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@@ -0,0 +1,2120 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Tea, by Kakuzo Okakura + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Book of Tea + +Author: Kakuzo Okakura + +Posting Date: August 5, 2008 [EBook #769] +Release Date: January, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF TEA *** + + + + +Produced by Matthew and Gabrielle Harbowy + + + + + +THE BOOK OF TEA + +By Kakuzo Okakura + + + + +I. The Cup of Humanity + + +Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the +eighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite +amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion +of aestheticism--Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration +of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It +inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the +romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the +Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in +this impossible thing we know as life. + +The Philosophy of Tea is not mere aestheticism in the ordinary +acceptance of the term, for it expresses conjointly with ethics and +religion our whole point of view about man and nature. It is hygiene, +for it enforces cleanliness; it is economics, for it shows comfort in +simplicity rather than in the complex and costly; it is moral geometry, +inasmuch as it defines our sense of proportion to the universe. It +represents the true spirit of Eastern democracy by making all its +votaries aristocrats in taste. + +The long isolation of Japan from the rest of the world, so conducive to +introspection, has been highly favourable to the development of +Teaism. Our home and habits, costume and cuisine, porcelain, lacquer, +painting--our very literature--all have been subject to its influence. +No student of Japanese culture could ever ignore its presence. It has +permeated the elegance of noble boudoirs, and entered the abode of +the humble. Our peasants have learned to arrange flowers, our meanest +labourer to offer his salutation to the rocks and waters. In our +common parlance we speak of the man "with no tea" in him, when he is +insusceptible to the serio-comic interests of the personal drama. +Again we stigmatise the untamed aesthete who, regardless of the mundane +tragedy, runs riot in the springtide of emancipated emotions, as one +"with too much tea" in him. + +The outsider may indeed wonder at this seeming much ado about nothing. +What a tempest in a tea-cup! he will say. But when we consider how small +after all the cup of human enjoyment is, how soon overflowed with tears, +how easily drained to the dregs in our quenchless thirst for infinity, +we shall not blame ourselves for making so much of the tea-cup. Mankind +has done worse. In the worship of Bacchus, we have sacrificed too +freely; and we have even transfigured the gory image of Mars. Why not +consecrate ourselves to the queen of the Camelias, and revel in the warm +stream of sympathy that flows from her altar? In the liquid amber within +the ivory-porcelain, the initiated may touch the sweet reticence of +Confucius, the piquancy of Laotse, and the ethereal aroma of Sakyamuni +himself. + +Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are +apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others. The average +Westerner, in his sleek complacency, will see in the tea ceremony but +another instance of the thousand and one oddities which constitute the +quaintness and childishness of the East to him. He was wont to regard +Japan as barbarous while she indulged in the gentle arts of peace: he +calls her civilised since she began to commit wholesale slaughter on +Manchurian battlefields. Much comment has been given lately to the Code +of the Samurai,--the Art of Death which makes our soldiers exult in +self-sacrifice; but scarcely any attention has been drawn to Teaism, +which represents so much of our Art of Life. Fain would we remain +barbarians, if our claim to civilisation were to be based on the +gruesome glory of war. Fain would we await the time when due respect +shall be paid to our art and ideals. + +When will the West understand, or try to understand, the East? We +Asiatics are often appalled by the curious web of facts and fancies +which has been woven concerning us. We are pictured as living on the +perfume of the lotus, if not on mice and cockroaches. It is either +impotent fanaticism or else abject voluptuousness. Indian spirituality +has been derided as ignorance, Chinese sobriety as stupidity, Japanese +patriotism as the result of fatalism. It has been said that we are less +sensible to pain and wounds on account of the callousness of our nervous +organisation! + +Why not amuse yourselves at our expense? Asia returns the compliment. +There would be further food for merriment if you were to know all +that we have imagined and written about you. All the glamour of the +perspective is there, all the unconscious homage of wonder, all the +silent resentment of the new and undefined. You have been loaded with +virtues too refined to be envied, and accused of crimes too +picturesque to be condemned. Our writers in the past--the wise men who +knew--informed us that you had bushy tails somewhere hidden in your +garments, and often dined off a fricassee of newborn babes! Nay, we had +something worse against you: we used to think you the most impracticable +people on the earth, for you were said to preach what you never +practiced. + +Such misconceptions are fast vanishing amongst us. Commerce has forced +the European tongues on many an Eastern port. Asiatic youths are +flocking to Western colleges for the equipment of modern education. +Our insight does not penetrate your culture deeply, but at least we are +willing to learn. Some of my compatriots have adopted too much of +your customs and too much of your etiquette, in the delusion that the +acquisition of stiff collars and tall silk hats comprised the attainment +of your civilisation. Pathetic and deplorable as such affectations +are, they evince our willingness to approach the West on our knees. +Unfortunately the Western attitude is unfavourable to the understanding +of the East. The Christian missionary goes to impart, but not to +receive. Your information is based on the meagre translations of our +immense literature, if not on the unreliable anecdotes of passing +travellers. It is rarely that the chivalrous pen of a Lafcadio Hearn +or that of the author of "The Web of Indian Life" enlivens the Oriental +darkness with the torch of our own sentiments. + +Perhaps I betray my own ignorance of the Tea Cult by being so outspoken. +Its very spirit of politeness exacts that you say what you are expected +to say, and no more. But I am not to be a polite Teaist. So much harm +has been done already by the mutual misunderstanding of the New World +and the Old, that one need not apologise for contributing his tithe +to the furtherance of a better understanding. The beginning of the +twentieth century would have been spared the spectacle of sanguinary +warfare if Russia had condescended to know Japan better. What dire +consequences to humanity lie in the contemptuous ignoring of Eastern +problems! European imperialism, which does not disdain to raise the +absurd cry of the Yellow Peril, fails to realise that Asia may also +awaken to the cruel sense of the White Disaster. You may laugh at us for +having "too much tea," but may we not suspect that you of the West have +"no tea" in your constitution? + +Let us stop the continents from hurling epigrams at each other, and be +sadder if not wiser by the mutual gain of half a hemisphere. We have +developed along different lines, but there is no reason why one should +not supplement the other. You have gained expansion at the cost +of restlessness; we have created a harmony which is weak against +aggression. Will you believe it?--the East is better off in some +respects than the West! + +Strangely enough humanity has so far met in the tea-cup. It is the only +Asiatic ceremonial which commands universal esteem. The white man has +scoffed at our religion and our morals, but has accepted the brown +beverage without hesitation. The afternoon tea is now an important +function in Western society. In the delicate clatter of trays and +saucers, in the soft rustle of feminine hospitality, in the common +catechism about cream and sugar, we know that the Worship of Tea is +established beyond question. The philosophic resignation of the guest +to the fate awaiting him in the dubious decoction proclaims that in this +single instance the Oriental spirit reigns supreme. + +The earliest record of tea in European writing is said to be found in +the statement of an Arabian traveller, that after the year 879 the main +sources of revenue in Canton were the duties on salt and tea. Marco Polo +records the deposition of a Chinese minister of finance in 1285 for his +arbitrary augmentation of the tea-taxes. It was at the period of the +great discoveries that the European people began to know more about +the extreme Orient. At the end of the sixteenth century the Hollanders +brought the news that a pleasant drink was made in the East from the +leaves of a bush. The travellers Giovanni Batista Ramusio (1559), L. +Almeida (1576), Maffeno (1588), Tareira (1610), also mentioned tea. In +the last-named year ships of the Dutch East India Company brought the +first tea into Europe. It was known in France in 1636, and reached +Russia in 1638. England welcomed it in 1650 and