{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_769/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_769","id":"gutenberg_769","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/769","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Art","Category: History - Other","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Japan -- Social life and customs","Japanese tea ceremony","Tea"],"text":"Produced by Matthew and Gabrielle Harbowy\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF TEA\n\nBy Kakuzo Okakura\n\n\n\n\nI. The Cup of Humanity\n\n\nTea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the\neighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite\namusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion\nof aestheticism--Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration\nof the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It\ninculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the\nromanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the\nImperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in\nthis impossible thing we know as life.\n\nThe Philosophy of Tea is not mere aestheticism in the ordinary\nacceptance of the term, for it expresses conjointly with ethics and\nreligion our whole point of view about man and nature. It is hygiene,\nfor it enforces cleanliness; it is economics, for it shows comfort in\nsimplicity rather than in the complex and costly; it is moral geometry,\ninasmuch as it defines our sense of proportion to the universe. It\nrepresents the true spirit of Eastern democracy by making all its\nvotaries aristocrats in taste.\n\nThe long isolation of Japan from the rest of the world, so conducive to\nintrospection, has been highly favourable to the development of\nTeaism. Our home and habits, costume and cuisine, porcelain, lacquer,\npainting--our very literature--all have been subject to its influence.\nNo student of Japanese culture could ever ignore its presence. It has\npermeated the elegance of noble boudoirs, and entered the abode of\nthe humble. Our peasants have learned to arrange flowers, our meanest\nlabourer to offer his salutation to the rocks and waters. In our\ncommon parlance we speak of the man \"with no tea\" in him, when he is\ninsusceptible to the serio-comic interests of the personal drama.\nAgain we stigmatise the untamed aesthete who, regardless of the mundane\ntragedy, runs riot in the springtide of emancipated emotions, as one\n\"with too much tea\" in him.\n\nThe outsider may indeed wonder at this seeming much ado about nothing.\nWhat a tempest in a tea-cup! he will say. But when we consider how small\nafter all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears,\nhow easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity,\nwe shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup. Mankind\nhas done worse. In the worship of Bacchus, we have sacrificed too\nfreely; and we have even transfigured the gory image of Mars. Why not\nconsecrate ourselves to the queen of the Camelias, and revel in the warm\nstream of sympathy that flows from her altar? In the liquid amber within\nthe ivory-porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of\nConfucius, the piquancy of Laotse, and the ethereal aroma of Sakyamuni\nhimself.\n\nThose who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are\napt to overlook the greatness of little things in others. The average\nWesterner, in his sleek complacency, will see in the tea ceremony but\nanother instance of the thousand and one oddities which constitute the\nquaintness and childishness of the East to him. He was wont to regard\nJapan as barbarous while she indulged in the gentle arts of peace: he\ncalls her civilised since she began to commit wholesale slaughter on\nManchurian battlefields. Much comment has been given lately to the Code\nof the Samurai,--the Art of Death which makes our soldiers exult in\nself-sacrifice; but scarcely any attention has been drawn to Teaism,\nwhich represents so much of our Art of Life. Fain would we remain\nbarbarians, if our claim to civilisation were to be based on the\ngruesome glory of war. Fain would we await the time when due respect\nshall be paid to our art and ideals.\n\nWhen will the West understand, or try to understand, the East? We\nAsiatics are often appalled by the curious web of facts and fancies\nwhich has been woven concerning us. We are pictured as living on the\nperfume of the lotus, if not on mice and cockroaches. It is either\nimpotent fanaticism or else abject voluptuousness. Indian spirituality\nhas been derided as ignorance, Chinese sobriety as stupidity, Japanese\npatriotism as the result of fatalism. It has been said that we are less\nsensible to pain and wounds on account of the callousness of our nervous\norganisation!\n\nWhy not amuse yourselves at our expense? Asia returns the compliment.\nThere would be further food for merriment if you were to know all\nthat we have imagined and written about you. All the glamour of the\nperspective is there, all the unconscious homage of wonder, all the\nsilent resentment of the new and undefined. You have been loaded with\nvirtues too refined to be envied, and accused of crimes too\npicturesque to be condemned. Our writers in the past--the wise men who\nknew--informed us that you had bushy tails somewhere hidden in your\ngarments, and often dined off a fricassee of newborn babes! Nay, we had\nsomething worse against you: we used to think you the most impracticable\npeople on the earth, for you were said to preach what you never\npracticed.\n\nSuch misconceptions are fast vanishing amongst us. Commerce has forced\nthe European tongues on many an Eastern port. Asiatic youths are\nflocking to Western colleges for the equipment of modern education.\nOur insight does not penetrate your culture deeply, but at least we are\nwilling to learn. Some of my compatriots have adopted too much of\nyour customs and too much of your etiquette, in the delusion that the\nacquisition of stiff collars and tall silk hats comprised the attainment\nof your civilisation. Pathetic and deplorable as such affectations\nare, they evince our willingness to approach the West on our knees.\nUnfortunately the Western attitude is unfavourable to the understanding\nof the East. The Christian missionary goes to impart, but not to\nreceive. Your information is based on the meagre translations of our\nimmense literature, if not on the unreliable anecdotes of passing\ntravellers. It is rarely that the chivalrous pen of a Lafcadio Hearn\nor that of the author of \"The Web of Indian Life\" enlivens the Oriental\ndarkness with the torch of our own sentiments.\n\nPerhaps I betray my own ignorance of the Tea Cult by being so outspoken.\nIts very spirit of politeness exacts that you say what you are expected\nto say, and no more. But I am not to be a polite Teaist. So much harm\nhas been done already by the mutual misunderstanding of the New World\nand the Old, that one need not apologise for contributing his tithe\nto the furtherance of a better understanding. The beginning of the\ntwentieth century would have been spared the spectacle of sanguinary\nwarfare if Russia had condescended to know Japan better. What dire\nconsequences to humanity lie in the contemptuous ignoring of Eastern\nproblems! European imperialism, which does not disdain to raise the\nabsurd cry of the Yellow Peril, fails to realise that Asia may also\nawaken to the cruel sense of the White Disaster. You may laugh at us for\nhaving \"too much tea,\" but may we not suspect that you of the West have\n\"no tea\" in your constitution?\n\nLet us stop the continents from hurling epigrams at each other, and be\nsadder if not wiser by the mutual gain of half a hemisphere. We have\ndeveloped along different lines, but there is no reason why one should\nnot supplement the other. You have gained expansion at the cost\nof restlessness; we have created a harmony which is weak against\naggression. Will you believe it?--the East is better off in some\nrespects than the West!\n\nStrangely enough humanity has so far met in the tea-cup. It is the only\nAsiatic ceremonial which commands universal esteem. The white man has\nscoffed at our religion and our morals, but has accepted the brown\nbeverage without hesitation. The afternoon tea is now an important\nfunction in Western society. In the delicate clatter of trays and\nsaucers, in the soft rustle of feminine hospitality, in the common\ncatechism about cream and sugar, we know that the Worship of Tea is\nestablished beyond question. The philosophic resignation of the guest\nto the fate awaiting him in the dubious decoction proclaims that in this\nsingle instance the Oriental spirit reigns supreme.\n\nThe earliest record of tea in European writing is said to be found in\nthe statement of an Arabian traveller, that after the year 879 the main\nsources of revenue in Canton were the duties on salt and tea. Marco Polo\nrecords the deposition of a Chinese minister of finance in 1285 for his\narbitrary augmentation of the tea-taxes. It was at the period of the\ngreat discoveries that the European people began to know more about\nthe extreme Orient. At the end of the sixteenth century the Hollanders\nbrought the news that a pleasant drink was made in the East from the\nleaves of a bush. The travellers Giovanni Batista Ramusio (1559), L.\nAlmeida (1576), Maffeno (1588), Tareira (1610), also mentioned tea. In\nthe last-named year ships of the Dutch East India Company brought the\nfirst tea into Europe. It was known in France in 1636, and reached\nRussia in 1638. England welcomed it in 1650 and spoke of it as \"That\nexcellent and by all physicians approved China drink, called by the\nChineans Tcha, and by other nations Tay, alias Tee.\"\n\nLike all good things of the world, the propaganda of Tea met with\nopposition. Heretics like Henry Saville (1678) denounced drinking it as\na filthy custom. Jonas Hanway (Essay on Tea, 1756) said that men seemed\nto lose their stature and comeliness, women their beauty through the\nuse of tea. Its cost at the start (about fifteen or sixteen shillings\na pound) forbade popular consumption, and made it \"regalia for high\ntreatments and entertainments, presents being made thereof to princes\nand grandees.\" Yet in spite of such drawbacks tea-drinking spread with\nmarvelous rapidity. The coffee-houses of London in the early half of the\neighteenth century became, in fact, tea-houses, the resort of wits like\nAddison and Steele, who beguiled themselves over their \"dish of tea.\"\nThe beverage soon became a necessity of life--a taxable matter. We are\nreminded in this connection what an important part it plays in modern\nhistory. Colonial America resigned herself to oppression until human\nendurance gave way before the heavy duties laid on Tea. American\nindependence dates from the throwing of tea-chests into Boston harbour.\n\nThere is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible\nand capable of idealisation. Western humourists were not slow to mingle\nthe fragrance of their thought with its aroma. It has not the arrogance\nof wine, the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence\nof cocoa. Already in 1711, says the Spectator: \"I would therefore in a\nparticular manner recommend these my speculations to all well-regulated\nfamilies that set apart an hour every morning for tea, bread and butter;\nand would earnestly advise them for their good to order this paper to\nbe punctually served up and to be looked upon as a part of the\ntea-equipage.\" Samuel Johnson draws his own portrait as \"a hardened and\nshameless tea drinker, who for twenty years diluted his meals with only\nthe infusion of the fascinating plant; who with tea amused the evening,\nwith tea solaced the midnight, and with tea welcomed the morning.\"\n\nCharles Lamb, a professed devotee, sounded the true note of Teaism when\nhe wrote that the greatest pleasure he knew was to do a good action by\nstealth, and to have it found out by accident. For Teaism is the art of\nconcealing beauty that you may discover it, of suggesting what you dare\nnot reveal. It is the noble secret of laughing at yourself, calmly yet\nthoroughly, and is thus humour itself,--the smile of philosophy. All\ngenuine humourists may in this sense be called tea-philosophers,\nThackeray, for instance, and of course, Shakespeare. The poets of the\nDecadence (when was not the world in decadence?), in their protests\nagainst materialism, have, to a certain extent, also opened the way to\nTeaism. Perhaps nowadays it is our demure contemplation of the Imperfect\nthat the West and the East can meet in mutual consolation.\n\nThe Taoists relate that at the great beginning of the No-Beginning,\nSpirit and Matter met in mortal combat. At last the Yellow Emperor, the\nSun of Heaven, triumphed over Shuhyung, the demon of darkness and earth.\nThe Titan, in his death agony, struck his head against the solar vault\nand shivered the blue dome of jade into fragments. The stars lost their\nnests, the moon wandered aimlessly among the wild chasms of the night.