Lydia Mooyman

Chinese Tea Ceremony

* The tea ceremony, originated in China and l Japan, focuses on the actual  experience of
the tea–-preparing the leaves and the water, brewing, and enjoying the aroma as well as the flavor of different teas.  The Chinese ceremony is more laid
back, focusing on the tea rather than the formality of
presenting the tea, as in the Japanese tea ceremony.  

* The beverage became not only an enjoyable way to
spend an afternoon (as tea houses became popular in
the Song Dynasty) but also had appeals to promoting
health, achieving heightened alertness (for scholars,
etc.) and when ritually prepared, was viewed as a
method to achieving communication with deities.

* Descriptions of the first tea ceremonies can be
found in the Manual of Zhou Dynasty Rituals, thought
to have been compiled during the Han dynasty (206 BCE-
220 AD) The manual mentions ceremonies where court
officials presided over religious rituals and
offerings, involving the presentation and consumption
of tea to deities and ancestors.

* Tea and the tea ceremony, eventually used by all
levels of society and classes, can even be found in
modern times, as many contemporary couples choose to
incorporate the traditional tea ceremony as a part of
their wedding festivities.  The bride, as a sign of
respect (and in imperial times, as sign of obedience)
serves her new in-laws.  Red dates and lotus seeds are
also sometimes added, as it is believed these
additions will help the couple produce many children
and represent a sweet relationship between a bride and
her new in-laws.  

* The ceremony utilizes different types of teas
(green, black, scented, etc), water temperatures and
brewing utensils, and tea as an art form incorporates
many aspects of knowing which tea has the best flavor
(at which time of harvest and in which form it’s
preserved) specifications for water temperature, tea
strength and the duration of steeping–-all unique to
different types of tea.

* Fashion has also played an influential part in how
people drank their tea and in what type of vessel.
Earthenware teapots were preferred and used for many
years by successive generations.  These pots absorbed
impurities from the water, as they were made of porous
red clay and accented the taste of tea, rather than
added additional flavors.  By the late 16th century,
tea and tea accessories were important luxuries,
showing wealth and status and tea pots and tea
accessories could be found in various colors and
precious materials.

* Utensils include tea pots (clay earthenware and
later, different lacquered colors), sniffing cups
(tall, tiny cups to allow for full aroma experience)
and a smaller, squat drinking cup, large enough for
two small swallows.  Teas used in tea ceremonies are
used purely for tea drinking, they are not intended to
be enjoyed with foods; it is a full experience of the
senses just to drink the tea itself.