spoke of it as "That +excellent and by all physicians approved China drink, called by the +Chineans Tcha, and by other nations Tay, alias Tee." + +Like all good things of the world, the propaganda of Tea met with +opposition. Heretics like Henry Saville (1678) denounced drinking it as +a filthy custom. Jonas Hanway (Essay on Tea, 1756) said that men seemed +to lose their stature and comeliness, women their beauty through the +use of tea. Its cost at the start (about fifteen or sixteen shillings +a pound) forbade popular consumption, and made it "regalia for high +treatments and entertainments, presents being made thereof to princes +and grandees." Yet in spite of such drawbacks tea-drinking spread with +marvelous rapidity. The coffee-houses of London in the early half of the +eighteenth century became, in fact, tea-houses, the resort of wits like +Addison and Steele, who beguiled themselves over their "dish of tea." +The beverage soon became a necessity of life--a taxable matter. We are +reminded in this connection what an important part it plays in modern +history. Colonial America resigned herself to oppression until human +endurance gave way before the heavy duties laid on Tea. American +independence dates from the throwing of tea-chests into Boston harbour. + +There is a subtle charm in the taste of tea which makes it irresistible +and capable of idealisation. Western humourists were not slow to mingle +the fragrance of their thought with its aroma. It has not the arrogance +of wine, the self-consciousness of coffee, nor the simpering innocence +of cocoa. Already in 1711, says the Spectator: "I would therefore in a +particular manner recommend these my speculations to all well-regulated +families that set apart an hour every morning for tea, bread and butter; +and would earnestly advise them for their good to order this paper to +be punctually served up and to be looked upon as a part of the +tea-equipage." Samuel Johnson draws his own portrait as "a hardened and +shameless tea drinker, who for twenty years diluted his meals with only +the infusion of the fascinating plant; who with tea amused the evening, +with tea solaced the midnight, and with tea welcomed the morning." + +Charles Lamb, a professed devotee, sounded the true note of Teaism when +he wrote that the greatest pleasure he knew was to do a good action by +stealth, and to have it found out by accident. For Teaism is the art of +concealing beauty that you may discover it, of suggesting what you dare +not reveal. It is the noble secret of laughing at yourself, calmly yet +thoroughly, and is thus humour itself,--the smile of philosophy. All +genuine humourists may in this sense be called tea-philosophers, +Thackeray, for instance, and of course, Shakespeare. The poets of the +Decadence (when was not the world in decadence?), in their protests +against materialism, have, to a certain extent, also opened the way to +Teaism. Perhaps nowadays it is our demure contemplation of the Imperfect +that the West and the East can meet in mutual consolation. + +The Taoists relate that at the great beginning of the No-Beginning, +Spirit and Matter met in mortal combat. At last the Yellow Emperor, the +Sun of Heaven, triumphed over Shuhyung, the demon of darkness and earth. +The Titan, in his death agony, struck his head against the solar vault +and shivered the blue dome of jade into fragments. The stars lost their +nests, the moon wandered aimlessly among the wild chasms of the night. +In despair the Yellow Emperor sought far and wide for the repairer of +the Heavens. He had not to search in vain. Out of the Eastern sea rose a +queen, the divine Niuka, horn-crowned and dragon-tailed, resplendent +in her armor of fire. She welded the five-coloured rainbow in her magic +cauldron and rebuilt the Chinese sky. But it is told that Niuka forgot +to fill two tiny crevices in the blue firmament. Thus began the dualism +of love--two souls rolling through space and never at rest until they +join together to complete the universe. Everyone has to build anew his +sky of hope and peace. + +The heaven of modern humanity is indeed shattered in the Cyclopean +struggle for wealth and power. The world is groping in the shadow of +egotism and vulgarity. Knowledge is bought through a bad conscience, +benevolence practiced for the sake of utility. The East and the West, +like two dragons tossed in a sea of ferment, in vain strive to +regain the jewel of life. We need a Niuka again to repair the grand +devastation; we await the great Avatar. Meanwhile, let us have a sip of +tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are +bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. +Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of +things. + + + + +II. The Schools of Tea. + + +Tea is a work of art and needs a master hand to bring out its +noblest qualities. We have good and bad tea, as we have good and bad +paintings--generally the latter. There is no single recipe for making +the perfect tea, as there are no rules for producing a Titian or a +Sesson. Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its +special affinity with water and heat, its own method of telling a story. +The truly beautiful must always be in it. How much do we not suffer +through the constant failure of society to recognise this simple and +fundamental law of art and life; Lichilai, a Sung poet, has sadly +remarked that there were three most deplorable things in the world: the +spoiling of fine youths through false education, the degradation of fine +art through vulgar admiration, and the utter waste of fine tea through +incompetent manipulation. + +Like Art, Tea has its periods and its schools. Its evolution may be +roughly divided into three main stages: the Boiled Tea, the Whipped Tea, +and the Steeped Tea. We moderns belong to the last school. These several +methods of appreciating the beverage are indicative of the spirit of the +age in which they prevailed. For life is an expression, our unconscious +actions the constant betrayal of our innermost thought. Confucius said +that "man hideth not." Perhaps we reveal ourselves too much in small +things because we have so little of the great to conceal. The tiny +incidents of daily routine are as much a commentary of racial ideals as +the highest flight of philosophy or poetry. Even as the difference in +favorite vintage marks the separate idiosyncrasies of different periods +and nationalities of Europe, so the Tea-ideals characterise the +various moods of Oriental culture. The Cake-tea which was boiled, the +Powdered-tea which was whipped, the Leaf-tea which was steeped, mark +the distinct emotional impulses of the Tang, the Sung, and the Ming +dynasties of China. If we were inclined to borrow the much-abused +terminology of art-classification, we might designate them respectively, +the Classic, the Romantic, and the Naturalistic schools of Tea. + +The tea-plant, a native of southern China, was known from very early +times to Chinese botany and medicine. It is alluded to in the classics +under the various names of Tou, Tseh, Chung, Kha, and Ming, and +was highly prized for possessing the virtues of relieving fatigue, +delighting the soul, strengthening the will, and repairing the eyesight. +It was not only administered as an internal dose, but often applied +externally in form of paste to alleviate rheumatic pains. The Taoists +claimed it as an important ingredient of the elixir of immortality. The +Buddhists used it extensively to prevent drowsiness during their long +hours of meditation. + +By the fourth and fifth centuries Tea became a favourite beverage among +the inhabitants of the Yangtse-Kiang valley. It was about this time that +modern ideograph Cha was coined, evidently a corruption of the classic +Tou. The poets of the southern dynasties have left some fragments of +their fervent adoration of the "froth of the liquid jade." Then emperors +used to bestow some rare preparation of the leaves on their high +ministers as a reward for eminent services. Yet the method of drinking +tea at this stage was primitive in the extreme. The leaves were steamed, +crushed in a mortar, made into a cake, and boiled together with rice, +ginger, salt, orange peel, spices, milk, and sometimes with onions! +The custom obtains at the present day among the Thibetans and various +Mongolian tribes, who make a curious syrup of these ingredients. The +use of lemon slices by the Russians, who learned to take tea from the +Chinese caravansaries, points to the survival of the ancient method. + +It needed the genius of the Tang dynasty to emancipate Tea from its +crude state and lead to its final idealization. With Luwuh in the middle +of the eighth century we have our first apostle of tea. He was born +in an age when Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism were seeking mutual +synthesis. The pantheistic symbolism of the time was urging one to +mirror the Universal in the Particular. Luwuh, a poet, saw in the +Tea-service the same harmony and order which reigned through all things. +In his celebrated work, the "Chaking" (The Holy Scripture of Tea) he +formulated the Code of Tea. He has since been worshipped as the tutelary +god of the Chinese tea merchants. + +The "Chaking" consists of three volumes and ten chapters. In the first +chapter Luwuh treats of the nature of the tea-plant, in the second of +the implements for gathering the leaves, in the third of the selection +of the leaves. According to him the best quality of the leaves must have +"creases like the leathern