Tea (9 page)

Toward the end of the ninth century, relations between Japan and China became strained, and Japanese diplomatic missions were abolished. Along with everything else Chinese, the popularity of tea declined sharply for the next three hundred years, except in the monasteries. During this period, Japan continued to develop and strengthen its own traditions, rather than mimic those of China.

ZEN AND THE ART OF TEA

In the twelfth century, renewed relations between Japan and China resulted in a resurgence of Japanese interest in drinking tea. The man largely responsible for this was a Buddhist monk named Eisai Myo-an. Eisai studied with monks of the southern Zen school in China, learning about matters of spirit—and matters of taste, in the form of tea. Although Eisai is probably best known for introducing Rinzai Zen Buddhism to Japan at the end of the twelfth century, he is also well known (and much appreciated) for bringing the knowledge of whipped, powdered tea from China. The Japanese believed, just as the Chinese did, that the taste of whipped tea was far more pleasing and flavorful than that of tea made from ground tea brick. Tea, prepared in this manner, became enormously popular in Japan.

New converts to Zen Buddhism quickly learned to appreciate tea as well. It was valued initially as an aid to meditation, then later for the taste itself. Eisai was a strong believer in the benefits of drinking tea, and among his prolific writings is the
Kissa Yojoki
, which is variously translated as
Book of Tea Sanitation
,
Drinking Tea for Health
, or
Tea Drinking for the Cultivation of Life
. This work describes tea as a “divine remedy and a supreme gift of heaven” essential for preserving life. Eisai recommends it as a cure for five diseases: loss of appetite, illnesses caused by poor drinking water, paralysis, boils, and beriberi. He concludes with the claim that tea is beneficial for almost all disorders.

“In the great country of China,” he states, “they drink tea, as a result of which there is no heart trouble and people live long lives. Our country is full of sickly looking skinny persons, and this is simply because we do not drink tea. When the whole body feels weak, devitalized and depressed, it is a sign that the heart is ailing. Drink lots of tea, and one's energy and spirits will be restored to full strength.”

The
Kissa Yojoki
goes on to explain not only the effect of tea on each of the human organs but also the psychospiritual results of drinking tea, setting the stage for the formation of the Japanese tea ceremony. Eisai associated drinking tea with elements of Zen, of being fully and completely present, making something as simple as preparing and drinking tea into a spiritual experience.

Eisai's disciple Dogen (
1200
–
1253
) is most famous as the patriarch of the Soto sect of Zen Buddhism in Japan, but he also shared his teacher's fervor for tea. He, too, studied in China, and when he returned to Japan in
1227
, he brought with him many utensils used for the preparation and serving of tea in China.

During this period, tea was only enjoyed by monks, members of the court, warriors, and high-ranking families. Within the monasteries, taking tea together became an important daily ritual. Tea was served at the first gathering of the monks in the morning. Soon, monks ritualized this gathering by introducing rules for preparing and serving tea, a tradition that eventually became known as
sarei
, the etiquette of making tea. Thus, another step was taken toward the development of the formal tea ceremony, as monks in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries gathered each morning to ceremoniously begin their day with a bowl of whipped green tea.

Although the early years of fourteenth-century Japan were full of political and social upheaval, it was a time of rich cultural expression, and one during which the country continued to develop a national identity. Japanese artists cultivated unique styles in poetry, theater, garden design, ink paintings, and floral designs—and the preparation and serving of tea flourished as well.

The popularity of tea continued to rise during this time for two different reasons. The first was that it was still such an important and valued part of monastery life, and the second was that many more people learned about tea, as it was carried from one place to another by travelers.

From the time that Eisai introduced it as an aid to meditation, tea became an essential part of a monk's life. At this time, tea was grown and processed only at the monasteries, and the monks were the first tea masters in Japan. As a result, the association between Zen and tea continued to solidify. As more and more people visited the Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, merchants set up carts and wagons to sell local tea to the travelers. In this way, word of the taste of tea spread quickly throughout the country. When travelers returned to their homes and villages, they spoke of the new beverage from China, and demand for tea began to rise. Tea was soon being grown in places other than the monasteries, and tea gardens were planted in many places throughout Japan. Honyama, in the prefecture of Shizuoka, quickly became the center of the Japanese tea trade, and remains today one of the most important tea-producing regions in Japan.