\nIn despair the Yellow Emperor sought far and wide for the repairer of\nthe Heavens. He had not to search in vain. Out of the Eastern sea rose a\nqueen, the divine Niuka, horn-crowned and dragon-tailed, resplendent\nin her armor of fire. She welded the five-coloured rainbow in her magic\ncauldron and rebuilt the Chinese sky. But it is told that Niuka forgot\nto fill two tiny crevices in the blue firmament. Thus began the dualism\nof love--two souls rolling through space and never at rest until they\njoin together to complete the universe. Everyone has to build anew his\nsky of hope and peace.\n\nThe heaven of modern humanity is indeed shattered in the Cyclopean\nstruggle for wealth and power. The world is groping in the shadow of\negotism and vulgarity. Knowledge is bought through a bad conscience,\nbenevolence practiced for the sake of utility. The East and the West,\nlike two dragons tossed in a sea of ferment, in vain strive to\nregain the jewel of life. We need a Niuka again to repair the grand\ndevastation; we await the great Avatar. Meanwhile, let us have a sip of\ntea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are\nbubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle.\nLet us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of\nthings.\n\n\n\n\nII. The Schools of Tea.\n\n\nTea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its\nnoblest qualities. We have good and bad tea, as we have good and bad\npaintings--generally the latter. There is no single recipe for making\nthe perfect tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or a\nSesson. Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its\nspecial affinity with water and heat, its own method of telling a story.\nThe truly beautiful must always be in it. How much do we not suffer\nthrough the constant failure of society to recognise this simple and\nfundamental law of art and life; Lichilai, a Sung poet, has sadly\nremarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the\nspoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine\nart through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through\nincompetent manipulation.\n\nLike Art, Tea has its periods and its schools. Its evolution may be\nroughly divided into three main stages: the Boiled Tea, the Whipped Tea,\nand the Steeped Tea. We moderns belong to the last school. These several\nmethods of appreciating the beverage are indicative of the spirit of the\nage in which they prevailed. For life is an expression, our unconscious\nactions the constant betrayal of our innermost thought. Confucius said\nthat \"man hideth not.\" Perhaps we reveal ourselves too much in small\nthings because we have so little of the great to conceal. The tiny\nincidents of daily routine are as much a commentary of racial ideals as\nthe highest flight of philosophy or poetry. Even as the difference in\nfavorite vintage marks the separate idiosyncrasies of different periods\nand nationalities of Europe, so the Tea-ideals characterise the\nvarious moods of Oriental culture. The Cake-tea which was boiled, the\nPowdered-tea which was whipped, the Leaf-tea which was steeped, mark\nthe distinct emotional impulses of the Tang, the Sung, and the Ming\ndynasties of China. If we were inclined to borrow the much-abused\nterminology of art-classification, we might designate them respectively,\nthe Classic, the Romantic, and the Naturalistic schools of Tea.\n\nThe tea-plant, a native of southern China, was known from very early\ntimes to Chinese botany and medicine. It is alluded to in the classics\nunder the various names of Tou, Tseh, Chung, Kha, and Ming, and\nwas highly prized for possessing the virtues of relieving fatigue,\ndelighting the soul, strengthening the will, and repairing the eyesight.\nIt was not only administered as an internal dose, but often applied\nexternally in form of paste to alleviate rheumatic pains. The Taoists\nclaimed it as an important ingredient of the elixir of immortality. The\nBuddhists used it extensively to prevent drowsiness during their long\nhours of meditation.\n\nBy the fourth and fifth centuries Tea became a favourite beverage among\nthe inhabitants of the Yangtse-Kiang valley. It was about this time that\nmodern ideograph Cha was coined, evidently a corruption of the classic\nTou. The poets of the southern dynasties have left some fragments of\ntheir fervent adoration of the \"froth of the liquid jade.\" Then emperors\nused to bestow some rare preparation of the leaves on their high\nministers as a reward for eminent services. Yet the method of drinking\ntea at this stage was primitive in the extreme. The leaves were steamed,\ncrushed in a mortar, made into a cake, and boiled together with rice,\nginger, salt, orange peel, spices, milk, and sometimes with onions!\nThe custom obtains at the present day among the Thibetans and various\nMongolian tribes, who make a curious syrup of these ingredients. The\nuse of lemon slices by the Russians, who learned to take tea from the\nChinese caravansaries, points to the survival of the ancient method.\n\nIt needed the genius of the Tang dynasty to emancipate Tea from its\ncrude state and lead to its final idealization. With Luwuh in the middle\nof the eighth century we have our first apostle of tea. He was born\nin an age when Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism were seeking mutual\nsynthesis. The pantheistic symbolism of the time was urging one to\nmirror the Universal in the Particular. Luwuh, a poet, saw in the\nTea-service the same harmony and order which reigned through all things.\nIn his celebrated work, the \"Chaking\" (The Holy Scripture of Tea) he\nformulated the Code of Tea. He has since been worshipped as the tutelary\ngod of the Chinese tea merchants.\n\nThe \"Chaking\" consists of three volumes and ten chapters. In the first\nchapter Luwuh treats of the nature of the tea-plant, in the second of\nthe implements for gathering the leaves, in the third of the selection\nof the leaves. According to him the best quality of the leaves must have\n\"creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap\nof a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam\nlike a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like fine earth\nnewly swept by rain.\"\n\nThe fourth chapter is devoted to the enumeration and description of\nthe twenty-four members of the tea-equipage, beginning with the tripod\nbrazier and ending with the bamboo cabinet for containing all these\nutensils. Here we notice Luwuh's predilection for Taoist symbolism. Also\nit is interesting to observe in this connection the influence of tea\non Chinese ceramics. The Celestial porcelain, as is well known, had\nits origin in an attempt to reproduce the exquisite shade of jade,\nresulting, in the Tang dynasty, in the blue glaze of the south, and the\nwhite glaze of the north. Luwuh considered the blue as the ideal colour\nfor the tea-cup, as it lent additional greenness to the beverage,\nwhereas the white made it look pinkish and distasteful. It was because\nhe used cake-tea. Later on, when the tea masters of Sung took to the\npowdered tea, they preferred heavy bowls of blue-black and dark brown.\nThe Mings, with their steeped tea, rejoiced in light ware of white\nporcelain.\n\nIn the fifth chapter Luwuh describes the method of making tea.\nHe eliminates all ingredients except salt. He dwells also on the\nmuch-discussed question of the choice of water and the degree of boiling\nit. According to him, the mountain spring is the best, the river water\nand the spring water come next in the order of excellence. There are\nthree stages of boiling: the first boil is when the little bubbles\nlike the eye of fishes swim on the surface; the second boil is when the\nbubbles are like crystal beads rolling in a fountain; the third boil\nis when the billows surge wildly in the kettle. The Cake-tea is roasted\nbefore the fire until it becomes soft like a baby's arm and is shredded\ninto powder between pieces of fine paper. Salt is put in the first boil,\nthe tea in the second. At the third boil, a dipperful of cold water is\npoured into the kettle to settle the tea and revive the \"youth of the\nwater.\" Then the beverage was poured into cups and drunk. O nectar! The\nfilmy leaflet hung like scaly clouds in a serene sky or floated like\nwaterlilies on emerald streams. It was of such a beverage that Lotung, a\nTang poet, wrote: \"The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second\ncup breaks my loneliness, the third cup searches my barren entrail but\nto find therein some five thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth\ncup raises a slight perspiration,--all the wrong of life passes away\nthrough my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified; the sixth cup calls me\nto the realms of the immortals. The seventh cup--ah, but I could take\nno more! I only feel the breath of cool wind that rises in my sleeves.\nWhere is Horaisan? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and waft away\nthither.\"\n\nThe remaining chapters of the \"Chaking\" treat of the vulgarity of the\nordinary methods of tea-drinking, a historical summary of illustrious\ntea-drinkers, the famous tea plantations of China, the possible\nvariations of the tea-service and illustrations of the tea-utensils. The\nlast is unfortunately lost.\n\nThe appearance of the \"Chaking\" must have created considerable sensation\nat the time. Luwuh was befriended by the Emperor Taisung (763-779), and\nhis fame attracted many followers. Some exquisites were said to have\nbeen able to detect the tea made by Luwuh from that of his disciples.\nOne mandarin has his name immortalised by his failure to appreciate the\ntea of this great master.\n\nIn the Sung dynasty the whipped tea came into fashion and created the\nsecond school of Tea. The leaves were ground to fine powder in a small\nstone mill, and the preparation was whipped in hot water by a delicate\nwhisk made of split bamboo. The new process led to some change in the\ntea-equipage of Luwuh, as well as in the choice of leaves. Salt was\ndiscarded forever. The enthusiasm of the Sung people for tea knew no\nbounds. Epicures vied with each other in discovering new varieties, and\nregular tournaments were held to decide their superiority. The Emperor\nKiasung (1101-1124), who was too great an artist to be a well-behaved\nmonarch, lavished his treasures on the attainment of rare species. He\nhimself wrote a dissertation on the twenty kinds of tea, among which he\nprizes the \"white tea\" as of the rarest and finest quality.\n\nThe tea-ideal of the Sungs differed from the Tangs even as their notion\nof life differed. They sought to actualize what their predecessors tried\nto symbolise. To the Neo-Confucian mind the cosmic law was not reflected\nin the phenomenal world, but the phenomenal world was the cosmic law\nitself. Aeons were but moments--Nirvana always within grasp. The Taoist\nconception that immortality lay in the eternal change permeated all\ntheir modes of thought. It was the process, not the deed, which was\ninteresting. It was the completing, not the completion, which was really\nvital. Man came thus at once face to face with nature. A new meaning\ngrew into the art of life. The tea began to be not a poetical pastime,\nbut one of the methods of self-realisation. Wangyucheng eulogised tea\nas \"flooding his soul like a direct appeal, that its delicate bitterness\nreminded him of the aftertaste of a good counsel.\" Sotumpa wrote of the\nstrength of the immaculate purity in tea which defied corruption as a\ntruly virtuous man. Among the Buddhists, the southern Zen sect, which\nincorporated so much of Taoist doctrines, formulated an elaborate ritual\nof tea. The monks gathered before the image of Bodhi Dharma and\ndrank tea out of a single bowl with the profound formality of a holy\nsacrament. It was this Zen ritual which finally developed into the\nTea-ceremony of Japan in the fifteenth century.\n\nUnfortunately the sudden outburst of the Mongol tribes in the thirteenth\ncentury which resulted in the devastation and conquest of China under\nthe barbaric rule of the Yuen Emperors, destroyed all the fruits of\nSung culture. The native dynasty of the Mings which attempted\nre-nationalisation in the middle of the fifteenth century was harassed\nby internal troubles, and China again fell under the alien rule of the\nManchus in the seventeenth century. Manners and customs changed to leave\nno vestige of the former times. The powdered tea is entirely forgotten.\nWe find a Ming commentator at loss to recall the shape of the tea whisk\nmentioned in one of the Sung classics. Tea is now taken by steeping the\nleaves in hot water in a bowl or cup. The reason why the Western world\nis innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained by the fact\nthat Europe knew it only at the close of the Ming dynasty.\n\nTo the latter-day Chinese tea is a delicious beverage, but not an ideal.\nThe long woes of his country have robbed him of the zest for the meaning\nof life. He has become modern, that is to say, old and disenchanted. He\nhas lost that sublime faith in illusions which constitutes the eternal\nyouth and vigour of the poets and ancients. He is an eclectic and\npolitely accepts the traditions of the universe. He toys with Nature,\nbut does not condescend to conquer or worship her. His Leaf-tea is often\nwonderful with its flower-like aroma, but the romance of the Tang and\nSung ceremonials are not to be found in his cup.