boot of Tartar horsemen, curl like the dewlap +of a mighty bullock, unfold like a mist rising out of a ravine, gleam +like a lake touched by a zephyr, and be wet and soft like fine earth +newly swept by rain." + +The fourth chapter is devoted to the enumeration and description of +the twenty-four members of the tea-equipage, beginning with the tripod +brazier and ending with the bamboo cabinet for containing all these +utensils. Here we notice Luwuh's predilection for Taoist symbolism. Also +it is interesting to observe in this connection the influence of tea +on Chinese ceramics. The Celestial porcelain, as is well known, had +its origin in an attempt to reproduce the exquisite shade of jade, +resulting, in the Tang dynasty, in the blue glaze of the south, and the +white glaze of the north. Luwuh considered the blue as the ideal colour +for the tea-cup, as it lent additional greenness to the beverage, +whereas the white made it look pinkish and distasteful. It was because +he used cake-tea. Later on, when the tea masters of Sung took to the +powdered tea, they preferred heavy bowls of blue-black and dark brown. +The Mings, with their steeped tea, rejoiced in light ware of white +porcelain. + +In the fifth chapter Luwuh describes the method of making tea. +He eliminates all ingredients except salt. He dwells also on the +much-discussed question of the choice of water and the degree of boiling +it. According to him, the mountain spring is the best, the river water +and the spring water come next in the order of excellence. There are +three stages of boiling: the first boil is when the little bubbles +like the eye of fishes swim on the surface; the second boil is when the +bubbles are like crystal beads rolling in a fountain; the third boil +is when the billows surge wildly in the kettle. The Cake-tea is roasted +before the fire until it becomes soft like a baby's arm and is shredded +into powder between pieces of fine paper. Salt is put in the first boil, +the tea in the second. At the third boil, a dipperful of cold water is +poured into the kettle to settle the tea and revive the "youth of the +water." Then the beverage was poured into cups and drunk. O nectar! The +filmy leaflet hung like scaly clouds in a serene sky or floated like +waterlilies on emerald streams. It was of such a beverage that Lotung, a +Tang poet, wrote: "The first cup moistens my lips and throat, the second +cup breaks my loneliness, the third cup searches my barren entrail but +to find therein some five thousand volumes of odd ideographs. The fourth +cup raises a slight perspiration,--all the wrong of life passes away +through my pores. At the fifth cup I am purified; the sixth cup calls me +to the realms of the immortals. The seventh cup--ah, but I could take +no more! I only feel the breath of cool wind that rises in my sleeves. +Where is Horaisan? Let me ride on this sweet breeze and waft away +thither." + +The remaining chapters of the "Chaking" treat of the vulgarity of the +ordinary methods of tea-drinking, a historical summary of illustrious +tea-drinkers, the famous tea plantations of China, the possible +variations of the tea-service and illustrations of the tea-utensils. The +last is unfortunately lost. + +The appearance of the "Chaking" must have created considerable sensation +at the time. Luwuh was befriended by the Emperor Taisung (763-779), and +his fame attracted many followers. Some exquisites were said to have +been able to detect the tea made by Luwuh from that of his disciples. +One mandarin has his name immortalised by his failure to appreciate the +tea of this great master. + +In the Sung dynasty the whipped tea came into fashion and created the +second school of Tea. The leaves were ground to fine powder in a small +stone mill, and the preparation was whipped in hot water by a delicate +whisk made of split bamboo. The new process led to some change in the +tea-equipage of Luwuh, as well as in the choice of leaves. Salt was +discarded forever. The enthusiasm of the Sung people for tea knew no +bounds. Epicures vied with each other in discovering new varieties, and +regular tournaments were held to decide their superiority. The Emperor +Kiasung (1101-1124), who was too great an artist to be a well-behaved +monarch, lavished his treasures on the attainment of rare species. He +himself wrote a dissertation on the twenty kinds of tea, among which he +prizes the "white tea" as of the rarest and finest quality. + +The tea-ideal of the Sungs differed from the Tangs even as their notion +of life differed. They sought to actualize what their predecessors tried +to symbolise. To the Neo-Confucian mind the cosmic law was not reflected +in the phenomenal world, but the phenomenal world was the cosmic law +itself. Aeons were but moments--Nirvana always within grasp. The Taoist +conception that immortality lay in the eternal change permeated all +their modes of thought. It was the process, not the deed, which was +interesting. It was the completing, not the completion, which was really +vital. Man came thus at once face to face with nature. A new meaning +grew into the art of life. The tea began to be not a poetical pastime, +but one of the methods of self-realisation. Wangyucheng eulogised tea +as "flooding his soul like a direct appeal, that its delicate bitterness +reminded him of the aftertaste of a good counsel." Sotumpa wrote of the +strength of the immaculate purity in tea which defied corruption as a +truly virtuous man. Among the Buddhists, the southern Zen sect, which +incorporated so much of Taoist doctrines, formulated an elaborate ritual +of tea. The monks gathered before the image of Bodhi Dharma and +drank tea out of a single bowl with the profound formality of a holy +sacrament. It was this Zen ritual which finally developed into the +Tea-ceremony of Japan in the fifteenth century. + +Unfortunately the sudden outburst of the Mongol tribes in the thirteenth +century which resulted in the devastation and conquest of China under +the barbaric rule of the Yuen Emperors, destroyed all the fruits of +Sung culture. The native dynasty of the Mings which attempted +re-nationalisation in the middle of the fifteenth century was harassed +by internal troubles, and China again fell under the alien rule of the +Manchus in the seventeenth century. Manners and customs changed to leave +no vestige of the former times. The powdered tea is entirely forgotten. +We find a Ming commentator at loss to recall the shape of the tea whisk +mentioned in one of the Sung classics. Tea is now taken by steeping the +leaves in hot water in a bowl or cup. The reason why the Western world +is innocent of the older method of drinking tea is explained by the fact +that Europe knew it only at the close of the Ming dynasty. + +To the latter-day Chinese tea is a delicious beverage, but not an ideal. +The long woes of his country have robbed him of the zest for the meaning +of life. He has become modern, that is to say, old and disenchanted. He +has lost that sublime faith in illusions which constitutes the eternal +youth and vigour of the poets and ancients. He is an eclectic and +politely accepts the traditions of the universe. He toys with Nature, +but does not condescend to conquer or worship her. His Leaf-tea is often +wonderful with its flower-like aroma, but the romance of the Tang and +Sung ceremonials are not to be found in his cup. + +Japan, which followed closely on the footsteps of Chinese civilisation, +has known the tea in all its three stages. As early as the year 729 we +read of the Emperor Shomu giving tea to one hundred monks at his palace +in Nara. The leaves were probably imported by our ambassadors to the +Tang Court and prepared in the way then in fashion. In 801 the monk +Saicho brought back some seeds and planted them in Yeisan. Many +tea-gardens are heard of in succeeding centuries, as well as the delight +of the aristocracy and priesthood in the beverage. The Sung tea reached +us in 1191 with the return of Yeisai-zenji, who went there to study +the southern Zen school. The new seeds which he carried home were +successfully planted in three places, one of which, the Uji district +near Kioto, bears still the name of producing the best tea in the +world. The southern Zen spread with marvelous rapidity, and with it +the tea-ritual and the tea-ideal of the Sung. By the fifteenth century, +under the patronage of the Shogun, Ashikaga-Voshinasa, the tea +ceremony is fully constituted and made into an independent and secular +performance. Since then Teaism is fully established in Japan. The use +of the steeped tea of the later China is comparatively recent among us, +being only known since the middle of the seventeenth century. It has +replaced the powdered tea in ordinary consumption, though the latter +still continues to hold its place as the tea of teas. + +It is in the Japanese tea ceremony that we see the culmination of +tea-ideals. Our successful resistance of the Mongol invasion in 1281 +had enabled us to carry on the Sung movement so disastrously cut off in +China itself through the nomadic inroad. Tea with us became more than +an idealisation of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of +life. The beverage grew to be an excuse for the worship of purity and +refinement, a sacred function at which the host and guest joined to +produce for that occasion the utmost beatitude of the mundane. The +tea-room was an oasis in the dreary waste of existence where +weary travellers could meet to drink from the common spring of +art-appreciation. The ceremony was an improvised drama whose plot was +woven about the tea, the flowers, and the paintings. Not a colour to +disturb the tone of the room, not a sound to mar the rhythm of things, +not a gesture to obtrude on the harmony, not a word to break the +unity of the surroundings, all movements to be performed simply and +naturally--such were the aims of the tea-ceremony. And strangely enough +it was often successful. A subtle philosophy lay behind it all. Teaism +was Taoism in disguise. + + + + +III. Taoism and Zennism + + +The connection of Zennism with tea is proverbial. We have already +remarked that the tea-ceremony was a development of the Zen ritual. The +name of Laotse, the founder of Taoism, is also intimately associated +with the history of tea. It is written in the Chinese school manual +concerning the origin of habits and customs that the ceremony of +offering tea to a guest began with Kwanyin, a well-known disciple of +Laotse, who first at the gate of the Han Pass presented to the "Old +Philosopher" a cup of the golden elixir. We shall not stop to discuss +the authenticity of such tales, which are valuable, however, as +confirming the early use of the beverage by the Taoists. Our interest +in Taoism and Zennism here lies mainly in those ideas regarding life and +art which are so embodied in what we call Teaism. + +It is to be regretted that as yet there appears to be no adequate +presentation of the Taoists and Zen doctrines in any foreign language, +though we have had several laudable attempts. + +Translation is always a treason, and as a Ming author observes, can at +its best be only the reverse side of a brocade,--all the threads are +there, but not the subtlety of colour or design. But, after all, what +great doctrine is there which is easy to expound? The ancient sages +never put their teachings in systematic form. They spoke in paradoxes, +for they were afraid of uttering half-truths. They began by talking like +fools and ended by making their hearers wise. Laotse himself, with his +quaint humour, says, "If people of inferior intelligence hear of the +Tao, they laugh immensely. It would not be the Tao unless they laughed +at it." + +The Tao literally means a Path. It has been severally translated as +the Way, the Absolute, the Law, Nature, Supreme Reason, the Mode. These +renderings are not incorrect, for the use of the term by the Taoists +differs according to the subject-matter of the inquiry. Laotse himself +spoke of it thus: "There is a thing which is all-containing, which was +born before the existence of Heaven and Earth. How silent! How solitary! +It stands alone and changes not. It revolves without danger to itself +and is the mother of the universe. I do not know its name and so call +it the Path. With reluctance I call it the Infinite. Infinity is +the Fleeting, the Fleeting is the Vanishing, the Vanishing is the +Reverting." The Tao is in the Passage rather than the Path. It is the +spirit of Cosmic Change,--the eternal growth which returns upon itself +to produce new forms. It recoils upon itself like the dragon, the +beloved symbol of the Taoists. It folds and unfolds as do the clouds. +The Tao might be spoken of as the Great Transition. Subjectively it is +the Mood of the Universe. Its Absolute is the Relative. + +It should be remembered in the first place that Taoism, like its +legitimate successor Zennism, represents the individualistic trend of +the Southern Chinese mind in contra-distinction to the communism of +Northern China which expressed itself in Confucianism. The Middle +Kingdom is as vast as Europe and has a differentiation of idiosyncrasies +marked by the two great river systems which traverse it. The +Yangtse-Kiang and Hoang-Ho are respectively the Mediterranean and the +Baltic. Even to-day, in spite of centuries of unification, the Southern +Celestial differs in his thoughts and beliefs from his Northern brother +as a member of the Latin race differs from the Teuton. In ancient +days, when communication was even more difficult than at present, and +especially during the feudal period, this difference in thought was +most pronounced. The art and poetry of the one breathes an atmosphere +entirely distinct from that of the other. In Laotse and his followers +and in Kutsugen, the forerunner of the Yangtse-Kiang nature-poets, we +find an idealism quite inconsistent with the prosaic ethical notions of +their contemporary northern writers. Laotse lived five centuries before +the Christian Era. + +The germ of Taoist speculation may be found long before the advent +of Laotse, surnamed the Long-Eared. The archaic records of China, +especially the Book of Changes, foreshadow his thought. But the great +respect paid to the laws and customs of that classic period of Chinese +civilisation which culminated with the establishment of the Chow dynasty +in the sixteenth century B.C., kept the development of individualism +in check for a long while, so that it was not until after the +disintegration of the Chow dynasty and the establishment of innumerable +independent kingdoms that it was able to blossom forth in the luxuriance +of free-thought. Laotse and Soshi (Chuangtse) were both Southerners and +the greatest exponents of the New School. On the other hand, Confucius +with his numerous disciples aimed at retaining ancestral conventions. +Taoism cannot be understood without some knowledge of Confucianism and +vice versa. + +We have said that the Taoist Absolute was the Relative. In ethics the +Taoist railed at the laws and the moral codes of society, for to +them right and wrong were but relative terms. Definition is always +limitation--the "fixed" and "unchangeless" are but terms expressive of +a stoppage of growth. Said Kuzugen,--"The Sages move the world." Our +standards of morality are begotten of the past needs of society, but is +society to remain always the same? The observance of communal traditions +involves a constant sacrifice of the individual to the state. Education, +in order to keep up the mighty delusion, encourages a species of +ignorance. People are not taught to be really virtuous, but to behave +properly. We are wicked because we are frightfully self-conscious. We +nurse a conscience because we are afraid to tell the truth to others; +we take refuge in pride because we are afraid to tell the truth to +ourselves. How can one be serious with the world when the world itself +is so ridiculous! The spirit of barter is everywhere. Honour and +Chastity! Behold the complacent salesman retailing the Good and True. +One can even buy a so-called Religion, which is really but common +morality sanctified with flowers and music. Rob the Church of her +accessories and what remains behind? Yet the trusts thrive marvelously, +for the prices are absurdly cheap,--a prayer for a ticket to heaven, +a diploma for an honourable citizenship. Hide yourself under a bushel +quickly, for if your real usefulness were known to the world you would +soon be knocked down to the highest bidder by the public auctioneer. Why +do men and women like to advertise themselves so much? Is it not but an +instinct derived from the days of slavery? + +The virility of the idea lies not less in its power of breaking through +contemporary thought than in its capacity for dominating subsequent +movements. Taoism was an active power during the Shin dynasty, that +epoch of Chinese unification from which we derive the name China. It +would be interesting had we time to note its influence on contemporary +thinkers, the mathematicians, writers on law and war, the mystics and +alchemists and the later nature-poets of the Yangtse-Kiang. We should +not even ignore those speculators on Reality who doubted whether a white +horse was real because he was white, or because he was solid, nor the +Conversationalists of the Six dynasties who, like the Zen philosophers, +revelled in discussions concerning the Pure and the Abstract. Above all +we should pay homage to Taoism for what it has done toward the formation +of the Celestial character, giving to it a certain capacity for reserve +and refinement as "warm as jade." Chinese history is full of instances +in which the votaries of Taoism, princes and hermits alike, followed +with varied and interesting results the teachings of their creed. The +tale will not be without its quota of instruction and amusement. It will +be rich in anecdotes, allegories, and aphorisms. We would fain be on +speaking terms with the delightful emperor who never died because he had +never lived. We may ride the wind with Liehtse and find it absolutely +quiet because we ourselves are the wind, or dwell in mid-air with the +Aged one of the Hoang-Ho, who lived betwixt Heaven and Earth because +he was subject to neither the one nor the other. Even in that grotesque +apology for Taoism which we find in China at the present day, we can +revel in a wealth of imagery impossible to find in any other cult. + +But the chief contribution of Taoism to Asiatic life has been in the +realm of aesthetics. Chinese historians have always spoken of Taoism +as the "art of being in the world," for it deals with the +present--ourselves. It is in us that God meets with Nature, and +yesterday parts from to-morrow. The Present is the moving Infinity, +the legitimate sphere of the Relative. Relativity seeks Adjustment; +Adjustment is Art. The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to +our surroundings. Taoism accepts the mundane as it is and, unlike the +Confucians or the Buddhists, tries to find beauty in our