P7+Chado

//__P7 Chado - The Practice Of Tea__// //__By Kathryn D. and Justin T.__//

__Introduction__ Chado is the practice of tea. The Japanese drank tea for many reasons that reflect their culture. The tea ceremony is where many people gather to drink tea. The tea house is a small simple building where the tea ceremony takes place. There is a lot of equipment involved in the tea ceremony. Tea merchant provides the tea for the tea ceremony. Have you ever wondered why the Japanese drank tea?

__The Purpose of Drinking Tea__ The tea ceremony is a form of meditation. There are many reasons the Japanese drank tea. One of the many purposes of drinking tea is to refresh the body and the spirit while living in the moment, also to become one with the world. Tea is usually drank to show relief from every day care, such as work and children. The tea ceremony enables Japanese to leave thoughts of the battle field behind. The practice of tea builds self-confidence and self-discipline. Both of these traits are needed to be a samurai. There are two traits that the practice of tea helps oneself possess. These traits are harmony and purity. Harmony is an agreement with both other people and with nature. The tea ceremony brings one’s self in harmony with nature. Purity is when you clean yourself though the five senses, to hear, to feel, to taste, to see, and to smell. The sense of hearing is when hear the sound of water, the sense of sight is when you see the flowers, sense of touch when touch the utensils, sense of smell is when you smell the scent of the flowers, and the sense of taste is when you are drinking tea. Also tea is drank to enable people to stay alert while the meditating. The Japanese drank tea during the tea ceremony.

__The Tea Ceremony__ A Tea Ceremony is a celebration of tea often held on holidays or days of importance. Many people come to these ceremonies, even Samurai. Samurai came for pretty much the same reason as everybody else, to show relief from every day cares. They also came because if you went to these ceremonies, you are considered exquisite and you had good taste. This made tea very highly valued by the Samurai. Although called a Tea Ceremony, tea isn't the only thing served. Rice, Cakes, and more is served at the tea ceremony as well as tea. When attending these ceremonies, people usually left anything that showed their political or social status at home. This is because it is believed that at Tea Ceremonies, everybody is equal. So at Tea Ceremonies, merchants are treated the same way as Samurai, Peasant Farmers are treated the same as Artisans, and everybody is equal. Tea Ceremonies are usually held in a Chashitsu, a Japanese Teahouse.

__The Tea House__ A Chashitsu is a small building made out of wood and decorated with many different colors and styles. These buildings are about the size of a big shack which is small. Large ones only had a few rooms. But the reason they are probably so small is because they are completely dedicated to tea. Chashitsu’s are used for drinking tea and tea only. They are built just so there would be a place to drink tea and have these wonderful tea ceremonies. These teahouses are usually located in the middle of beautiful gardens, and although simple on the outside, very decorative on the inside. On the insides of the walls, there are shojis, a Tokonoma alcove, and the walls are decorated with many different designs, colors, and styles.

__The Equipment__ There is a lot of equipment used in the tea ceremony. All of the equipment is called chawide. The chawide comes in many different styles and themes that are used in different seasons. Rice, cake, and tea are served at the tea ceremony. Each guest is required to bring a napkin, a paper handkerchief, a fan, toothpicks, and a towel. The paper handkerchief is used to handle their clogs, or Japanese shoes. The tooth pick is used for picking up pieces of cake. The towel is used for bringing home leftover cake. The materials needed to make tea are fire wood, hot water, the metal tea kettle, hearth, and the clay tea bowl. The clay bowl represents the earth. Most bowls are named by their creator, tea master, or owner. Chanoyu is hot water used for tea. Also the tea caddy is used in a tea ceremony. The tea caddy is a small lidded container in which the powdered tea is placed inside. The tea scoop is used to scoop tea from the tea caddy into the tea bowl. The tea whisk is used to mix the powdered tea with the hot water. All of the tools for the tea ceremony are handled with lots of care. They are cleaned before and after each use and before storing, some of the equipment is only handled with gloves. The chakin is a small rectangular white linen or hemp cloth mainly used to wipe the tea bowl. The tea merchants supplied many of these supplies needed to make tea.

__Tea Merchants__ People who sold to tea to others are called tea merchants. Merchants are the very lowest on the social status because of one reason They didn’t produce anything. They made all of their money off of selling other people’s stuff, the stuff that those people produced. Other people like peasant farmers or artisans made money by actually producing things. For farmers, they mostly produced rice, artisans made their own art, and Samurai make money protecting the citizens. This put the merchants in dead last socially. Because they are low socially, they are not treated very well in general. They are treated with very little respect. Tea Merchants have many different teas, some very good, other very bad. Lots of tea merchants are very because tea is so highly valued in Ancient Japan. Many people would pay lots of their money to have even a little bit of tea.

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__Citations:__


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