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I am reminded of the late Heidegger's philosophy (and indeed Heidegger read 'The Book of Tea), particularly in essays such as 'The Thing' which point out the significance of our everyday objects and their intimate relationship to world and culture. There are brilliant moments of insight in this small and curious book, with many true assessments of the West's shifting perceptions of Eastern civilization. This book is truly a small treasure of Eastern thought. Okakura' small distillation of 'Teaism' is really a survey of Eastern philosophy. He points to Zen and Taoism as the foundational ways of thinking that anchor this idea called Teaism.
He explains the background of the tea ceremony and the Zen influence. At its best this book provides an interesting look at tea. All the facts are corrected in a brilliant afterward by E. From the walk down the path, to the washing of utensils, to putting it all together and consuming tea this reflects how a Zen monk will break from the world, as he enters the tea house, and begins meditation.If you have any interest in Japanese culture or just like a good hot cup of tea, this can be an entertaining book.
It is this simple refined use of space that the interior of the tea house is to be best appreciated and enjoyed. He also shows how the tea house is a way to experience Zen. It starts with certain objects placed inside the tea house such as flowers and maybe one painting or poem. It explains a lot of how the Japanese view the tea house experience.
Bleiler. I like the chapter on the Tea House. On the downside, Okakura Kakuzo, gets several of his facts wrong by not proofreading. It is interesting of how he first talks about Taoism and its relationship to Zen, which I knew about but haven't really read anything on it.
This is to show his Japanese uniqueness and it borders on nihonjinron.However, Okakura does make a clear connection between the consumption of tea and aesthetics. F. Also, Okakura, has several comparisons to the West and how Japan is different.
Recommended to anyone who celebrates tea as something so much more than a beverage. A fascinating look at the cultural significance and spiritual--and sometimes political--influence of tea on Japanese culture. Short and easy to read.
The author writes this book in a negative stance towards the west, which I believe will close a lot of western reader's minds. It gives you a first hand account of how tea has an affect on Japanese culture. You have to make sure to keep an open mind when reading this book and take from it what you can. I purchased and read this book for a Japanese culture class in college. The book discusses various aspects of tea, ranging from its history to its preparation.
THE BOOK OF TEA was written to banish the soot-stained chrysanthemums of Okakura's deepest nightmares. Okakura calls it "Teaism," a play on Taoism, and its purpose is to delight the senses, touch the heart, and place the participant fully in the present moment.Shambhala Publications has presented THE BOOK OF TEA in a fine paperbound edition, the colors, typeset, and dimensions of which please the mind. Kakuzo Okakura (1862-1919) was born in a Japan that had seen Commodore Perry but had not yet renounced the Shogunate. The scion of Japanese aristocracy, Okakura chose to spend the latter half of his life as an expatriate living in Boston, Massachusetts, where he befriended the Brahmins of that city. Every element, from the atmosphere of the tearoom (called in Japanese "The Abode of Fancy," a world unto itself), the selection of the flowers, the artwork, the bamboo tea implements, the bright, sharp jade green macha tea, and the specially made jangling teapot and ceramic cups, speaks to an aesthetic foreign to the West. Reading THE BOOK OF TEA, one realizes that Okakura was not "selling" Japan to the West. Rather, THE BOOK OF TEA is his paean to and his lament for a Japan of the virtues that was all-too-rapidly being consumed by Occidentally-intoxicated militarists and industrialists.
In its simplicity and its elegance, the Tea Ceremony is a form of Zen practice. This reviewer can honestly say that THE BOOK OF TEA provided him with comprehension, a deeper insight, and a first true appreciation for Japanese art forms, so different than the European.
Written for an American audience, it eloquently introduced the Boston bluebloods to an idealized vision of Japan, the Japan of cherry blossoms, kakemono, and Chanoyu, the Tea Ceremony. Yes, a manual on the highly stylized Chanoyu has its place, but it's place is nowhere without this book which penetrates to the heart and soul of the ceremony.
By the end of his life he had seen the Great War and Japan's first imperialistic military adventures in Korea and Manchuria that would culminate in the tragedy of the Second World War. Although this reviewer came to THE BOOK OF TEA expecting a manual on the Tea Ceremony, this book is nowhere so vulgar as that.
Shambhala has also provided color photographs, in truth forms of abstract art, of the tea implements in use, that add a visual dimension to this already fine book. THE BOOK OF TEA was written in this period, sometime in the nineteen-oh-ohs.
THE BOOK OF TEA does not engage in any lacquer-box hucksterism.
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