Courteousness and Cha-do

If you hear the word Cha-do, you might immediately think the troublesome manner you have to follow, and troubles you have to go through such as folding your legs and sit straight for a long time during the ceremony. However, Cha-do is not all about following the orders and rules. Most important thing is to act gracefully with utmost consideration to other and create the peaceful and quiet atmosphere around you. By creating this kind of atmosphere, people can comfortably and peacefully share the time and a bowl of tea. Soon after the custom of drinking macha was introduced to Japan, Japanese Cha-do was formed based on the tea ceremony from the Song dynasty of China. This ceremonial style of drinking tea was introduced in "Zenenshingi" of the Song dynasty. Later this style of Tea was also introduced in the book "Eiheishingi",a kind of text book which tells the manner of everyday life as priests in Japan. This way of Tea was carried down by the Zen priests for a long time. From the Muromach era to Nambokucyo era, tea ceremonies were held at the Kaisho where usually decorated with luxury Chinese arts. In the 15th century, Wabicha(simple and quiet) style of tea was found by Syukou Murata, and then carried down to Jyo-o Takeno who greatly contributed for developing Wabicha. In the 16th century, Wabicha was perfected by Sen Rikyu, the most famous tea master in history of Japan. Japanese tea ceremony today was based on Wabicha which was perfected by Sen Rikyu, and carried down till today. The practice of tea ceremony is not only about the rules. It tells how we should act among the people in real life. Learning tea ceremony and the way of Tea help us to make social life smooth. That's one of the reason that tea ceremony has been practiced by so many people in Japan. Learning tea ceremony is leaning the Art of Living.

(Nobuyoshi Mochizuki)