The Japanese Way of Tea: From Its Origins in China to Sen Rikyu - Softcover

Sen, Soshitsu; XV, Sen Soshitsu

Softcover

ISBN 10: 082481990X ISBN 13: 9780824819903

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press, 1998

Synopsis

Almost a millennium before the perfection of chado (the Way of Tea) by Sen Rikyu (1522-1591), the Chinese scholar-official Lu Yu (d. 785) wrote exhaustively about tea and its virtues. Grand Tea Master Sen Soshitsu begins his examination of tea's origins and development from the eighth century through the Heian and medieval eras. This volume illustrates that modes of thinking and practices now associated with the Japanese Way of Tea can be traced to China―where from the classical period tea was imbued with a spiritual quality.

About this title

Product Description

In this text based on research into primary historical records, the author tells his story both as a historian and practitioner of ""chanoyu"".

Review

Fills a major gap in the study of tea in English. No other book-length study exists on the origins and development of tea drinking in China and Japan.... [T]he book offers occasional insights into the practice of tea that are true gems, obvious products of a tea master and scholar.-- "Monumenta Nipponica"

Convey[s] eloquently a well-researched history of the tradition, and model[s] the praxis of the tradition in its contemporary form.-- "Pacific Affairs"

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 082481990X
• ISBN 13: 9780824819903
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256