\n\nJapan, which followed closely on the footsteps of Chinese civilisation,\nhas known the tea in all its three stages. As early as the year 729 we\nread of the Emperor Shomu giving tea to one hundred monks at his palace\nin Nara. The leaves were probably imported by our ambassadors to the\nTang Court and prepared in the way then in fashion. In 801 the monk\nSaicho brought back some seeds and planted them in Yeisan. Many\ntea-gardens are heard of in succeeding centuries, as well as the delight\nof the aristocracy and priesthood in the beverage. The Sung tea reached\nus in 1191 with the return of Yeisai-zenji, who went there to study\nthe southern Zen school. The new seeds which he carried home were\nsuccessfully planted in three places, one of which, the Uji district\nnear Kioto, bears still the name of producing the best tea in the\nworld. The southern Zen spread with marvelous rapidity, and with it\nthe tea-ritual and the tea-ideal of the Sung. By the fifteenth century,\nunder the patronage of the Shogun, Ashikaga-Voshinasa, the tea\nceremony is fully constituted and made into an independent and secular\nperformance. Since then Teaism is fully established in Japan. The use\nof the steeped tea of the later China is comparatively recent among us,\nbeing only known since the middle of the seventeenth century. It has\nreplaced the powdered tea in ordinary consumption, though the latter\nstill continues to hold its place as the tea of teas.\n\nIt is in the Japanese tea ceremony that we see the culmination of\ntea-ideals. Our successful resistance of the Mongol invasion in 1281\nhad enabled us to carry on the Sung movement so disastrously cut off in\nChina itself through the nomadic inroad. Tea with us became more than\nan idealisation of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of\nlife. The beverage grew to be an excuse for the worship of purity and\nrefinement, a sacred function at which the host and guest joined to\nproduce for that occasion the utmost beatitude of the mundane. The\ntea-room was an oasis in the dreary waste of existence where\nweary travellers could meet to drink from the common spring of\nart-appreciation. The ceremony was an improvised drama whose plot was\nwoven about the tea, the flowers, and the paintings. Not a colour to\ndisturb the tone of the room, not a sound to mar the rhythm of things,\nnot a gesture to obtrude on the harmony, not a word to break the\nunity of the surroundings, all movements to be performed simply and\nnaturally--such were the aims of the tea-ceremony. And strangely enough\nit was often successful. A subtle philosophy lay behind it all. Teaism\nwas Taoism in disguise.\n\n\n\n\nIII. Taoism and Zennism\n\n\nThe connection of Zennism with tea is proverbial. We have already\nremarked that the tea-ceremony was a development of the Zen ritual. The\nname of Laotse, the founder of Taoism, is also intimately associated\nwith the history of tea. It is written in the Chinese school manual\nconcerning the origin of habits and customs that the ceremony of\noffering tea to a guest began with Kwanyin, a well-known disciple of\nLaotse, who first at the gate of the Han Pass presented to the \"Old\nPhilosopher\" a cup of the golden elixir. We shall not stop to discuss\nthe authenticity of such tales, which are valuable, however, as\nconfirming the early use of the beverage by the Taoists. Our interest\nin Taoism and Zennism here lies mainly in those ideas regarding life and\nart which are so embodied in what we call Teaism.\n\nIt is to be regretted that as yet there appears to be no adequate\npresentation of the Taoists and Zen doctrines in any foreign language,\nthough we have had several laudable attempts.\n\nTranslation is always a treason, and as a Ming author observes, can at\nits best be only the reverse side of a brocade,--all the threads are\nthere, but not the subtlety of colour or design. But, after all, what\ngreat doctrine is there which is easy to expound? The ancient sages\nnever put their teachings in systematic form. They spoke in paradoxes,\nfor they were afraid of uttering half-truths. They began by talking like\nfools and ended by making their hearers wise. Laotse himself, with his\nquaint humour, says, \"If people of inferior intelligence hear of the\nTao, they laugh immensely. It would not be the Tao unless they laughed\nat it.\"\n\nThe Tao literally means a Path. It has been severally translated as\nthe Way, the Absolute, the Law, Nature, Supreme Reason, the Mode. These\nrenderings are not incorrect, for the use of the term by the Taoists\ndiffers according to the subject-matter of the inquiry. Laotse himself\nspoke of it thus: \"There is a thing which is all-containing, which was\nborn before the existence of Heaven and Earth. How silent! How solitary!\nIt stands alone and changes not. It revolves without danger to itself\nand is the mother of the universe. I do not know its name and so call\nit the Path. With reluctance I call it the Infinite. Infinity is\nthe Fleeting, the Fleeting is the Vanishing, the Vanishing is the\nReverting.\" The Tao is in the Passage rather than the Path. It is the\nspirit of Cosmic Change,--the eternal growth which returns upon itself\nto produce new forms. It recoils upon itself like the dragon, the\nbeloved symbol of the Taoists. It folds and unfolds as do the clouds.\nThe Tao might be spoken of as the Great Transition. Subjectively it is\nthe Mood of the Universe. Its Absolute is the Relative.\n\nIt should be remembered in the first place that Taoism, like its\nlegitimate successor Zennism, represents the individualistic trend of\nthe Southern Chinese mind in contra-distinction to the communism of\nNorthern China which expressed itself in Confucianism. The Middle\nKingdom is as vast as Europe and has a differentiation of idiosyncrasies\nmarked by the two great river systems which traverse it. The\nYangtse-Kiang and Hoang-Ho are respectively the Mediterranean and the\nBaltic. Even to-day, in spite of centuries of unification, the Southern\nCelestial differs in his thoughts and beliefs from his Northern brother\nas a member of the Latin race differs from the Teuton. In ancient\ndays, when communication was even more difficult than at present, and\nespecially during the feudal period, this difference in thought was\nmost pronounced. The art and poetry of the one breathes an atmosphere\nentirely distinct from that of the other. In Laotse and his followers\nand in Kutsugen, the forerunner of the Yangtse-Kiang nature-poets, we\nfind an idealism quite inconsistent with the prosaic ethical notions of\ntheir contemporary northern writers. Laotse lived five centuries before\nthe Christian Era.\n\nThe germ of Taoist speculation may be found long before the advent\nof Laotse, surnamed the Long-Eared. The archaic records of China,\nespecially the Book of Changes, foreshadow his thought. But the great\nrespect paid to the laws and customs of that classic period of Chinese\ncivilisation which culminated with the establishment of the Chow dynasty\nin the sixteenth century B.C., kept the development of individualism\nin check for a long while, so that it was not until after the\ndisintegration of the Chow dynasty and the establishment of innumerable\nindependent kingdoms that it was able to blossom forth in the luxuriance\nof free-thought. Laotse and Soshi (Chuangtse) were both Southerners and\nthe greatest exponents of the New School. On the other hand, Confucius\nwith his numerous disciples aimed at retaining ancestral conventions.\nTaoism cannot be understood without some knowledge of Confucianism and\nvice versa.\n\nWe have said that the Taoist Absolute was the Relative. In ethics the\nTaoist railed at the laws and the moral codes of society, for to\nthem right and wrong were but relative terms. Definition is always\nlimitation--the \"fixed\" and \"unchangeless\" are but terms expressive of\na stoppage of growth. Said Kuzugen,--\"The Sages move the world.\" Our\nstandards of morality are begotten of the past needs of society, but is\nsociety to remain always the same? The observance of communal traditions\ninvolves a constant sacrifice of the individual to the state. Education,\nin order to keep up the mighty delusion, encourages a species of\nignorance. People are not taught to be really virtuous, but to behave\nproperly. We are wicked because we are frightfully self-conscious. We\nnurse a conscience because we are afraid to tell the truth to others;\nwe take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to\nourselves. How can one be serious with the world when the world itself\nis so ridiculous! The spirit of barter is everywhere. Honour and\nChastity! Behold the complacent salesman retailing the Good and True.\nOne can even buy a so-called Religion, which is really but common\nmorality sanctified with flowers and music. Rob the Church of her\naccessories and what remains behind? Yet the trusts thrive marvelously,\nfor the prices are absurdly cheap,--a prayer for a ticket to heaven,\na diploma for an honourable citizenship. Hide yourself under a bushel\nquickly, for if your real usefulness were known to the world you would\nsoon be knocked down to the highest bidder by the public auctioneer. Why\ndo men and women like to advertise themselves so much? Is it not but an\ninstinct derived from the days of slavery?\n\nThe virility of the idea lies not less in its power of breaking through\ncontemporary thought than in its capacity for dominating subsequent\nmovements. Taoism was an active power during the Shin dynasty, that\nepoch of Chinese unification from which we derive the name China. It\nwould be interesting had we time to note its influence on contemporary\nthinkers, the mathematicians, writers on law and war, the mystics and\nalchemists and the later nature-poets of the Yangtse-Kiang. We should\nnot even ignore those speculators on Reality who doubted whether a white\nhorse was real because he was white, or because he was solid, nor the\nConversationalists of the Six dynasties who, like the Zen philosophers,\nrevelled in discussions concerning the Pure and the Abstract. Above all\nwe should pay homage to Taoism for what it has done toward the formation\nof the Celestial character, giving to it a certain capacity for reserve\nand refinement as \"warm as jade.\" Chinese history is full of instances\nin which the votaries of Taoism, princes and hermits alike, followed\nwith varied and interesting results the teachings of their creed. The\ntale will not be without its quota of instruction and amusement. It will\nbe rich in anecdotes, allegories, and aphorisms. We would fain be on\nspeaking terms with the delightful emperor who never died because he had\nnever lived. We may ride the wind with Liehtse and find it absolutely\nquiet because we ourselves are the wind, or dwell in mid-air with the\nAged one of the Hoang-Ho, who lived betwixt Heaven and Earth because\nhe was subject to neither the one nor the other. Even in that grotesque\napology for Taoism which we find in China at the present day, we can\nrevel in a wealth of imagery impossible to find in any other cult.\n\nBut the chief contribution of Taoism to Asiatic life has been in the\nrealm of aesthetics. Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism\nas the \"art of being in the world,\" for it deals with the\npresent--ourselves. It is in us that God meets with Nature, and\nyesterday parts from to-morrow. The Present is the moving Infinity,\nthe legitimate sphere of the Relative. Relativity seeks Adjustment;\nAdjustment is Art. The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to\nour surroundings. Taoism accepts the mundane as it is and, unlike the\nConfucians or the Buddhists, tries to find beauty in our world of woe\nand worry. The Sung allegory of the Three Vinegar Tasters explains\nadmirably the trend of the three doctrines. Sakyamuni, Confucius, and\nLaotse once stood before a jar of vinegar--the emblem of life--and each\ndipped in his finger to taste the brew. The matter-of-fact Confucius\nfound it sour, the Buddha called it bitter, and Laotse pronounced it\nsweet.\n\nThe Taoists claimed that the comedy of life could be made more\ninteresting if everyone would preserve the unities. To keep the\nproportion of things and give place to others without losing one's own\nposition was the secret of success in the mundane drama. We must know\nthe whole play in order to properly act our parts; the conception of\ntotality must never be lost in that of the individual. This Laotse\nillustrates by his favourite metaphor of the Vacuum. He claimed that\nonly in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality of a room, for\ninstance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and\nthe walls, not in the roof and walls themselves. The usefulness of a\nwater pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where water might be put, not in\nthe form of the pitcher or the material of which it was made. Vacuum\nis all potent because all containing. In vacuum alone motion becomes\npossible. One who could make of himself a vacuum into which others might\nfreely enter would become master of all situations. The whole can always\ndominate the part.