world of woe +and worry. The Sung allegory of the Three Vinegar Tasters explains +admirably the trend of the three doctrines. Sakyamuni, Confucius, and +Laotse once stood before a jar of vinegar--the emblem of life--and each +dipped in his finger to taste the brew. The matter-of-fact Confucius +found it sour, the Buddha called it bitter, and Laotse pronounced it +sweet. + +The Taoists claimed that the comedy of life could be made more +interesting if everyone would preserve the unities. To keep the +proportion of things and give place to others without losing one's own +position was the secret of success in the mundane drama. We must know +the whole play in order to properly act our parts; the conception of +totality must never be lost in that of the individual. This Laotse +illustrates by his favourite metaphor of the Vacuum. He claimed that +only in vacuum lay the truly essential. The reality of a room, for +instance, was to be found in the vacant space enclosed by the roof and +the walls, not in the roof and walls themselves. The usefulness of a +water pitcher dwelt in the emptiness where water might be put, not in +the form of the pitcher or the material of which it was made. Vacuum +is all potent because all containing. In vacuum alone motion becomes +possible. One who could make of himself a vacuum into which others might +freely enter would become master of all situations. The whole can always +dominate the part. + +These Taoists' ideas have greatly influenced all our theories of action, +even to those of fencing and wrestling. Jiu-jitsu, the Japanese art of +self-defence, owes its name to a passage in the Tao-teking. In +jiu-jitsu one seeks to draw out and exhaust the enemy's strength by +non-resistance, vacuum, while conserving one's own strength for victory +in the final struggle. In art the importance of the same principle is +illustrated by the value of suggestion. In leaving something unsaid +the beholder is given a chance to complete the idea and thus a great +masterpiece irresistibly rivets your attention until you seem to become +actually a part of it. A vacuum is there for you to enter and fill up +the full measure of your aesthetic emotion. + +He who had made himself master of the art of living was the Real man +of the Taoist. At birth he enters the realm of dreams only to awaken +to reality at death. He tempers his own brightness in order to merge +himself into the obscurity of others. He is "reluctant, as one +who crosses a stream in winter; hesitating as one who fears the +neighbourhood; respectful, like a guest; trembling, like ice that is +about to melt; unassuming, like a piece of wood not yet carved; vacant, +like a valley; formless, like troubled waters." To him the three jewels +of life were Pity, Economy, and Modesty. + +If now we turn our attention to Zennism we shall find that it emphasises +the teachings of Taoism. Zen is a name derived from the Sanscrit word +Dhyana, which signifies meditation. It claims that through consecrated +meditation may be attained supreme self-realisation. Meditation is one +of the six ways through which Buddhahood may be reached, and the Zen +sectarians affirm that Sakyamuni laid special stress on this method +in his later teachings, handing down the rules to his chief disciple +Kashiapa. According to their tradition Kashiapa, the first Zen +patriarch, imparted the secret to Ananda, who in turn passed it on to +successive patriarchs until it reached Bodhi-Dharma, the twenty-eighth. +Bodhi-Dharma came to Northern China in the early half of the sixth +century and was the first patriarch of Chinese Zen. There is much +uncertainty about the history of these patriarchs and their doctrines. +In its philosophical aspect early Zennism seems to have affinity on one +hand to the Indian Negativism of Nagarjuna and on the other to the Gnan +philosophy formulated by Sancharacharya. The first teaching of Zen as +we know it at the present day must be attributed to the sixth Chinese +patriarch Yeno(637-713), founder of Southern Zen, so-called from the +fact of its predominance in Southern China. He is closely followed by +the great Baso(died 788) who made of Zen a living influence in Celestial +life. Hiakujo(719-814) the pupil of Baso, first instituted the Zen +monastery and established a ritual and regulations for its government. +In the discussions of the Zen school after the time of Baso we find the +play of the Yangtse-Kiang mind causing an accession of native modes of +thought in contrast to the former Indian idealism. Whatever sectarian +pride may assert to the contrary one cannot help being impressed by the +similarity of Southern Zen to the teachings of Laotse and the Taoist +Conversationalists. In the Tao-teking we already find allusions to the +importance of self-concentration and the need of properly regulating the +breath--essential points in the practice of Zen meditation. Some of +the best commentaries on the Book of Laotse have been written by Zen +scholars. + +Zennism, like Taoism, is the worship of Relativity. One master defines +Zen as the art of feeling the polar star in the southern sky. Truth can +be reached only through the comprehension of opposites. Again, Zennism, +like Taoism, is a strong advocate of individualism. Nothing is real +except that which concerns the working of our own minds. Yeno, the sixth +patriarch, once saw two monks watching the flag of a pagoda fluttering +in the wind. One said "It is the wind that moves," the other said "It is +the flag that moves"; but Yeno explained to them that the real movement +was neither of the wind nor the flag, but of something within their own +minds. Hiakujo was walking in the forest with a disciple when a hare +scurried off at their approach. "Why does the hare fly from you?" asked +Hiakujo. "Because he is afraid of me," was the answer. "No," said +the master, "it is because you have murderous instinct." The dialogue +recalls that of Soshi (Chaungtse), the Taoist. One day Soshi was walking +on the bank of a river with a friend. "How delightfully the fishes are +enjoying themselves in the water!" exclaimed Soshi. His friend spake +to him thus: "You are not a fish; how do you know that the fishes are +enjoying themselves?" "You are not myself," returned Soshi; "how do you +know that I do not know that the fishes are enjoying themselves?" + +Zen was often opposed to the precepts of orthodox Buddhism even as +Taoism was opposed to Confucianism. To the transcendental insight of +the Zen, words were but an incumbrance to thought; the whole sway of +Buddhist scriptures only commentaries on personal speculation. The +followers of Zen aimed at direct communion with the inner nature of +things, regarding their outward accessories only as impediments to a +clear perception of Truth. It was this love of the Abstract that led +the Zen to prefer black and white sketches to the elaborately coloured +paintings of the classic Buddhist School. Some of the Zen even became +iconoclastic as a result of their endeavor to recognise the Buddha in +themselves rather than through images and symbolism. We find Tankawosho +breaking up a wooden statue of Buddha on a wintry day to make a fire. +"What sacrilege!" said the horror-stricken bystander. "I wish to get +the Shali out of the ashes," calmly rejoined the Zen. "But you certainly +will not get Shali from this image!" was the angry retort, to which +Tanka replied, "If I do not, this is certainly not a Buddha and I +am committing no sacrilege." Then he turned to warm himself over the +kindling fire. + +A special contribution of Zen to Eastern thought was its recognition of +the mundane as of equal importance with the spiritual. It held that +in the great relation of things there was no distinction of small and +great, an atom possessing equal possibilities with the universe. The +seeker for perfection must discover in his own life the reflection +of the inner light. The organisation of the Zen monastery was very +significant of this point of view. To every member, except the abbot, +was assigned some special work in the caretaking of the monastery, and +curiously enough, to the novices was committed the lighter duties, while +to the most respected and advanced monks were given the more irksome +and menial tasks. Such services formed a part of the Zen discipline +and every least action must be done absolutely perfectly. Thus many a +weighty discussion ensued while weeding the garden, paring a turnip, +or serving tea. The whole ideal of Teaism is a result of this Zen +conception of greatness in the smallest incidents of life. Taoism +furnished the basis for aesthetic ideals, Zennism made them practical. + + + + +IV. The Tea-Room + + +To European architects brought up on the traditions of stone and brick +construction, our Japanese method of building with wood and bamboo seems +scarcely worthy to be ranked as architecture. It is but quite recently +that a competent student of Western architecture has recognised and paid +tribute to the remarkable perfection of our great temples. Such being +the case as regards our classic architecture, we could hardly expect the +outsider to appreciate the subtle beauty of the tea-room, its principles +of construction and decoration being entirely different from those of +the West. + +The tea-room (the Sukiya) does not pretend to be other than a mere +cottage--a straw hut, as we call it. The original ideographs for Sukiya +mean the Abode of Fancy. Latterly the various tea-masters substituted +various Chinese characters according to their conception of the +tea-room, and the term Sukiya may signify the Abode of Vacancy or the +Abode of the Unsymmetrical. It is an Abode of Fancy inasmuch as it is an +ephemeral structure built to house a poetic impulse. It is an Abode of +Vacancy inasmuch as it is devoid of ornamentation except for what may +be placed in it to satisfy some aesthetic need of the moment. It is an +Abode of the Unsymmetrical inasmuch as it is consecrated to the worship +of the Imperfect, purposely leaving some thing unfinished for the play +of the imagination to complete. The ideals of Teaism have since the +sixteenth century influenced our architecture to such degree that the +ordinary Japanese interior of the present day, on account of the extreme +simplicity and chasteness of its scheme of decoration, appears to +foreigners almost barren. + +The first independent tea-room was the creation of Senno-Soyeki, +commonly known by his later name of Rikiu, the greatest of all +tea-masters, who, in the sixteenth century, under the patronage of +Taiko-Hideyoshi, instituted and brought to a high state of perfection +the formalities of the Tea-ceremony. The proportions of the tea-room had +been previously determined by Jowo--a famous tea-master of the fifteenth +century. The early tea-room consisted merely of a portion of the +ordinary drawing-room partitioned off by screens for the purpose of +the tea-gathering. The portion partitioned off was called the Kakoi +(enclosure), a name still applied to those tea-rooms which are built +into a house and are not independent constructions. The Sukiya consists +of the tea-room proper, designed to accommodate not more than five +persons, a number suggestive of the saying "more than the Graces and +less than the Muses," an anteroom (midsuya) where the tea utensils are +washed and arranged before being brought in, a portico (machiai) in +which the guests wait until they receive the summons to enter the +tea-room, and a garden path (the roji) which connects the machiai with +the tea-room. The tea-room is unimpressive in appearance. It is smaller +than the smallest of Japanese houses, while the materials used in its +construction are intended to give the suggestion of refined poverty. +Yet we must remember that all this is the result of profound artistic +forethought, and that the details have been worked out with care perhaps +even greater than that expended on the building of the richest palaces +and temples. A good tea-room is more costly than an ordinary mansion, +for the selection of its materials, as well as its workmanship, requires +immense care and precision. Indeed, the carpenters employed by the +tea-masters form a distinct and highly honoured class among artisans, +their work being no less delicate than that of the makers of lacquer +cabinets. + +The tea-room is not only different from any production of Western +architecture, but also contrasts strongly with the classical +architecture of Japan itself. Our ancient noble edifices, whether +secular or ecclesiastical, were not to be despised even as regards +their mere size. The few that have been spared in the disastrous +conflagrations of centuries are still capable of aweing us by the +grandeur and richness of their decoration. Huge pillars of wood from two +to three feet in diameter and from thirty to forty feet high, supported, +by a complicated network of brackets, the enormous beams which groaned +under the weight of the tile-covered roofs. The material and mode of +construction, though weak against fire, proved itself strong against +earthquakes, and was well suited to the climatic conditions of the +country. In the Golden Hall of Horiuji and the Pagoda of Yakushiji, we +have noteworthy examples of the durability of our wooden architecture. +These buildings have practically stood intact for nearly twelve +centuries. The interior of the old temples and palaces was profusely +decorated. In the Hoodo temple at Uji, dating from the tenth century, we +can still see the elaborate canopy and gilded baldachinos, many-coloured +and inlaid with mirrors and mother-of-pearl, as well as remains of the +paintings and sculpture which formerly covered the walls. Later, +at Nikko and in the Nijo castle in Kyoto, we see structural beauty +sacrificed to a wealth of ornamentation which in colour and exquisite +detail equals the utmost gorgeousness of Arabian or Moorish effort. + +The simplicity and purism of the tea-room resulted from emulation of +the Zen monastery. A Zen monastery differs from those of other Buddhist +sects inasmuch as it is meant only to be a dwelling place for the monks. +Its chapel is not a place of worship or pilgrimage, but a college +room where the students congregate for discussion and the practice +of meditation. The room is bare except for a central alcove in which, +behind the altar, is a statue of Bodhi Dharma, the founder of the sect, +or of Sakyamuni attended by Kashiapa and Ananda, the two earliest Zen +patriarchs. On the altar, flowers and incense are offered up in the +memory of the great contributions which these sages made to Zen. We +have already said that it was the ritual instituted by the Zen monks +of successively drinking tea out of a bowl before the image of Bodhi +Dharma, which laid the foundations of the tea-ceremony. We might +add here that the altar of the Zen chapel was the prototype of the +Tokonoma,--the place of honour in a Japanese room where paintings and +flowers are placed for the edification of the guests. + +All our great tea-masters were students of Zen and attempted to +introduce the spirit of Zennism into the actualities of life. Thus the +room, like the other equipments of the tea-ceremony, reflects many of +the Zen doctrines. The size of the orthodox tea-room, which is four mats +and a half, or ten feet square, is determined by a passage in the Sutra +of Vikramadytia. In that interesting work, Vikramadytia welcomes the +Saint Manjushiri and eighty-four thousand disciples of Buddha in a room +of this size,--an allegory based on the theory of the non-existence of +space to the truly enlightened. Again the roji, the garden path which +leads from the machiai to the tea-room, signified the first stage of +meditation,--the passage into self-illumination. The roji was intended +to break connection with the outside world, and produce a fresh +sensation conducive to the full enjoyment of aestheticism in the +tea-room itself. One who has trodden this garden path cannot fail to +remember how his spirit, as he walked in the twilight of evergreens over +the regular irregularities of the stepping stones, beneath which lay +dried pine needles, and passed beside the moss-covered granite lanterns, +became uplifted above ordinary thoughts. One may be in the midst of a +city, and yet feel as if he were in the forest far away from the dust +and din of civilisation. Great was the ingenuity displayed by the +tea-masters in producing these effects of serenity and purity. The +nature of the sensations to be aroused in passing through the roji +differed with different tea-masters. Some, like Rikiu, aimed at utter +loneliness, and claimed the secret of making a roji was contained in the +ancient ditty: + + "I look beyond; + Flowers are not, + Nor tinted leaves. + On the sea beach + A solitary cottage stands + In the waning light + Of an autumn eve." + +Others, like Kobori-Enshiu, sought for a different effect. Enshiu said +the idea of the garden path was to be found in the following verses: + + "A cluster of summer trees, + A bit of the sea, + A pale evening moon." + +It is not difficult to gather his meaning. He wished to create the +attitude of a newly awakened soul still lingering amid shadowy dreams of +the past, yet bathing in the sweet unconsciousness of a mellow spiritual +light, and yearning for the freedom that lay in the expanse beyond. + +Thus prepared the guest will silently approach the sanctuary, and, if +a samurai, will leave his sword on the rack beneath the eaves, the +tea-room being preeminently the house of peace. Then he will bend low +and creep into the room through a small door not more than three feet +in height. This proceeding was incumbent on all guests,--high and low +alike,--and was intended to inculcate humility. The order of precedence +having been mutually agreed upon while resting in the machiai, the +guests one by one will enter noiselessly and take their seats, first +making obeisance to the picture or flower arrangement on the tokonoma. +The host will not enter the room until all the guests have seated +themselves and quiet reigns with nothing to break the silence save the +note of the boiling water in the iron kettle. The kettle sings well, for +pieces of iron are so arranged in the bottom as to produce a peculiar +melody in which one may hear the echoes of a cataract muffled by clouds, +of a distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rainstorm sweeping through +a bamboo forest, or of the soughing of pines on some faraway hill. + +Even in the daytime the light in the room is subdued, for the low eaves +of the slanting roof admit but few of the sun's rays. Everything is +sober in tint from the ceiling to the floor; the guests themselves have +carefully chosen garments of unobtrusive colors. The mellowness of age +is over all, everything suggestive of recent acquirement being tabooed +save only the one note of contrast furnished by the bamboo dipper and +the linen napkin, both immaculately white and new. However faded the +tea-room and the tea-equipage may seem, everything is absolutely clean. +Not a