
In
this
many
others, their
method
in
Western
countries.
Here we
137
THE BOOK OF
the flower stems, heads, as
TEA!
it
were, with-
When
it
in a
Nothing
else will
be placed near
with
its eff'ect,
less there
an enthroned
prince,
making
their addresses
Drawings from masterpieces are made and published for the edification of
amateurs.
the subject
quite voluminous.
When
consigns
it
138
FLOWERS
ies it
in the ground.
Monuments even
^The
birth of the
Our
first
^!
|
flower
arrangement
those
early
Buddliist saints
ers
who gathered
the flow-
It
is
and
Yoshimasa,
adepts at
it.
was
one of
the earliest
painting.
tea-ritual
With
THE BOOK OF
arrangement
Rikiu and
Ota-wuraka,
TEA!
Furuka-Oribe, Koyetsu,
new combi-
ritual,
distinct religion
like
by
itself.
A flower
arrangement,
total
scheme of
Thus Sekishiu ordained that white plum blossoms should not be made use of when snow lay in the garden.
A flower
loses its
arrangement by a tea-master
significance if
for which
it
FLOWERS
for
its lines
specially
surroundings.
The adoration of the flower for its own sake begins with the rise of " Flower-Masters," toward the middle of the
seventeenth century.
It
now becomes
execution
and
two
F ormalistic
and the
We
possess rec-
and
Tsunenobu.
The
Naturalesque
as its
school,
name
modificatioiis,...fiL
f<^m
Thus we recognise in its works the same impulses which formed the Ukiyoe and Shijo schools of
artistic unity.
painting.
It
would be
interesting,
had we time,
is
to enter
now
possi-
and
We
them referring
142
to the
Leading
FLOWERS
Principle
Principle
Reconciling
ar-
Principle
They
much on
the
its
The
noon
charming
Our
master.
setting
its
The former
is
art in
its
proper
We
should
Natural in
143
and Formalistic
ter
schools.
The
leaves
tea-masselec-
deems
his
and
them
to
own
story.
room
in late winter,
you may
budding camellia;
it is
an
Again,
if
you
go
hot
into a noon-tea
on some
irritatingly
summer
day, you
may
discover in
tokonoma
a single
lily in
it
with dew,
ishness of life.
A
cing.
solo
of flowers
is
interesting, but
and sculp-
U4i
FLOWERS
vegetation of lakes and marshes, and on
the wall above he
hung a painting by
Soami of wild ducks flying in the air. Shoha, another tea-master, combined a
poem on
in the
the
Beauty of Solitude by
composition the
breath of
waning autumn.
Flower
stories are endless.
We shall
In
the sixteenth
Rikiu had an
it,
which
The
fame of
his convolvuli
sand.
his
On
single morning-glory
Sung workmanship,
^the
lay
queen of the
whole garden!
In such instances we
nificance of the
Flower
Persig-
They
men.
Some
cherry blos -
samajlo, as
146
I
lised this.
like
FLOWERS
For a moment they hover
away on
to say:
''
seem
Farewell,
Spring!
We are
on
to Eternity."
14T
VII
TEA MASTERS
TEA-MASTERS
INIn
religion the
Future
is
is
behind us.
eternal.
art the
Present
the
The tea-masters
tion of art
is
make of
it
a living influence.
wHo Thus
life
/!>
by the high standard of refinement which obtained in the tea-room. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be maintained, and conversation should be so conducted as never to mar the harmony of the surroundings. The
cut and colour of the dress, the poise of the body,
could
all
be made expressions of
personality.
niade himself ^
right
to^approach beauty.
Thus
It
the tea-mas-
more than
everyit.
the artist,
art itself.
of aestheticism.
Perfection
where
if
we only
choose to recognise
"
To
those
for
full-
flowers, fain
in the toiling
hills."
of the tea-masters to
revolutionised
art.
They
rations,
completely
the
style
have
162
TEA-MASTERS
all
been
subject.
The
many-sided
Kobori-Enshiu has
left notable
exam-
of Japan
r
t
Our
i
the tea-masters
inspiration,
had not
lent to
it
their
the
manufacture of the
ceremony calling
The known
of Japanese
pottery.
Many
of our
It
is
impossible,
indeed, to find
in
One of
of painting owes
its
and
potter.
Beside
of his
grandson,
Koho, and of
his
grand-
nephews, Korin
an expressions^
lines
In the broad
of
this school
we seem
to find the
vitality
of nature herself.
as
life.
Not only
our
TEA-MASTERS
domestic details, do
we
of the tea-masters.
Many
of our
deli-
way of
serv-
They
in<
They have
mility.
own
exist-
we
call life
are con-
our
Yet
there
is
joy and
Why
like
or,
upon
The
last
moments of
been their
in
had
Seeking always to be
in which the
But
rife
ever a dan-
gerous honour.
It
was an age
156
TEA-MASTERS
with treachery, and
men
trusted not
Rikiu was no
to differ in
argument with
patron.
cold-
despot.
It
was whispered
to
Hidey-
was to be ad-
With Hideyoshi
suspicion
was
will
One
privilege alone
^the
On
the
his self-im-
THE BOOK OF
TEA'
Mourn-
met
der,
at the portico.
As
and
are
ghosts.
the gates of
lanterns.
Hades stand
the sum-
mons which bids the guests to enter. One by one they advance and take their places. In the tokonoma hangs a kakemono, a wonderful writing by an an-
cient
of
all
The singing
his
ket-
tle,
as
like
woes
to departing
Each
158
served
with
tea,
and each
TEA-MASTERS
his cup, the host last
of
all.
Accord-
now
tea-equipage.
Rikiu
places
the
kakemono.
sents one of
After
all
have expressed
them
bled
company
as a souvenir. "
The bowl
shall
alone he keeps.
this cup, polluted
Never again
lips
by the
of misspeaks,
fortune, be used
by man."
He
The ceremony is
their last farewell
take
One
his
tea-gown and
upon
159
sword of eternity 1
Through Buddha
And
Thou
With a
smile
upon
his
face
Rikiu
160
recall.
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