\n\nThese Taoists' ideas have greatly influenced all our theories of action,\neven to those of fencing and wrestling. Jiu-jitsu, the Japanese art of\nself-defence, owes its name to a passage in the Tao-teking. In\njiu-jitsu one seeks to draw out and exhaust the enemy's strength by\nnon-resistance, vacuum, while conserving one's own strength for victory\nin the final struggle. In art the importance of the same principle is\nillustrated by the value of suggestion. In leaving something unsaid\nthe beholder is given a chance to complete the idea and thus a great\nmasterpiece irresistibly rivets your attention until you seem to become\nactually a part of it. A vacuum is there for you to enter and fill up\nthe full measure of your aesthetic emotion.\n\nHe who had made himself master of the art of living was the Real man\nof the Taoist. At birth he enters the realm of dreams only to awaken\nto reality at death. He tempers his own brightness in order to merge\nhimself into the obscurity of others. He is \"reluctant, as one\nwho crosses a stream in winter; hesitating as one who fears the\nneighbourhood; respectful, like a guest; trembling, like ice that is\nabout to melt; unassuming, like a piece of wood not yet carved; vacant,\nlike a valley; formless, like troubled waters.\" To him the three jewels\nof life were Pity, Economy, and Modesty.\n\nIf now we turn our attention to Zennism we shall find that it emphasises\nthe teachings of Taoism. Zen is a name derived from the Sanscrit word\nDhyana, which signifies meditation. It claims that through consecrated\nmeditation may be attained supreme self-realisation. Meditation is one\nof the six ways through which Buddhahood may be reached, and the Zen\nsectarians affirm that Sakyamuni laid special stress on this method\nin his later teachings, handing down the rules to his chief disciple\nKashiapa. According to their tradition Kashiapa, the first Zen\npatriarch, imparted the secret to Ananda, who in turn passed it on to\nsuccessive patriarchs until it reached Bodhi-Dharma, the twenty-eighth.\nBodhi-Dharma came to Northern China in the early half of the sixth\ncentury and was the first patriarch of Chinese Zen. There is much\nuncertainty about the history of these patriarchs and their doctrines.\nIn its philosophical aspect early Zennism seems to have affinity on one\nhand to the Indian Negativism of Nagarjuna and on the other to the Gnan\nphilosophy formulated by Sancharacharya. The first teaching of Zen as\nwe know it at the present day must be attributed to the sixth Chinese\npatriarch Yeno(637-713), founder of Southern Zen, so-called from the\nfact of its predominance in Southern China. He is closely followed by\nthe great Baso(died 788) who made of Zen a living influence in Celestial\nlife. Hiakujo(719-814) the pupil of Baso, first instituted the Zen\nmonastery and established a ritual and regulations for its government.\nIn the discussions of the Zen school after the time of Baso we find the\nplay of the Yangtse-Kiang mind causing an accession of native modes of\nthought in contrast to the former Indian idealism. Whatever sectarian\npride may assert to the contrary one cannot help being impressed by the\nsimilarity of Southern Zen to the teachings of Laotse and the Taoist\nConversationalists. In the Tao-teking we already find allusions to the\nimportance of self-concentration and the need of properly regulating the\nbreath--essential points in the practice of Zen meditation. Some of\nthe best commentaries on the Book of Laotse have been written by Zen\nscholars.\n\nZennism, like Taoism, is the worship of Relativity. One master defines\nZen as the art of feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can\nbe reached only through the comprehension of opposites. Again, Zennism,\nlike Taoism, is a strong advocate of individualism. Nothing is real\nexcept that which concerns the working of our own minds. Yeno, the sixth\npatriarch, once saw two monks watching the flag of a pagoda fluttering\nin the wind. One said \"It is the wind that moves,\" the other said \"It is\nthe flag that moves\"; but Yeno explained to them that the real movement\nwas neither of the wind nor the flag, but of something within their own\nminds. Hiakujo was walking in the forest with a disciple when a hare\nscurried off at their approach. \"Why does the hare fly from you?\" asked\nHiakujo. \"Because he is afraid of me,\" was the answer. \"No,\" said\nthe master, \"it is because you have murderous instinct.\" The dialogue\nrecalls that of Soshi (Chaungtse), the Taoist. One day Soshi was walking\non the bank of a river with a friend. \"How delightfully the fishes are\nenjoying themselves in the water!\" exclaimed Soshi. His friend spake\nto him thus: \"You are not a fish; how do you know that the fishes are\nenjoying themselves?\" \"You are not myself,\" returned Soshi; \"how do you\nknow that I do not know that the fishes are enjoying themselves?\"\n\nZen was often opposed to the precepts of orthodox Buddhism even as\nTaoism was opposed to Confucianism. To the transcendental insight of\nthe Zen, words were but an incumbrance to thought; the whole sway of\nBuddhist scriptures only commentaries on personal speculation. The\nfollowers of Zen aimed at direct communion with the inner nature of\nthings, regarding their outward accessories only as impediments to a\nclear perception of Truth. It was this love of the Abstract that led\nthe Zen to prefer black and white sketches to the elaborately coloured\npaintings of the classic Buddhist School. Some of the Zen even became\niconoclastic as a result of their endeavor to recognise the Buddha in\nthemselves rather than through images and symbolism. We find Tankawosho\nbreaking up a wooden statue of Buddha on a wintry day to make a fire.\n\"What sacrilege!\" said the horror-stricken bystander. \"I wish to get\nthe Shali out of the ashes,\" calmly rejoined the Zen. \"But you certainly\nwill not get Shali from this image!\" was the angry retort, to which\nTanka replied, \"If I do not, this is certainly not a Buddha and I\nam committing no sacrilege.\" Then he turned to warm himself over the\nkindling fire.\n\nA special contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition of\nthe mundane as of equal importance with the spiritual. It held that\nin the great relation of things there was no distinction of small and\ngreat, an atom possessing equal possibilities with the universe. The\nseeker for perfection must discover in his own life the reflection\nof the inner light. The organisation of the Zen monastery was very\nsignificant of this point of view. To every member, except the abbot,\nwas assigned some special work in the caretaking of the monastery, and\ncuriously enough, to the novices was committed the lighter duties, while\nto the most respected and advanced monks were given the more irksome\nand menial tasks. Such services formed a part of the Zen discipline\nand every least action must be done absolutely perfectly. Thus many a\nweighty discussion ensued while weeding the garden, paring a turnip,\nor serving tea. The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this Zen\nconception of greatness in the smallest incidents of life. Taoism\nfurnished the basis for aesthetic ideals, Zennism made them practical.\n\n\n\n\nIV. The Tea-Room\n\n\nTo European architects brought up on the traditions of stone and brick\nconstruction, our Japanese method of building with wood and bamboo seems\nscarcely worthy to be ranked as architecture. It is but quite recently\nthat a competent student of Western architecture has recognised and paid\ntribute to the remarkable perfection of our great temples. Such being\nthe case as regards our classic architecture, we could hardly expect the\noutsider to appreciate the subtle beauty of the tea-room, its principles\nof construction and decoration being entirely different from those of\nthe West.\n\nThe tea-room (the Sukiya) does not pretend to be other than a mere\ncottage--a straw hut, as we call it. The original ideographs for Sukiya\nmean the Abode of Fancy. Latterly the various tea-masters substituted\nvarious Chinese characters according to their conception of the\ntea-room, and the term Sukiya may signify the Abode of Vacancy or the\nAbode of the Unsymmetrical. It is an Abode of Fancy inasmuch as it is an\nephemeral structure built to house a poetic impulse. It is an Abode of\nVacancy inasmuch as it is devoid of ornamentation except for what may\nbe placed in it to satisfy some aesthetic need of the moment. It is an\nAbode of the Unsymmetrical inasmuch as it is consecrated to the worship\nof the Imperfect, purposely leaving some thing unfinished for the play\nof the imagination to complete. The ideals of Teaism have since the\nsixteenth century influenced our architecture to such degree that the\nordinary Japanese interior of the present day, on account of the extreme\nsimplicity and chasteness of its scheme of decoration, appears to\nforeigners almost barren.\n\nThe first independent tea-room was the creation of Senno-Soyeki,\ncommonly known by his later name of Rikiu, the greatest of all\ntea-masters, who, in the sixteenth century, under the patronage of\nTaiko-Hideyoshi, instituted and brought to a high state of perfection\nthe formalities of the Tea-ceremony. The proportions of the tea-room had\nbeen previously determined by Jowo--a famous tea-master of the fifteenth\ncentury. The early tea-room consisted merely of a portion of the\nordinary drawing-room partitioned off by screens for the purpose of\nthe tea-gathering. The portion partitioned off was called the Kakoi\n(enclosure), a name still applied to those tea-rooms which are built\ninto a house and are not independent constructions. The Sukiya consists\nof the tea-room proper, designed to accommodate not more than five\npersons, a number suggestive of the saying \"more than the Graces and\nless than the Muses,\" an anteroom (midsuya) where the tea utensils are\nwashed and arranged before being brought in, a portico (machiai) in\nwhich the guests wait until they receive the summons to enter the\ntea-room, and a garden path (the roji) which connects the machiai with\nthe tea-room. The tea-room is unimpressive in appearance. It is smaller\nthan the smallest of Japanese houses, while the materials used in its\nconstruction are intended to give the suggestion of refined poverty.\nYet we must remember that all this is the result of profound artistic\nforethought, and that the details have been worked out with care perhaps\neven greater than that expended on the building of the richest palaces\nand temples. A good tea-room is more costly than an ordinary mansion,\nfor the selection of its materials, as well as its workmanship, requires\nimmense care and precision. Indeed, the carpenters employed by the\ntea-masters form a distinct and highly honoured class among artisans,\ntheir work being no less delicate than that of the makers of lacquer\ncabinets.\n\nThe tea-room is not only different from any production of Western\narchitecture, but also contrasts strongly with the classical\narchitecture of Japan itself. Our ancient noble edifices, whether\nsecular or ecclesiastical, were not to be despised even as regards\ntheir mere size. The few that have been spared in the disastrous\nconflagrations of centuries are still capable of aweing us by the\ngrandeur and richness of their decoration. Huge pillars of wood from two\nto three feet in diameter and from thirty to forty feet high, supported,\nby a complicated network of brackets, the enormous beams which groaned\nunder the weight of the tile-covered roofs. The material and mode of\nconstruction, though weak against fire, proved itself strong against\nearthquakes, and was well suited to the climatic conditions of the\ncountry. In the Golden Hall of Horiuji and the Pagoda of Yakushiji, we\nhave noteworthy examples of the durability of our wooden architecture.\nThese buildings have practically stood intact for nearly twelve\ncenturies. The interior of the old temples and palaces was profusely\ndecorated. In the Hoodo temple at Uji, dating from the tenth century, we\ncan still see the elaborate canopy and gilded baldachinos, many-coloured\nand inlaid with mirrors and mother-of-pearl, as well as remains of the\npaintings and sculpture which formerly covered the walls. Later,\nat Nikko and in the Nijo castle in Kyoto, we see structural beauty\nsacrificed to a wealth of ornamentation which in colour and exquisite\ndetail equals the utmost gorgeousness of Arabian or Moorish effort.\n\nThe simplicity and purism of the tea-room resulted from emulation of\nthe Zen monastery. A Zen monastery differs from those of other Buddhist\nsects inasmuch as it is meant only to be a dwelling place for the monks.\nIts chapel is not a place of worship or pilgrimage, but a college\nroom where the students congregate for discussion and the practice\nof meditation. The room is bare except for a central alcove in which,\nbehind the altar, is a statue of Bodhi Dharma, the founder of the sect,\nor of Sakyamuni attended by Kashiapa and Ananda, the two earliest Zen\npatriarchs. On the altar, flowers and incense are offered up in the\nmemory of the great contributions which these sages made to Zen. We\nhave already said that it was the ritual instituted by the Zen monks\nof successively drinking tea out of a bowl before the image of Bodhi\nDharma, which laid the foundations of the tea-ceremony. We might\nadd here that the altar of the Zen chapel was the prototype of the\nTokonoma,--the place of honour in a Japanese room where paintings and\nflowers are placed for the edification of the guests.