Elements of Tea

Elements of Tea

 

Chanoyu (the Tea Ceremony) is a multifaceted art form developed in Japan over 800 years, an expression of hospitality, a school of movement and manners, and a compendium of the Japanese arts – garden architecture, carpentry and woodworking, painting and calligraphy, flower arrangement of a certain kind, pottery, cultivation and preparation of powered tea, Tea sweets, seasonal procedures and much more.

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The Hammond Tea Club, the Ryusuikai, will present digital programs on the fourth Tuesday of the month examining the individual elements of Chanoyu to understand how they contribute to the ceremony, then in the spring of 2022, we will gather in the Hammond garden to bring the elements together in the celebration of an actual chanoyu.

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Episode 1:

WAGASHI will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, February 22, at 7:00 pm

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WAGASHI – Seasonal Sensibilities

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Our February Elements of Tea will focus on wagashi, the art of Japanese tea sweets, where the heart of Japanese art is observed in the relationship of culinary and aesthetic considerations.  

The program explores seasonal tea sweets, paired with images of Japanese art, highlighting the distinctive place that wagashi occupies in Japanese cultural contexts as well as in the enduring practice of Japanese tea ceremony. 

We are honored to have Marybeth Welch, licensed instructor of Urasenke Tea and seasoned artist of wagashi traditions, as our guest speaker, leading this presentation and conversation. 

 

ONLINE, free with registration, link will be sent one hour before program start time.

 

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Japanese Tea Ceremony 

The Japanese Tea Ceremony, or Chanoyu, originated in 16th century Japan.  This was a period of intense creative turmoil as trade opened up Japan to new ideas from China, Korea and India.

 

Chanoyu developed from the highlight of Chinese culture during the Sung Dynasty,  serving a refined powdered green tea called matcha . This was the time when Zen was also introduced to Japan as its distillation of Chan Buddhism. It was Sen Rikyu who perfected Chanoyu in the late 16th century as the special art form of Japan as it is known today.

 

The basic idea of Chanoyu is to invite guests and enjoy a get-together for tea.  The garden is beautifully trimmed and swept. The tea room is simple, yet artistically decorated.  Burning incense adds fragrance to the flowers which are beautifully arranged.  

 

Here you can enjoy the quiet atmosphere to share friendships. Forgetting the harshness of life outside, one can enjoy the refreshing aroma  and flavor of powdered green tea.