Tea ceremony

A tea ceremony is a ritualized form of making tea practiced in Asian culture by the Chinese, Japanese,Indian, Taiwanese, and Vietnamese. The tea ceremony, literally translated as "way of tea" in Japanese, and "art of tea" in Chinese , is a cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of tea. The Japanese tea ceremony is better known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea culture during ancient and medieval times, starting in the 9th century when tea was first introduced to Japan from China. The Vietnamese tea ceremony, also influenced by its Chinese counterpart, is only performed during weddings and other religious rituals. 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 "an adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday life", as well as refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint and simplicity "as all arts that partake the extraordinary, an artistic artificiality, abstractness, symbolism and formalism" to one degree or another.

Green tea

Green tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves that have undergone minimal oxidation during processing. Green tea originated in China, but its production has spread to many countries in Asia.

Several varieties of green tea exist, which differ substantially due to growing conditions, horticulture, production processing, and time of harvest.

History

Tea consumption has its legendary origins in China dating back to more than 4,000 years ago, making it the oldest herbal tea known. According to legend, green tea was first brewed in 2737 BC during the reign of Emperor Shennong.

A book written by Lu Yu in 600-900 AD (Tang Dynasty), "Tea Classic" (simplified Chinese: 茶经; traditional Chinese: 茶經; pinyin: chájīng), is considered important in green tea history. The Kissa Yojoki (喫茶養生記 Book of Tea), written by Zen priest Eisai in 1191, describes how drinking green tea may affect five vital organs, the shapes of tea plants, flowers and leaves, and how to grow and process tea leaves.

Brewing and serving

Japanese tea ceremony

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha (抹茶), powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called chanoyu (茶の湯) or sadō, chadō (茶道). The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called (o)temae ([お]手前; [お]点前).Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony. Much less commonly, Japanese tea ceremony uses leaf tea, primarily sencha, in which case it is known in Japanese as senchadō (煎茶道, the way of sencha) as opposed to chanoyu or chadō; see sencha tea ceremony, below.

Tea gatherings are classified as an informal tea gathering chakai (茶会, tea gathering) and a formal tea gathering chaji (茶事, tea event). A chakai is a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes confections, thin tea, and perhaps a light meal. A chaji is a much more formal gathering, usually including a full-course kaiseki meal followed by confections, thick tea, and thin tea. A chaji can last up to four hours.

Ceremony

A ceremony (UK /ˈsɛrɪməni/, US /ˈsɛrəˌmoʊni/) is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin caerimonia.

Ceremonial occasions

A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:

Celebration of events

Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events such as:

Other ceremonies underscore the importance of non-regular special occasions, such as:

In some Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important social role, for example the tea ceremony.