\n\nAll our great tea-masters were students of Zen and attempted to\nintroduce the spirit of Zennism into the actualities of life. Thus the\nroom, like the other equipments of the tea-ceremony, reflects many of\nthe Zen doctrines. The size of the orthodox tea-room, which is four mats\nand a half, or ten feet square, is determined by a passage in the Sutra\nof Vikramadytia. In that interesting work, Vikramadytia welcomes the\nSaint Manjushiri and eighty-four thousand disciples of Buddha in a room\nof this size,--an allegory based on the theory of the non-existence of\nspace to the truly enlightened. Again the roji, the garden path which\nleads from the machiai to the tea-room, signified the first stage of\nmeditation,--the passage into self-illumination. The roji was intended\nto break connection with the outside world, and produce a fresh\nsensation conducive to the full enjoyment of aestheticism in the\ntea-room itself. One who has trodden this garden path cannot fail to\nremember how his spirit, as he walked in the twilight of evergreens over\nthe regular irregularities of the stepping stones, beneath which lay\ndried pine needles, and passed beside the moss-covered granite lanterns,\nbecame uplifted above ordinary thoughts. One may be in the midst of a\ncity, and yet feel as if he were in the forest far away from the dust\nand din of civilisation. Great was the ingenuity displayed by the\ntea-masters in producing these effects of serenity and purity. The\nnature of the sensations to be aroused in passing through the roji\ndiffered with different tea-masters. Some, like Rikiu, aimed at utter\nloneliness, and claimed the secret of making a roji was contained in the\nancient ditty:\n\n          \"I look beyond;\n          Flowers are not,\n          Nor tinted leaves.\n          On the sea beach\n          A solitary cottage stands\n          In the waning light\n          Of an autumn eve.\"\n\nOthers, like Kobori-Enshiu, sought for a different effect. Enshiu said\nthe idea of the garden path was to be found in the following verses:\n\n          \"A cluster of summer trees,\n          A bit of the sea,\n          A pale evening moon.\"\n\nIt is not difficult to gather his meaning. He wished to create the\nattitude of a newly awakened soul still lingering amid shadowy dreams of\nthe past, yet bathing in the sweet unconsciousness of a mellow spiritual\nlight, and yearning for the freedom that lay in the expanse beyond.\n\nThus prepared the guest will silently approach the sanctuary, and, if\na samurai, will leave his sword on the rack beneath the eaves, the\ntea-room being preeminently the house of peace. Then he will bend low\nand creep into the room through a small door not more than three feet\nin height. This proceeding was incumbent on all guests,--high and low\nalike,--and was intended to inculcate humility. The order of precedence\nhaving been mutually agreed upon while resting in the machiai, the\nguests one by one will enter noiselessly and take their seats, first\nmaking obeisance to the picture or flower arrangement on the tokonoma.\nThe host will not enter the room until all the guests have seated\nthemselves and quiet reigns with nothing to break the silence save the\nnote of the boiling water in the iron kettle. The kettle sings well, for\npieces of iron are so arranged in the bottom as to produce a peculiar\nmelody in which one may hear the echoes of a cataract muffled by clouds,\nof a distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rainstorm sweeping through\na bamboo forest, or of the soughing of pines on some faraway hill.\n\nEven in the daytime the light in the room is subdued, for the low eaves\nof the slanting roof admit but few of the sun's rays. Everything is\nsober in tint from the ceiling to the floor; the guests themselves have\ncarefully chosen garments of unobtrusive colors. The mellowness of age\nis over all, everything suggestive of recent acquirement being tabooed\nsave only the one note of contrast furnished by the bamboo dipper and\nthe linen napkin, both immaculately white and new. However faded the\ntea-room and the tea-equipage may seem, everything is absolutely clean.\nNot a particle of dust will be found in the darkest corner, for if any\nexists the host is not a tea-master. One of the first requisites of a\ntea-master is the knowledge of how to sweep, clean, and wash, for there\nis an art in cleaning and dusting. A piece of antique metal work must\nnot be attacked with the unscrupulous zeal of the Dutch housewife.\nDripping water from a flower vase need not be wiped away, for it may be\nsuggestive of dew and coolness.\n\nIn this connection there is a story of Rikiu which well illustrates the\nideas of cleanliness entertained by the tea-masters. Rikiu was watching\nhis son Shoan as he swept and watered the garden path. \"Not clean\nenough,\" said Rikiu, when Shoan had finished his task, and bade him try\nagain. After a weary hour the son turned to Rikiu: \"Father, there is\nnothing more to be done. The steps have been washed for the third time,\nthe stone lanterns and the trees are well sprinkled with water, moss and\nlichens are shining with a fresh verdure; not a twig, not a leaf have I\nleft on the ground.\" \"Young fool,\" chided the tea-master, \"that is not\nthe way a garden path should be swept.\" Saying this, Rikiu stepped into\nthe garden, shook a tree and scattered over the garden gold and crimson\nleaves, scraps of the brocade of autumn! What Rikiu demanded was not\ncleanliness alone, but the beautiful and the natural also.\n\nThe name, Abode of Fancy, implies a structure created to meet some\nindividual artistic requirement. The tea-room is made for the tea\nmaster, not the tea-master for the tea-room. It is not intended for\nposterity and is therefore ephemeral. The idea that everyone should have\na house of his own is based on an ancient custom of the Japanese race,\nShinto superstition ordaining that every dwelling should be evacuated\non the death of its chief occupant. Perhaps there may have been some\nunrealized sanitary reason for this practice. Another early custom\nwas that a newly built house should be provided for each couple that\nmarried. It is on account of such customs that we find the Imperial\ncapitals so frequently removed from one site to another in ancient days.\nThe rebuilding, every twenty years, of Ise Temple, the supreme shrine of\nthe Sun-Goddess, is an example of one of these ancient rites which still\nobtain at the present day. The observance of these customs was only\npossible with some form of construction as that furnished by our system\nof wooden architecture, easily pulled down, easily built up. A more\nlasting style, employing brick and stone, would have rendered migrations\nimpracticable, as indeed they became when the more stable and massive\nwooden construction of China was adopted by us after the Nara period.\n\nWith the predominance of Zen individualism in the fifteenth century,\nhowever, the old idea became imbued with a deeper significance as\nconceived in connection with the tea-room. Zennism, with the Buddhist\ntheory of evanescence and its demands for the mastery of spirit over\nmatter, recognized the house only as a temporary refuge for the body.\nThe body itself was but as a hut in the wilderness, a flimsy shelter\nmade by tying together the grasses that grew around,--when these ceased\nto be bound together they again became resolved into the original waste.\nIn the tea-room fugitiveness is suggested in the thatched roof, frailty\nin the slender pillars, lightness in the bamboo support, apparent\ncarelessness in the use of commonplace materials. The eternal is to be\nfound only in the spirit which, embodied in these simple surroundings,\nbeautifies them with the subtle light of its refinement.\n\nThat the tea-room should be built to suit some individual taste is\nan enforcement of the principle of vitality in art. Art, to be fully\nappreciated, must be true to contemporaneous life. It is not that we\nshould ignore the claims of posterity, but that we should seek to enjoy\nthe present more. It is not that we should disregard the creations\nof the past, but that we should try to assimilate them into our\nconsciousness. Slavish conformity to traditions and formulas fetters the\nexpression of individuality in architecture. We can but weep over the\nsenseless imitations of European buildings which one beholds in modern\nJapan. We marvel why, among the most progressive Western nations,\narchitecture should be so devoid of originality, so replete with\nrepetitions of obsolete styles. Perhaps we are passing through an age of\ndemocratisation in art, while awaiting the rise of some princely master\nwho shall establish a new dynasty. Would that we loved the ancients\nmore and copied them less! It has been said that the Greeks were great\nbecause they never drew from the antique.\n\nThe term, Abode of Vacancy, besides conveying the Taoist theory of the\nall-containing, involves the conception of a continued need of change\nin decorative motives. The tea-room is absolutely empty, except for what\nmay be placed there temporarily to satisfy some aesthetic mood. Some\nspecial art object is brought in for the occasion, and everything else\nis selected and arranged to enhance the beauty of the principal theme.\nOne cannot listen to different pieces of music at the same time, a real\ncomprehension of the beautiful being possible only through concentration\nupon some central motive. Thus it will be seen that the system of\ndecoration in our tea-rooms is opposed to that which obtains in the\nWest, where the interior of a house is often converted into a museum.\nTo a Japanese, accustomed to simplicity of ornamentation and frequent\nchange of decorative method, a Western interior permanently filled with\na vast array of pictures, statuary, and bric-a-brac gives the impression\nof mere vulgar display of riches. It calls for a mighty wealth of\nappreciation to enjoy the constant sight of even a masterpiece, and\nlimitless indeed must be the capacity for artistic feeling in those who\ncan exist day after day in the midst of such confusion of color and form\nas is to be often seen in the homes of Europe and America.\n\nThe \"Abode of the Unsymmetrical\" suggests another phase of our\ndecorative scheme. The absence of symmetry in Japanese art objects has\nbeen often commented on by Western critics. This, also, is a result of\na working out through Zennism of Taoist ideals. Confucianism, with its\ndeep-seated idea of dualism, and Northern Buddhism with its worship of\na trinity, were in no way opposed to the expression of symmetry. As\na matter of fact, if we study the ancient bronzes of China or the\nreligious arts of the Tang dynasty and the Nara period, we shall\nrecognize a constant striving after symmetry. The decoration of our\nclassical interiors was decidedly regular in its arrangement. The Taoist\nand Zen conception of perfection, however, was different. The dynamic\nnature of their philosophy laid more stress upon the process through\nwhich perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty\ncould be discovered only by one who mentally completed the incomplete.\nThe virility of life and art lay in its possibilities for growth. In the\ntea-room it is left for each guest in imagination to complete the total\neffect in relation to himself. Since Zennism has become the prevailing\nmode of thought, the art of the extreme Orient has purposefully avoided\nthe symmetrical as expressing not only completion, but repetition.\nUniformity of design was considered fatal to the freshness of\nimagination. Thus, landscapes, birds, and flowers became the favorite\nsubjects for depiction rather than the human figure, the latter being\npresent in the person of the beholder himself. We are often too much in\nevidence as it is, and in spite of our vanity even self-regard is apt to\nbecome monotonous.\n\nIn the tea-room the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The\nvarious objects for the decoration of a room should be so selected that\nno colour or design shall be repeated. If you have a living flower, a\npainting of flowers is not allowable. If you are using a round kettle,\nthe water pitcher should be angular. A cup with a black glaze should not\nbe associated with a tea-caddy of black lacquer. In placing a vase of\nan incense burner on the tokonoma, care should be taken not to put it in\nthe exact centre, lest it divide the space into equal halves. The pillar\nof the tokonoma should be of a different kind of wood from the other\npillars, in order to break any suggestion of monotony in the room.\n\nHere again the Japanese method of interior decoration differs from\nthat of the Occident, where we see objects arrayed symmetrically on\nmantelpieces and elsewhere. In Western houses we are often confronted\nwith what appears to us useless reiteration. We find it trying to talk\nto a man while his full-length portrait stares at us from behind his\nback. We wonder which is real, he of the picture or he who talks, and\nfeel a curious conviction that one of them must be fraud. Many a time\nhave we sat at a festive board contemplating, with a secret shock to our\ndigestion, the representation of abundance on the dining-room walls.\nWhy these pictured victims of chase and sport, the elaborate carvings\nof fishes and fruit? Why the display of family plates, reminding us of\nthose who have dined and are dead?