particle of dust will be found in the darkest corner, for if any +exists the host is not a tea-master. One of the first requisites of a +tea-master is the knowledge of how to sweep, clean, and wash, for there +is an art in cleaning and dusting. A piece of antique metal work must +not be attacked with the unscrupulous zeal of the Dutch housewife. +Dripping water from a flower vase need not be wiped away, for it may be +suggestive of dew and coolness. + +In this connection there is a story of Rikiu which well illustrates the +ideas of cleanliness entertained by the tea-masters. Rikiu was watching +his son Shoan as he swept and watered the garden path. "Not clean +enough," said Rikiu, when Shoan had finished his task, and bade him try +again. After a weary hour the son turned to Rikiu: "Father, there is +nothing more to be done. The steps have been washed for the third time, +the stone lanterns and the trees are well sprinkled with water, moss and +lichens are shining with a fresh verdure; not a twig, not a leaf have I +left on the ground." "Young fool," chided the tea-master, "that is not +the way a garden path should be swept." Saying this, Rikiu stepped into +the garden, shook a tree and scattered over the garden gold and crimson +leaves, scraps of the brocade of autumn! What Rikiu demanded was not +cleanliness alone, but the beautiful and the natural also. + +The name, Abode of Fancy, implies a structure created to meet some +individual artistic requirement. The tea-room is made for the tea +master, not the tea-master for the tea-room. It is not intended for +posterity and is therefore ephemeral. The idea that everyone should have +a house of his own is based on an ancient custom of the Japanese race, +Shinto superstition ordaining that every dwelling should be evacuated +on the death of its chief occupant. Perhaps there may have been some +unrealized sanitary reason for this practice. Another early custom +was that a newly built house should be provided for each couple that +married. It is on account of such customs that we find the Imperial +capitals so frequently removed from one site to another in ancient days. +The rebuilding, every twenty years, of Ise Temple, the supreme shrine of +the Sun-Goddess, is an example of one of these ancient rites which still +obtain at the present day. The observance of these customs was only +possible with some form of construction as that furnished by our system +of wooden architecture, easily pulled down, easily built up. A more +lasting style, employing brick and stone, would have rendered migrations +impracticable, as indeed they became when the more stable and massive +wooden construction of China was adopted by us after the Nara period. + +With the predominance of Zen individualism in the fifteenth century, +however, the old idea became imbued with a deeper significance as +conceived in connection with the tea-room. Zennism, with the Buddhist +theory of evanescence and its demands for the mastery of spirit over +matter, recognized the house only as a temporary refuge for the body. +The body itself was but as a hut in the wilderness, a flimsy shelter +made by tying together the grasses that grew around,--when these ceased +to be bound together they again became resolved into the original waste. +In the tea-room fugitiveness is suggested in the thatched roof, frailty +in the slender pillars, lightness in the bamboo support, apparent +carelessness in the use of commonplace materials. The eternal is to be +found only in the spirit which, embodied in these simple surroundings, +beautifies them with the subtle light of its refinement. + +That the tea-room should be built to suit some individual taste is +an enforcement of the principle of vitality in art. Art, to be fully +appreciated, must be true to contemporaneous life. It is not that we +should ignore the claims of posterity, but that we should seek to enjoy +the present more. It is not that we should disregard the creations +of the past, but that we should try to assimilate them into our +consciousness. Slavish conformity to traditions and formulas fetters the +expression of individuality in architecture. We can but weep over the +senseless imitations of European buildings which one beholds in modern +Japan. We marvel why, among the most progressive Western nations, +architecture should be so devoid of originality, so replete with +repetitions of obsolete styles. Perhaps we are passing through an age of +democratisation in art, while awaiting the rise of some princely master +who shall establish a new dynasty. Would that we loved the ancients +more and copied them less! It has been said that the Greeks were great +because they never drew from the antique. + +The term, Abode of Vacancy, besides conveying the Taoist theory of the +all-containing, involves the conception of a continued need of change +in decorative motives. The tea-room is absolutely empty, except for what +may be placed there temporarily to satisfy some aesthetic mood. Some +special art object is brought in for the occasion, and everything else +is selected and arranged to enhance the beauty of the principal theme. +One cannot listen to different pieces of music at the same time, a real +comprehension of the beautiful being possible only through concentration +upon some central motive. Thus it will be seen that the system of +decoration in our tea-rooms is opposed to that which obtains in the +West, where the interior of a house is often converted into a museum. +To a Japanese, accustomed to simplicity of ornamentation and frequent +change of decorative method, a Western interior permanently filled with +a vast array of pictures, statuary, and bric-a-brac gives the impression +of mere vulgar display of riches. It calls for a mighty wealth of +appreciation to enjoy the constant sight of even a masterpiece, and +limitless indeed must be the capacity for artistic feeling in those who +can exist day after day in the midst of such confusion of color and form +as is to be often seen in the homes of Europe and America. + +The "Abode of the Unsymmetrical" suggests another phase of our +decorative scheme. The absence of symmetry in Japanese art objects has +been often commented on by Western critics. This, also, is a result of +a working out through Zennism of Taoist ideals. Confucianism, with its +deep-seated idea of dualism, and Northern Buddhism with its worship of +a trinity, were in no way opposed to the expression of symmetry. As +a matter of fact, if we study the ancient bronzes of China or the +religious arts of the Tang dynasty and the Nara period, we shall +recognize a constant striving after symmetry. The decoration of our +classical interiors was decidedly regular in its arrangement. The Taoist +and Zen conception of perfection, however, was different. The dynamic +nature of their philosophy laid more stress upon the process through +which perfection was sought than upon perfection itself. True beauty +could be discovered only by one who mentally completed the incomplete. +The virility of life and art lay in its possibilities for growth. In the +tea-room it is left for each guest in imagination to complete the total +effect in relation to himself. Since Zennism has become the prevailing +mode of thought, the art of the extreme Orient has purposefully avoided +the symmetrical as expressing not only completion, but repetition. +Uniformity of design was considered fatal to the freshness of +imagination. Thus, landscapes, birds, and flowers became the favorite +subjects for depiction rather than the human figure, the latter being +present in the person of the beholder himself. We are often too much in +evidence as it is, and in spite of our vanity even self-regard is apt to +become monotonous. + +In the tea-room the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The +various objects for the decoration of a room should be so selected that +no colour or design shall be repeated. If you have a living flower, a +painting of flowers is not allowable. If you are using a round kettle, +the water pitcher should be angular. A cup with a black glaze should not +be associated with a tea-caddy of black lacquer. In placing a vase of +an incense burner on the tokonoma, care should be taken not to put it in +the exact centre, lest it divide the space into equal halves. The pillar +of the tokonoma should be of a different kind of wood from the other +pillars, in order to break any suggestion of monotony in the room. + +Here again the Japanese method of interior decoration differs from +that of the Occident, where we see objects arrayed symmetrically on +mantelpieces and elsewhere. In Western houses we are often confronted +with what appears to us useless reiteration. We find it trying to talk +to a man while his full-length portrait stares at us from behind his +back. We wonder which is real, he of the picture or he who talks, and +feel a curious conviction that one of them must be fraud. Many a time +have we sat at a festive board contemplating, with a secret shock to our +digestion, the representation of abundance on the dining-room walls. +Why these pictured victims of chase and sport, the elaborate carvings +of fishes and fruit? Why the display of family plates, reminding us of +those who have dined and are dead? + +The simplicity of the tea-room and its freedom from vulgarity make it +truly a sanctuary from the vexations of the outer world. There and +there alone one can consecrate himself to undisturbed adoration of the +beautiful. In the sixteenth century the tea-room afforded