And so, from its popularity within the religious communities, tea found its way into the hearts, minds, and mouths of people of all classes throughout Japan. The monks took meticulous care in processing and serving the tea, and this same attention to detail quickly came to be important when sharing a bowl of tea, wherever people came together in the countryside or in the villages.

The sharing of tea with friends, even in these early years, was a manifestation of traditional Japanese values, which placed great importance on close family and community ties. Shared tea meant shared friendships as well.

TEA AND THE SAMURAI

The taste for tea continued to spread throughout Japan. The Kamakura era (c.
1192
–
1333
) was called the “Age of Warriors” in Japan, a period when the samurai class ruled. One tale relates that the powerful samurai Minamoto Shogun, born in
1203
, became quite ill from overindulging in food and drink, despite his legendary strength and prowess. Learning of Eisai's skill at healing, he summoned him and asked for his help. Eisai offered not only prayers but tea as well, and Minamoto soon recovered. The samurai was, of course, interested in the remedy and obtained a copy of Eisai's book. After reading it, he quickly became an enthusiastic advocate for the use of tea.

The power and influence of the samurai during this period cannot be overstated, and they contributed significantly to the spread of teahouses, the tea ceremony, and the general popularity of the beverage. When entering a tea-house, the warriors literally put down their swords, leaving them outside as they enjoyed the cultural and peaceful experience of sharing tea.

According to one description of
bushido
, or “the way of the warrior,” the samurai code of honor, “A samurai whose only attribute is strength is not acceptable. He must use his leisure time to practice poetry and understand the tea ceremony.” The experience of serving tea in a precise way took the warrior out of his everyday existence, which placed such emphasis on strength and endurance, and offered him an opportunity for enriching his soul as well.

TOCHA
—
TEA GAMES AND GATHERINGS

Although there were still mystical and spiritual aspects of serving and sharing tea during the mid-fourteenth century in Japan, by this point in history, teahouses had become quite secular and boisterous. The sharing of tea, begun by the Buddhist monks, had lost much of its Zenlike quality.

Outside the monasteries, tea gatherings became more and more festive, and eventually games and contests were included in these assemblies. A popular game was one in which individuals guessed the origin of different teas being served. A true tea connoisseur could guess not only the region from which the tea came, but even the actual farm or garden where it was grown. Tea games and contests were called
tocha
. Prizes for winning competitions included items such as silk, armor, and jewelry. Tocha was also known as
juppuku-cha
, meaning “ten cups of tea,” or
gojuppuku-cha
, “fifty cups of tea,” referring to the many cups of tea drunk by participants.

There are many myths and legends about the excesses of the tea gatherings of this day. Some stories say that up to one hundred cups per person were served at events that sometimes lasted from morning well into the night. Probably only one actual cup or bowl was used, and this was passed from one person to the next. Many of these gatherings included not only the serving of tea, but also alcohol; they could be wild and rowdy affairs, with gambling, poetry reading, music, and even bathing.

One of the more colorful figures of the time was Sasaki Doyo (
1295
–
1373
), a
daimyo
(literally, “great name”), a powerful feudal ruler. Sasaki led a rich and ostentatious lifestyle that included frequent tocha gatherings, and he became famous for them. He even developed an incense contest, similar to tocha, called
toko
, in which participants tried to guess the origin of hundreds of different incense fragrances.

Tocha often took place in a room called a
kissa-no-tei
, usually an upstairs room of an establishment. The host was called
teishu
, a term still used today to refer to the host of a tea gathering or tea ceremony.

The Ashikaga shoguns, who ruled between
1336
and
1572
, practiced
shoin
, an elaborate and ostentatious serving of tea, done with great ceremony and deliberation in vast halls. The utensils developed to prepare and serve tea at shoin became almost as important as the tea itself.

The cultural aspects of these elaborate parties, all of which revolved around the serving of tea, were explored in Herbert Plutschow's essay “An Anthropological Perspective on the Japanese Tea Ceremony” (
1999
). Plutschow suggests that political and military leaders used these elaborate tea ceremonies not only to impress people with their wealth and power, but also as a “reaffirmation of social and political order.” Guests, for example, were seated according to a strict hierarchy and served tea in order of their rank.