\n\nThe simplicity of the tea-room and its freedom from vulgarity make it\ntruly a sanctuary from the vexations of the outer world. There and\nthere alone one can consecrate himself to undisturbed adoration of the\nbeautiful. In the sixteenth century the tea-room afforded a welcome\nrespite from labour to the fierce warriors and statesmen engaged in the\nunification and reconstruction of Japan. In the seventeenth century,\nafter the strict formalism of the Tokugawa rule had been developed, it\noffered the only opportunity possible for the free communion of artistic\nspirits. Before a great work of art there was no distinction between\ndaimyo, samurai, and commoner. Nowadays industrialism is making true\nrefinement more and more difficult all the world over. Do we not need\nthe tea-room more than ever?\n\n\n\n\nV. Art Appreciation\n\n\nHave you heard the Taoist tale of the Taming of the Harp?\n\nOnce in the hoary ages in the Ravine of Lungmen stood a Kiri tree, a\nveritable king of the forest. It reared its head to talk to the stars;\nits roots struck deep into the earth, mingling their bronzed coils with\nthose of the silver dragon that slept beneath. And it came to pass that\na mighty wizard made of this tree a wondrous harp, whose stubborn\nspirit should be tamed but by the greatest of musicians. For long the\ninstrument was treasured by the Emperor of China, but all in vain were\nthe efforts of those who in turn tried to draw melody from its strings.\nIn response to their utmost strivings there came from the harp but harsh\nnotes of disdain, ill-according with the songs they fain would sing. The\nharp refused to recognise a master.\n\nAt last came Peiwoh, the prince of harpists. With tender hand he\ncaressed the harp as one might seek to soothe an unruly horse, and\nsoftly touched the chords. He sang of nature and the seasons, of high\nmountains and flowing waters, and all the memories of the tree awoke!\nOnce more the sweet breath of spring played amidst its branches. The\nyoung cataracts, as they danced down the ravine, laughed to the budding\nflowers. Anon were heard the dreamy voices of summer with its myriad\ninsects, the gentle pattering of rain, the wail of the cuckoo. Hark!\na tiger roars,--the valley answers again. It is autumn; in the desert\nnight, sharp like a sword gleams the moon upon the frosted grass. Now\nwinter reigns, and through the snow-filled air swirl flocks of swans and\nrattling hailstones beat upon the boughs with fierce delight.\n\nThen Peiwoh changed the key and sang of love. The forest swayed like an\nardent swain deep lost in thought. On high, like a haughty maiden,\nswept a cloud bright and fair; but passing, trailed long shadows on the\nground, black like despair. Again the mode was changed; Peiwoh sang of\nwar, of clashing steel and trampling steeds. And in the harp arose\nthe tempest of Lungmen, the dragon rode the lightning, the thundering\navalanche crashed through the hills. In ecstasy the Celestial monarch\nasked Peiwoh wherein lay the secret of his victory. \"Sire,\" he replied,\n\"others have failed because they sang but of themselves. I left the harp\nto choose its theme, and knew not truly whether the harp had been Peiwoh\nor Peiwoh were the harp.\"\n\nThis story well illustrates the mystery of art appreciation. The\nmasterpiece is a symphony played upon our finest feelings. True art is\nPeiwoh, and we the harp of Lungmen. At the magic touch of the beautiful\nthe secret chords of our being are awakened, we vibrate and thrill in\nresponse to its call. Mind speaks to mind. We listen to the unspoken,\nwe gaze upon the unseen. The master calls forth notes we know not of.\nMemories long forgotten all come back to us with a new significance.\nHopes stifled by fear, yearnings that we dare not recognise, stand forth\nin new glory. Our mind is the canvas on which the artists lay their\ncolour; their pigments are our emotions; their chiaroscuro the light of\njoy, the shadow of sadness. The masterpiece is of ourselves, as we are\nof the masterpiece.\n\nThe sympathetic communion of minds necessary for art appreciation must\nbe based on mutual concession. The spectator must cultivate the proper\nattitude for receiving the message, as the artist must know how to\nimpart it. The tea-master, Kobori-Enshiu, himself a daimyo, has left\nto us these memorable words: \"Approach a great painting as thou wouldst\napproach a great prince.\" In order to understand a masterpiece, you\nmust lay yourself low before it and await with bated breath its least\nutterance. An eminent Sung critic once made a charming confession. Said\nhe: \"In my young days I praised the master whose pictures I liked, but\nas my judgement matured I praised myself for liking what the masters had\nchosen to have me like.\" It is to be deplored that so few of us really\ntake pains to study the moods of the masters. In our stubborn ignorance\nwe refuse to render them this simple courtesy, and thus often miss the\nrich repast of beauty spread before our very eyes. A master has always\nsomething to offer, while we go hungry solely because of our own lack of\nappreciation.\n\nTo the sympathetic a masterpiece becomes a living reality towards which\nwe feel drawn in bonds of comradeship. The masters are immortal, for\ntheir loves and fears live in us over and over again. It is rather\nthe soul than the hand, the man than the technique, which appeals to\nus,--the more human the call the deeper is our response. It is because\nof this secret understanding between the master and ourselves that\nin poetry or romance we suffer and rejoice with the hero and heroine.\nChikamatsu, our Japanese Shakespeare, has laid down as one of the first\nprinciples of dramatic composition the importance of taking the audience\ninto the confidence of the author. Several of his pupils submitted plays\nfor his approval, but only one of the pieces appealed to him. It was a\nplay somewhat resembling the Comedy of Errors, in which twin brethren\nsuffer through mistaken identity. \"This,\" said Chikamatsu, \"has\nthe proper spirit of the drama, for it takes the audience into\nconsideration. The public is permitted to know more than the actors. It\nknows where the mistake lies, and pities the poor figures on the board\nwho innocently rush to their fate.\"\n\nThe great masters both of the East and the West never forgot the value\nof suggestion as a means for taking the spectator into their confidence.\nWho can contemplate a masterpiece without being awed by the immense\nvista of thought presented to our consideration? How familiar and\nsympathetic are they all; how cold in contrast the modern commonplaces!\nIn the former we feel the warm outpouring of a man's heart; in the\nlatter only a formal salute. Engrossed in his technique, the modern\nrarely rises above himself. Like the musicians who vainly invoked the\nLungmen harp, he sings only of himself. His works may be nearer science,\nbut are further from humanity. We have an old saying in Japan that a\nwoman cannot love a man who is truly vain, for their is no crevice in\nhis heart for love to enter and fill up. In art vanity is equally fatal\nto sympathetic feeling, whether on the part of the artist or the public.\n\nNothing is more hallowing than the union of kindred spirits in art. At\nthe moment of meeting, the art lover transcends himself. At once he is\nand is not. He catches a glimpse of Infinity, but words cannot voice his\ndelight, for the eye has no tongue. Freed from the fetters of matter,\nhis spirit moves in the rhythm of things. It is thus that art becomes\nakin to religion and ennobles mankind. It is this which makes a\nmasterpiece something sacred. In the old days the veneration in\nwhich the Japanese held the work of the great artist was intense. The\ntea-masters guarded their treasures with religious secrecy, and it was\noften necessary to open a whole series of boxes, one within another,\nbefore reaching the shrine itself--the silken wrapping within whose soft\nfolds lay the holy of holies. Rarely was the object exposed to view, and\nthen only to the initiated.\n\nAt the time when Teaism was in the ascendency the Taiko's generals would\nbe better satisfied with the present of a rare work of art than a large\ngrant of territory as a reward of victory. Many of our favourite dramas\nare based on the loss and recovery of a noted masterpiece. For instance,\nin one play the palace of Lord Hosokawa, in which was preserved the\ncelebrated painting of Dharuma by Sesson, suddenly takes fire through\nthe negligence of the samurai in charge. Resolved at all hazards to\nrescue the precious painting, he rushes into the burning building and\nseizes the kakemono, only to find all means of exit cut off by the\nflames. Thinking only of the picture, he slashes open his body with his\nsword, wraps his torn sleeve about the Sesson and plunges it into the\ngaping wound. The fire is at last extinguished. Among the smoking embers\nis found a half-consumed corpse, within which reposes the treasure\nuninjured by the fire. Horrible as such tales are, they illustrate the\ngreat value that we set upon a masterpiece, as well as the devotion of a\ntrusted samurai.\n\nWe must remember, however, that art is of value only to the extent that\nit speaks to us. It might be a universal language if we ourselves were\nuniversal in our sympathies. Our finite nature, the power of tradition\nand conventionality, as well as our hereditary instincts, restrict the\nscope of our capacity for artistic enjoyment. Our very individuality\nestablishes in one sense a limit to our understanding; and our aesthetic\npersonality seeks its own affinities in the creations of the past. It is\ntrue that with cultivation our sense of art appreciation broadens,\nand we become able to enjoy many hitherto unrecognised expressions of\nbeauty. But, after all, we see only our own image in the universe,--our\nparticular idiosyncracies dictate the mode of our perceptions. The\ntea-masters collected only objects which fell strictly within the\nmeasure of their individual appreciation.\n\nOne is reminded in this connection of a story concerning Kobori-Enshiu.\nEnshiu was complimented by his disciples on the admirable taste he had\ndisplayed in the choice of his collection. Said they, \"Each piece is\nsuch that no one could help admiring. It shows that you had better taste\nthan had Rikiu, for his collection could only be appreciated by one\nbeholder in a thousand.\" Sorrowfully Enshiu replied: \"This only proves\nhow commonplace I am. The great Rikiu dared to love only those objects\nwhich personally appealed to him, whereas I unconsciously cater to\nthe taste of the majority. Verily, Rikiu was one in a thousand among\ntea-masters.\"\n\nIt is much to be regretted that so much of the apparent enthusiasm\nfor art at the present day has no foundation in real feeling. In this\ndemocratic age of ours men clamour for what is popularly considered\nthe best, regardless of their feelings. They want the costly, not\nthe refined; the fashionable, not the beautiful. To the masses,\ncontemplation of illustrated periodicals, the worthy product of\ntheir own industrialism, would give more digestible food for artistic\nenjoyment than the early Italians or the Ashikaga masters, whom they\npretend to admire. The name of the artist is more important to them than\nthe quality of the work. As a Chinese critic complained many centuries\nago, \"People criticise a picture by their ear.\" It is this lack of\ngenuine appreciation that is responsible for the pseudo-classic horrors\nthat to-day greet us wherever we turn.\n\nAnother common mistake is that of confusing art with archaeology. The\nveneration born of antiquity is one of the best traits in the human\ncharacter, and fain would we have it cultivated to a greater extent. The\nold masters are rightly to be honoured for opening the path to future\nenlightenment. The mere fact that they have passed unscathed through\ncenturies of criticism and come down to us still covered with glory\ncommands our respect. But we should be foolish indeed if we valued their\nachievement simply on the score of age. Yet we allow our historical\nsympathy to override our aesthetic discrimination. We offer flowers of\napprobation when the artist is safely laid in his grave. The nineteenth\ncentury, pregnant with the theory of evolution, has moreover created\nin us the habit of losing sight of the individual in the species. A\ncollector is anxious to acquire specimens to illustrate a period or a\nschool, and forgets that a single masterpiece can teach us more than any\nnumber of the mediocre products of a given period or school. We classify\ntoo much and enjoy too little. The sacrifice of the aesthetic to the\nso-called scientific method of exhibition has been the bane of many\nmuseums.\n\nThe claims of contemporary art cannot be ignored in any vital scheme of\nlife. The art of to-day is that which really belongs to us: it is our\nown reflection. In condemning it we but condemn ourselves. We say that\nthe present age possesses no art:--who is responsible for this? It is\nindeed a shame that despite all our rhapsodies about the ancients we pay\nso little attention to our own possibilities. Struggling artists, weary\nsouls lingering in the shadow of cold disdain! In our self-centered\ncentury, what inspiration do we offer them? The past may well look with\npity at the poverty of our civilisation; the future will laugh at the\nbarrenness of our art. We are destroying the beautiful in life. Would\nthat some great wizard might from the stem of society shape a mighty\nharp whose strings would resound to the touch of genius.