A tea ceremony is a ritualised form of making tea. The term generally refers to either chayi Chinese tea ceremony, chado Japanese tea ceremony, tarye Korean tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is more well known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times. One can also refer to the whole set of rituals, tools, gestures, etc. used in such ceremonies as tea culture. All of these tea ceremonies and rituals contain "artificiality, abstractness, symbolism and formalism" to one degree or another.[1]
These rituals can be found worldwide, although are centred on Asia and Europe, including the Victorian-era 'high tea' or afternoon tea ritual, where the ritual of being seen to have the right equipment, manners, and social circle, was just as important as the drink itself.[2][3]
At a very basic level, tea ceremonies are a formalized way of making a hot drink, in a process which has been refined to yield the best taste. The Royal Society of Chemistry's Dr. Andrew Stapley has written about the chemistry behind brewing tea,[4] and some traditional ceremonies using leaf tea appear to closely mimic his suggested method, including the idea of synchronizing ones' actions with the temperature of the water.
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While it is impossible to put tea culture in such defined boxed terms, below are the major associated terms. Tea Ceremony Styles:
Specific examples of the tea ceremony include:
When tea is more than a drink and the tea ceremony is understood and practiced to foster harmony in humanity, promote harmony with nature, discipline the mind, quiet the heart, and attain the purity of enlightenment, the art of tea becomes teaism. The term "chadao" has two words, the word is tea and the second is Chinese loanword tao/dao/道, native suffix -ism(also Japanese: 主義), the term can be written as teaism. And it can be used to describe tea ceremony as the interests in tea culture and studies and pursued over time with self-cultivation.[5] Teaism is mostly a simplistic mode of aesthetics, but there are subtle insights into ethics, and even metaphysics. Teaism is related to teamind. A sense of focus and concentration while under the influence of great tasting tea. Teaist is a person who performs or enjoys the art of tea and teaism. In Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures, they all have well developed teaism.
Tea lore includes history, art, culture, and ceremony.[6] Tea lore can be compared to and has some of the same qualities as music, art, or literature. Tea is also an intricate part of Calligraphy, Floral Arts, Incense Arts, and Scroll Arrangement. These are five Classical Chinese Arts. In another sense it is the facts and traditions of tea and tea ceremony, and the accumulation over time through experience. Lore, all the facts and traditions about a particular subject that have been accumulated over time through education or experience. Tea lore can also be described as to include not only the acquired knowledge or traditional beliefs, but the myths that also revolve around the subject of tea.