The Book of Tea
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The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many times.
It is an introduction to the concept of Teaism and how Tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life. It is an excellent opportunity for any Western student of Eastern Thought to get a good feel for [one part of] the East, as Kakuzo was born and raised Japanese but was trained from a young age to speak English; he would speak it all his life, and become extremely proficient at communicating his thoughts in the Western Mind. In his book he elucidates such topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of Tea and Japanese life. He goes to great lengths to show how Teaism, as he liked to call it, taught the Japanese many things, most importantly simplicity. He argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, for he was long a student of the visual arts. He ends the book with a chapter on the Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyu and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony and Teaism.
[edit] External links
- The Book of Tea, available freely at Project Gutenberg