\n\n\n\n\nVI. Flowers\n\nIn the trembling grey of a spring dawn, when the birds were whispering\nin mysterious cadence among the trees, have you not felt that they\nwere talking to their mates about the flowers? Surely with mankind the\nappreciation of flowers must have been coeval with the poetry of love.\nWhere better than in a flower, sweet in its unconsciousness, fragrant\nbecause of its silence, can we image the unfolding of a virgin soul?\nThe primeval man in offering the first garland to his maiden thereby\ntranscended the brute. He became human in thus rising above the crude\nnecessities of nature. He entered the realm of art when he perceived the\nsubtle use of the useless.\n\nIn joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends. We eat, drink,\nsing, dance, and flirt with them. We wed and christen with flowers. We\ndare not die without them. We have worshipped with the lily, we have\nmeditated with the lotus, we have charged in battle array with the rose\nand the chrysanthemum. We have even attempted to speak in the language\nof flowers. How could we live without them? It frightens one to conceive\nof a world bereft of their presence. What solace do they not bring to\nthe bedside of the sick, what a light of bliss to the darkness of weary\nspirits? Their serene tenderness restores to us our waning confidence\nin the universe even as the intent gaze of a beautiful child recalls our\nlost hopes. When we are laid low in the dust it is they who linger in\nsorrow over our graves.\n\nSad as it is, we cannot conceal the fact that in spite of our\ncompanionship with flowers we have not risen very far above the brute.\nScratch the sheepskin and the wolf within us will soon show his teeth.\nIt has been said that a man at ten is an animal, at twenty a lunatic, at\nthirty a failure, at forty a fraud, and at fifty a criminal. Perhaps he\nbecomes a criminal because he has never ceased to be an animal. Nothing\nis real to us but hunger, nothing sacred except our own desires. Shrine\nafter shrine has crumbled before our eyes; but one altar is forever\npreserved, that whereon we burn incense to the supreme idol,--ourselves.\nOur god is great, and money is his Prophet! We devastate nature in order\nto make sacrifice to him. We boast that we have conquered Matter and\nforget that it is Matter that has enslaved us. What atrocities do we not\nperpetrate in the name of culture and refinement!\n\nTell me, gentle flowers, teardrops of the stars, standing in the\ngarden, nodding your heads to the bees as they sing of the dews and the\nsunbeams, are you aware of the fearful doom that awaits you? Dream on,\nsway and frolic while you may in the gentle breezes of summer. To-morrow\na ruthless hand will close around your throats. You will be wrenched,\ntorn asunder limb by limb, and borne away from your quiet homes. The\nwretch, she may be passing fair. She may say how lovely you are while\nher fingers are still moist with your blood. Tell me, will this be\nkindness? It may be your fate to be imprisoned in the hair of one whom\nyou know to be heartless or to be thrust into the buttonhole of one who\nwould not dare to look you in the face were you a man. It may even be\nyour lot to be confined in some narrow vessel with only stagnant water\nto quench the maddening thirst that warns of ebbing life.\n\nFlowers, if you were in the land of the Mikado, you might some time\nmeet a dread personage armed with scissors and a tiny saw. He would call\nhimself a Master of Flowers. He would claim the rights of a doctor and\nyou would instinctively hate him, for you know a doctor always seeks to\nprolong the troubles of his victims. He would cut, bend, and twist\nyou into those impossible positions which he thinks it proper that you\nshould assume. He would contort your muscles and dislocate your bones\nlike any osteopath. He would burn you with red-hot coals to stop your\nbleeding, and thrust wires into you to assist your circulation. He would\ndiet you with salt, vinegar, alum, and sometimes, vitriol. Boiling water\nwould be poured on your feet when you seemed ready to faint. It would\nbe his boast that he could keep life within you for two or more weeks\nlonger than would have been possible without his treatment. Would you\nnot have preferred to have been killed at once when you were first\ncaptured? What were the crimes you must have committed during your past\nincarnation to warrant such punishment in this?\n\nThe wanton waste of flowers among Western communities is even more\nappalling than the way they are treated by Eastern Flower Masters. The\nnumber of flowers cut daily to adorn the ballrooms and banquet-tables of\nEurope and America, to be thrown away on the morrow, must be something\nenormous; if strung together they might garland a continent. Beside\nthis utter carelessness of life, the guilt of the Flower-Master becomes\ninsignificant. He, at least, respects the economy of nature, selects\nhis victims with careful foresight, and after death does honour to their\nremains. In the West the display of flowers seems to be a part of the\npageantry of wealth,--the fancy of a moment. Whither do they all go,\nthese flowers, when the revelry is over? Nothing is more pitiful than to\nsee a faded flower remorselessly flung upon a dung heap.\n\nWhy were the flowers born so beautiful and yet so hapless? Insects can\nsting, and even the meekest of beasts will fight when brought to bay.\nThe birds whose plumage is sought to deck some bonnet can fly from its\npursuer, the furred animal whose coat you covet for your own may hide\nat your approach. Alas! The only flower known to have wings is the\nbutterfly; all others stand helpless before the destroyer. If they\nshriek in their death agony their cry never reaches our hardened ears.\nWe are ever brutal to those who love and serve us in silence, but the\ntime may come when, for our cruelty, we shall be deserted by these best\nfriends of ours. Have you not noticed that the wild flowers are becoming\nscarcer every year? It may be that their wise men have told them to\ndepart till man becomes more human. Perhaps they have migrated to\nheaven.\n\nMuch may be said in favor of him who cultivates plants. The man of the\npot is far more humane than he of the scissors. We watch with delight\nhis concern about water and sunshine, his feuds with parasites, his\nhorror of frosts, his anxiety when the buds come slowly, his rapture\nwhen the leaves attain their lustre. In the East the art of floriculture\nis a very ancient one, and the loves of a poet and his favorite plant\nhave often been recorded in story and song. With the development\nof ceramics during the Tang and Sung dynasties we hear of wonderful\nreceptacles made to hold plants, not pots, but jewelled palaces. A\nspecial attendant was detailed to wait upon each flower and to wash\nits leaves with soft brushes made of rabbit hair. It has been written\n[\"Pingtse\", by Yuenchunlang] that the peony should be bathed by a\nhandsome maiden in full costume, that a winter-plum should be watered\nby a pale, slender monk. In Japan, one of the most popular of the\nNo-dances, the Hachinoki, composed during the Ashikaga period, is based\nupon the story of an impoverished knight, who, on a freezing night, in\nlack of fuel for a fire, cuts his cherished plants in order to entertain\na wandering friar. The friar is in reality no other than Hojo-Tokiyori,\nthe Haroun-Al-Raschid of our tales, and the sacrifice is not without its\nreward. This opera never fails to draw tears from a Tokio audience even\nto-day.\n\nGreat precautions were taken for the preservation of delicate blossoms.\nEmperor Huensung, of the Tang Dynasty, hung tiny golden bells on the\nbranches in his garden to keep off the birds. He it was who went off in\nthe springtime with his court musicians to gladden the flowers with soft\nmusic. A quaint tablet, which tradition ascribes to Yoshitsune, the\nhero of our Arthurian legends, is still extant in one of the Japanese\nmonasteries [Sumadera, near Kobe]. It is a notice put up for the\nprotection of a certain wonderful plum-tree, and appeals to us with\nthe grim humour of a warlike age. After referring to the beauty of the\nblossoms, the inscription says: \"Whoever cuts a single branch of this\ntree shall forfeit a finger therefor.\" Would that such laws could\nbe enforced nowadays against those who wantonly destroy flowers and\nmutilate objects of art!\n\nYet even in the case of pot flowers we are inclined to suspect the\nselfishness of man. Why take the plants from their homes and ask them to\nbloom mid strange surroundings? Is it not like asking the birds to sing\nand mate cooped up in cages? Who knows but that the orchids feel stifled\nby the artificial heat in your conservatories and hopelessly long for a\nglimpse of their own Southern skies?\n\nThe ideal lover of flowers is he who visits them in their native haunts,\nlike Taoyuenming [all celebrated Chinese poets and philosophers],\nwho sat before a broken bamboo fence in converse with the wild\nchrysanthemum, or Linwosing, losing himself amid mysterious fragrance as\nhe wandered in the twilight among the plum-blossoms of the Western\nLake. 'Tis said that Chowmushih slept in a boat so that his dreams might\nmingle with those of the lotus. It was the same spirit which moved the\nEmpress Komio, one of our most renowned Nara sovereigns, as she sang:\n\"If I pluck thee, my hand will defile thee, O flower! Standing in the\nmeadows as thou art, I offer thee to the Buddhas of the past, of the\npresent, of the future.\"\n\nHowever, let us not be too sentimental. Let us be less luxurious but\nmore magnificent. Said Laotse: \"Heaven and earth are pitiless.\" Said\nKobodaishi: \"Flow, flow, flow, flow, the current of life is ever onward.\nDie, die, die, die, death comes to all.\" Destruction faces us wherever\nwe turn. Destruction below and above, destruction behind and before.\nChange is the only Eternal,--why not as welcome Death as Life? They are\nbut counterparts one of the other,--The Night and Day of Brahma. Through\nthe disintegration of the old, re-creation becomes possible. We have\nworshipped Death, the relentless goddess of mercy, under many different\nnames. It was the shadow of the All-devouring that the Gheburs greeted\nin the fire. It is the icy purism of the sword-soul before which\nShinto-Japan prostrates herself even to-day. The mystic fire consumes\nour weakness, the sacred sword cleaves the bondage of desire. From our\nashes springs the phoenix of celestial hope, out of the freedom comes a\nhigher realisation of manhood.\n\nWhy not destroy flowers if thereby we can evolve new forms ennobling the\nworld idea? We only ask them to join in our sacrifice to the beautiful.\nWe shall atone for the deed by consecrating ourselves to Purity and\nSimplicity. Thus reasoned the tea-masters when they established the Cult\nof Flowers.\n\nAnyone acquainted with the ways of our tea- and flower-masters must have\nnoticed the religious veneration with which they regard flowers. They\ndo not cull at random, but carefully select each branch or spray with an\neye to the artistic composition they have in mind. They would be ashamed\nshould they chance to cut more than were absolutely necessary. It may\nbe remarked in this connection that they always associate the leaves,\nif there be any, with the flower, for the object is to present the whole\nbeauty of plant life. In this respect, as in many others, their method\ndiffers from that pursued in Western countries. Here we are apt to\nsee only the flower stems, heads as it were, without body, stuck\npromiscuously into a vase.\n\nWhen a tea-master has arranged a flower to his satisfaction he will\nplace it on the tokonoma, the place of honour in a Japanese room.\nNothing else will be placed near it which might interfere with its\neffect, not even a painting, unless there be some special aesthetic\nreason for the combination. It rests there like an enthroned prince,\nand the guests or disciples on entering the room will salute it with a\nprofound bow before making their addresses to the host. Drawings from\nmasterpieces are made and published for the edification of amateurs. The\namount of literature on the subject is quite voluminous. When the flower\nfades, the master tenderly consigns it to the river or carefully buries\nit in the ground. Monuments are sometimes erected to their memory.\n\nThe birth of the Art of Flower Arrangement seems to be simultaneous with\nthat of Teaism in the fifteenth century. Our legends ascribe the first\nflower arrangement to those early Buddhist saints who gathered the\nflowers strewn by the storm and, in their infinite solicitude for all\nliving things, placed them in vessels of water. It is said that Soami,\nthe great painter and connoisseur of the court of Ashikaga-Yoshimasa,\nwas one of the earliest adepts at it. Juko, the tea-master, was one of\nhis pupils, as was also Senno, the founder of the house of Ikenobo, a\nfamily as illustrious in the annals of flowers as was that of the Kanos\nin painting. With the perfecting of the tea-ritual under Rikiu, in the\nlatter part of the sixteenth century, flower arrangement also attains\nits full growth. Rikiu and his successors, the celebrated Oda-wuraka,\nFuruka-Oribe, Koyetsu, Kobori-Enshiu, Katagiri-Sekishiu, vied with each\nother in forming new combinations. We must remember, however, that the\nflower-worship of the tea-masters formed only a part of their aesthetic\nritual, and was not a distinct religion by itself. A flower arrangement,\nlike the other works of art in the tea-room, was subordinated to the\ntotal scheme of decoration. Thus Sekishiu ordained that white plum\nblossoms should not be made use of when snow lay in the garden.\n\"Noisy\" flowers were relentlessly banished from the tea-room. A flower\narrangement by a tea-master loses its significance if removed from\nthe place for which it was originally intended, for its lines\nand proportions have been specially worked out with a view to its\nsurroundings.\n\nThe adoration of the flower for its own sake begins with the rise of\n\"Flower-Masters,\" toward the middle of the seventeenth century. It now\nbecomes independent of the tea-room and knows no law save that the\nvase imposes on it. New conceptions and methods of execution now become\npossible, and many were the principles and schools resulting therefrom.\nA writer in the middle of the last century said he could count over one\nhundred different schools of flower arrangement. Broadly speaking,\nthese divide themselves into two main branches, the Formalistic and the\nNaturalesque. The Formalistic schools, led by the Ikenobos, aimed at\na classic idealism corresponding to that of the Kano-academicians. We\npossess records of arrangements by the early masters of the school which\nalmost reproduce the flower paintings of Sansetsu and Tsunenobu. The\nNaturalesque school, on the other hand, accepted nature as its model,\nonly imposing such modifications of form as conduced to the expression\nof artistic unity. Thus we recognise in its works the same impulses\nwhich formed the Ukiyoe and Shijo schools of painting.\n\nIt would be interesting, had we time, to enter more fully than it is\nnow possible into the laws of composition and detail formulated by\nthe various flower-masters of this period, showing, as they would, the\nfundamental theories which governed Tokugawa decoration. We find them\nreferring to the Leading Principle (Heaven), the Subordinate Principle\n(Earth), the Reconciling Principle (Man), and any flower arrangement\nwhich did not embody these principles was considered barren and dead.\nThey also dwelt much on the importance of treating a flower in its three\ndifferent aspects, the Formal, the Semi-Formal, and the Informal. The\nfirst might be said to represent flowers in the stately costume of the\nballroom, the second in the easy elegance of afternoon dress, the third\nin the charming deshabille of the boudoir.\n\nOur personal sympathies are with the flower-arrangements of the\ntea-master rather than with those of the flower-master. The former\nis art in its proper setting and appeals to us on account of its true\nintimacy with life. We should like to call this school the Natural\nin contradistinction to the Naturalesque and Formalistic schools. The\ntea-master deems his duty ended with the selection of the flowers, and\nleaves them to tell their own story. Entering a tea-room in late winter,\nyou may see a slender spray of wild cherries in combination with a\nbudding camellia; it is an echo of departing winter coupled with\nthe prophecy of spring. Again, if you go into a noon-tea on some\nirritatingly hot summer day, you may discover in the darkened coolness\nof the tokonoma a single lily in a hanging vase; dripping with dew, it\nseems to smile at the foolishness of life.\n\nA solo of flowers is interesting, but in a concerto with painting and\nsculpture the combination becomes entrancing. Sekishiu once placed some\nwater-plants in a flat receptacle to suggest the vegetation of lakes and\nmarshes, and on the wall above he hung a painting by Soami of wild ducks\nflying in the air. Shoha, another tea-master, combined a poem on the\nBeauty of Solitude by the Sea with a bronze incense burner in the form\nof a fisherman's hut and some wild flowers of the beach. One of the\nguests has recorded that he felt in the whole composition the breath of\nwaning autumn.\n\nFlower stories are endless. We shall recount but one more. In the\nsixteenth century the morning-glory was as yet a rare plant with us.\nRikiu had an entire garden planted with it, which he cultivated with\nassiduous care. The fame of his convulvuli reached the ear of the Taiko,\nand he expressed a desire to see them, in consequence of which Rikiu\ninvited him to a morning tea at his house. On the appointed day Taiko\nwalked through the garden, but nowhere could he see any vestige of the\nconvulvulus. The ground had been leveled and strewn with fine pebbles and\nsand. With sullen anger the despot entered the tea-room, but a sight\nwaited him there which completely restored his humour. On the tokonoma,\nin a rare bronze of Sung workmanship, lay a single morning-glory--the\nqueen of the whole garden!\n\nIn such instances we see the full significance of the Flower Sacrifice.\nPerhaps the flowers appreciate the full significance of it. They are not\ncowards, like men. Some flowers glory in death--certainly the Japanese\ncherry blossoms do, as they freely surrender themselves to the winds.\nAnyone who has stood before the fragrant avalanche at Yoshino or\nArashiyama must have realized this. For a moment they hover like\nbejewelled clouds and dance above the crystal streams; then, as they\nsail away on the laughing waters, they seem to say: \"Farewell, O Spring!\nWe are on to eternity.\"\n\n\n\n\nVII. Tea-Masters\n\n\nIn religion the Future is behind us. In art the present is the eternal.\nThe tea-masters held that real appreciation of art is only possible to\nthose who make of it a living influence. Thus they sought to regulate\ntheir daily life by the high standard of refinement which obtained\nin the tea-room. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be\nmaintained, and conversation should be conducted as never to mar the\nharmony of the surroundings. The cut and color of the dress, the poise\nof the body, and the manner of walking could all be made expressions of\nartistic personality. These were matters not to be lightly ignored, for\nuntil one has made himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty.\nThus the tea-master strove to be something more than the artist,--art\nitself. It was the Zen of aestheticism. Perfection is everywhere if\nwe only choose to recognise it. Rikiu loved to quote an old poem\nwhich says: \"To those who long only for flowers, fain would I show\nthe full-blown spring which abides in the toiling buds of snow-covered\nhills.\"\n\nManifold indeed have been the contributions of the tea-masters to art.\nThey completely revolutionised the classical architecture and interior\ndecorations, and established the new style which we have described in\nthe chapter of the tea-room, a style to whose influence even the palaces\nand monasteries built after the sixteenth century have all been subject.\nThe many-sided Kobori-Enshiu has left notable examples of his genius in\nthe Imperial villa of Katsura, the castles of Nagoya and Nijo, and the\nmonastery of Kohoan. All the celebrated gardens of Japan were laid out\nby the tea-masters. Our pottery would probably never have attained its\nhigh quality of excellence if the tea-masters had not lent it to their\ninspiration, the manufacture of the utensils used in the tea-ceremony\ncalling forth the utmost expenditure of ingenuity on the parts of our\nceramists. The Seven Kilns of Enshiu are well known to all students\nof Japanese pottery. Many of our textile fabrics bear the names of\ntea-masters who conceived their color or design. It is impossible,\nindeed, to find any department of art in which the tea-masters have\nnot left marks of their genius. In painting and lacquer it seems almost\nsuperfluous to mention the immense services they have rendered. One\nof the greatest schools of painting owes its origin to the tea-master\nHonnami-Koyetsu, famed also as a lacquer artist and potter. Beside\nhis works, the splendid creation of his grandson, Koho, and of his\ngrand-nephews, Korin and Kenzan, almost fall into the shade. The whole\nKorin school, as it is generally designated, is an expression of Teaism.\nIn the broad lines of this school we seem to find the vitality of nature\nherself.\n\nGreat as has been the influence of the tea-masters in the field of art,\nit is as nothing compared to that which they have exerted on the conduct\nof life. Not only in the usages of polite society, but also in the\narrangement of all our domestic details, do we feel the presence of the\ntea-masters. Many of our delicate dishes, as well as our way of serving\nfood, are their inventions. They have taught us to dress only in\ngarments of sober colors. They have instructed us in the proper spirit\nin which to approach flowers. They have given emphasis to our natural\nlove of simplicity, and shown us the beauty of humility. In fact,\nthrough their teachings tea has entered the life of the people.\n\nThose of us who know not the secret of properly regulating our own\nexistence on this tumultuous sea of foolish troubles which we call life\nare constantly in a state of misery while vainly trying to appear happy\nand contented. We stagger in the attempt to keep our moral equilibrium,\nand see forerunners of the tempest in every cloud that floats on the\nhorizon. Yet there is joy and beauty in the roll of billows as they\nsweep outward toward eternity. Why not enter into their spirit, or, like\nLiehtse, ride upon the hurricane itself?\n\nHe only who has lived with the beautiful can die beautifully. The last\nmoments of the great tea-masters were as full of exquisite refinement\nas had been their lives. Seeking always to be in harmony with the great\nrhythm of the universe, they were ever prepared to enter the unknown.\nThe \"Last Tea of Rikiu\" will stand forth forever as the acme of tragic\ngrandeur.\n\nLong had been the friendship between Rikiu and the Taiko-Hideyoshi, and\nhigh the estimation in which the great warrior held the tea-master. But\nthe friendship of a despot is ever a dangerous honour. It was an age\nrife with treachery, and men trusted not even their nearest kin. Rikiu\nwas no servile courtier, and had often dared to differ in argument with\nhis fierce patron. Taking advantage of the coldness which had for some\ntime existed between the Taiko and Rikiu, the enemies of the latter\naccused him of being implicated in a conspiracy to poison the despot. It\nwas whispered to Hideyoshi that the fatal potion was to be administered\nto him with a cup of the green beverage prepared by the tea-master. With\nHideyoshi suspicion was sufficient ground for instant execution, and\nthere was no appeal from the will of the angry ruler. One privilege\nalone was granted to the condemned--the honor of dying by his own hand.\n\nOn the day destined for his self-immolation, Rikiu invited his chief\ndisciples to a last tea-ceremony. Mournfully at the appointed time the\nguests met at the portico. As they look into the garden path the trees\nseem to shudder, and in the rustling of their leaves are heard the\nwhispers of homeless ghosts. Like solemn sentinels before the gates of\nHades stand the grey stone lanterns. A wave of rare incense is wafted\nfrom the tea-room; it is the summons which bids the guests to enter.\nOne by one they advance and take their places. In the tokonoma hangs\na kakemon,--a wonderful writing by an ancient monk dealing with the\nevanescence of all earthly things. The singing kettle, as it boils over\nthe brazier, sounds like some cicada pouring forth his woes to departing\nsummer. Soon the host enters the room. Each in turn is served with\ntea, and each in turn silently drains his cup, the host last of all.\nAccording to established etiquette, the chief guest now asks permission\nto examine the tea-equipage. Rikiu places the various articles before\nthem, with the kakemono. After all have expressed admiration of their\nbeauty, Rikiu presents one of them to each of the assembled company as a\nsouvenir. The bowl alone he keeps. \"Never again shall this cup, polluted\nby the lips of misfortune, be used by man.\" He speaks, and breaks the\nvessel into fragments.\n\nThe ceremony is over; the guests with difficulty restraining their\ntears, take their last farewell and leave the room. One only, the\nnearest and dearest, is requested to remain and witness the end. Rikiu\nthen removes his tea-gown and carefully folds it upon the mat, thereby\ndisclosing the immaculate white death robe which it had hitherto\nconcealed. Tenderly he gazes on the shining blade of the fatal dagger,\nand in exquisite verse thus addresses it:\n\n          \"Welcome to thee,\n          O sword of eternity!\n          Through Buddha\n          And through\n          Dharuma alike\n          Thou hast cleft thy way.\"\n\nWith a smile upon his face Rikiu passed forth into the unknown.","title":"The Book of Tea","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":17982}