a welcome +respite from labour to the fierce warriors and statesmen engaged in the +unification and reconstruction of Japan. In the seventeenth century, +after the strict formalism of the Tokugawa rule had been developed, it +offered the only opportunity possible for the free communion of artistic +spirits. Before a great work of art there was no distinction between +daimyo, samurai, and commoner. Nowadays industrialism is making true +refinement more and more difficult all the world over. Do we not need +the tea-room more than ever? + + + + +V. Art Appreciation + + +Have you heard the Taoist tale of the Taming of the Harp? + +Once in the hoary ages in the Ravine of Lungmen stood a Kiri tree, a +veritable king of the forest. It reared its head to talk to the stars; +its roots struck deep into the earth, mingling their bronzed coils with +those of the silver dragon that slept beneath. And it came to pass that +a mighty wizard made of this tree a wondrous harp, whose stubborn +spirit should be tamed but by the greatest of musicians. For long the +instrument was treasured by the Emperor of China, but all in vain were +the efforts of those who in turn tried to draw melody from its strings. +In response to their utmost strivings there came from the harp but harsh +notes of disdain, ill-according with the songs they fain would sing. The +harp refused to recognise a master. + +At last came Peiwoh, the prince of harpists. With tender hand he +caressed the harp as one might seek to soothe an unruly horse, and +softly touched the chords. He sang of nature and the seasons, of high +mountains and flowing waters, and all the memories of the tree awoke! +Once more the sweet breath of spring played amidst its branches. The +young cataracts, as they danced down the ravine, laughed to the budding +flowers. Anon were heard the dreamy voices of summer with its myriad +insects, the gentle pattering of rain, the wail of the cuckoo. Hark! +a tiger roars,--the valley answers again. It is autumn; in the desert +night, sharp like a sword gleams the moon upon the frosted grass. Now +winter reigns, and through the snow-filled air swirl flocks of swans and +rattling hailstones beat upon the boughs with fierce delight. + +Then Peiwoh changed the key and sang of love. The forest swayed like an +ardent swain deep lost in thought. On high, like a haughty maiden, +swept a cloud bright and fair; but passing, trailed long shadows on the +ground, black like despair. Again the mode was changed; Peiwoh sang of +war, of clashing steel and trampling steeds. And in the harp arose +the tempest of Lungmen, the dragon rode the lightning, the thundering +avalanche crashed through the hills. In ecstasy the Celestial monarch +asked Peiwoh wherein lay the secret of his victory. "Sire," he replied, +"others have failed because they sang but of themselves. I left the harp +to choose its theme, and knew not truly whether the harp had been Peiwoh +or Peiwoh were the harp." + +This story well illustrates the mystery of art appreciation. The +masterpiece is a symphony played upon our finest feelings. True art is +Peiwoh, and we the harp of Lungmen. At the magic touch of the beautiful +the secret chords of our being are awakened, we vibrate and thrill in +response to its call. Mind speaks to mind. We listen to the unspoken, +we gaze upon the unseen. The master calls forth notes we know not of. +Memories long forgotten all come back to us with a new significance. +Hopes stifled by fear, yearnings that we dare not recognise, stand forth +in new glory. Our mind is the canvas on which the artists lay their +colour; their pigments are our emotions; their chiaroscuro the light of +joy, the shadow of sadness. The masterpiece is of ourselves, as we are +of the masterpiece. + +The sympathetic communion of minds necessary for art appreciation must +be based on mutual concession. The spectator must cultivate the proper +attitude for receiving the message, as the artist must know how to +impart it. The tea-master, Kobori-Enshiu, himself a daimyo, has left +to us these memorable words: "Approach a great painting as thou wouldst +approach a great prince." In order to understand a masterpiece, you +must lay yourself low before it and await with bated breath its least +utterance. An eminent Sung critic once made a charming confession. Said +he: "In my young days I praised the master whose pictures I liked, but +as my judgement matured I praised myself for liking what the masters had +chosen to have me like." It is to be deplored that so few of us really +take pains to study the moods of the masters. In our stubborn ignorance +we refuse to render them this simple courtesy, and thus often miss the +rich repast of beauty spread before our very eyes. A master has always +something to offer, while we go hungry solely because of our own lack of +appreciation. + +To the sympathetic a masterpiece becomes a living reality towards which +we feel drawn in bonds of comradeship. The masters are immortal, for +their loves and fears live in us over and over again. It is rather +the soul than the hand, the man than the technique, which appeals to +us,--the more human the call the deeper is our response. It is because +of this secret understanding between the master and ourselves that +in poetry or romance we suffer and rejoice with the hero and heroine. +Chikamatsu, our Japanese Shakespeare, has laid down as one of the first +principles of dramatic composition the importance of taking the audience +into the confidence of the author. Several of his pupils submitted plays +for his approval, but only one of the pieces appealed to him. It was a +play somewhat resembling the Comedy of Errors, in which twin brethren +suffer through mistaken identity. "This," said Chikamatsu, "has +the proper spirit of the drama, for it takes the audience into +consideration. The public is permitted to know more than the actors. It +knows where the mistake lies, and pities the poor figures on the board +who innocently rush to their fate." + +The great masters both of the East and the West never forgot the value +of suggestion as a means for taking the spectator into their confidence. +Who can contemplate a masterpiece without being awed by the immense +vista of thought presented to our consideration? How familiar and +sympathetic are they all; how cold in contrast the modern commonplaces! +In the former we feel the warm outpouring of a man's heart; in the +latter only a formal salute. Engrossed in his technique, the modern +rarely rises above himself. Like the musicians who vainly invoked the +Lungmen harp, he sings only of himself. His works may be nearer science, +but are further from humanity. We have an old saying in Japan that a +woman cannot love a man who is truly vain, for their is no crevice in +his heart for love to enter and fill up. In art vanity is equally fatal +to sympathetic feeling, whether on the part of the artist or the public. + +Nothing is more hallowing than the union of kindred spirits in art. At +the moment of meeting, the art lover transcends himself. At once he is +and is not. He catches a glimpse of Infinity, but words cannot voice his +delight, for the eye has no tongue. Freed from the fetters of matter, +his spirit moves in the rhythm of things. It is thus that art becomes +akin to religion and ennobles mankind. It is this which makes a +masterpiece something sacred. In the old days the veneration in +which the Japanese held the work of the great artist was intense. The +tea-masters guarded their treasures with religious secrecy, and it was +often necessary to open a whole series of boxes, one within another, +before reaching the shrine itself--the silken wrapping within whose soft +folds lay the holy of holies. Rarely was the object exposed to view, and +then only to the initiated. + +At the time when Teaism was in the ascendency the Taiko's generals would +be better satisfied with the present of a rare work of art than a large +grant of territory as a reward of victory. Many of our favourite dramas +are based on the loss and recovery of a noted masterpiece. For instance, +in one play the palace of Lord Hosokawa, in which was preserved the +celebrated painting of Dharuma by Sesson, suddenly takes fire through +the negligence of the samurai in charge. Resolved at all hazards to +rescue the precious painting, he rushes into the burning building and +seizes the kakemono, only to find all means of exit cut off by the +flames. Thinking only of the picture, he slashes open his body with his +sword, wraps his torn sleeve about the Sesson and plunges it into the +gaping wound. The fire is at last extinguished. Among the smoking embers +is found a half-consumed corpse, within which reposes the treasure +uninjured by the fire. Horrible as such tales are, they illustrate the +great value that we set upon a masterpiece, as well as the devotion of a +trusted samurai. + +We must remember, however, that art is of value only to the extent that +it speaks to us. It might be a universal language if we ourselves were +universal in our sympathies. Our finite nature, the power of tradition +and conventionality, as well as our hereditary instincts, restrict the +scope of our capacity for artistic enjoyment. Our very individuality +establishes in one sense a limit to our understanding; and our aesthetic +personality seeks its own affinities in the creations of the past. It is +true that with cultivation our sense of art appreciation broadens, +and we become able to enjoy many hitherto unrecognised expressions of +beauty. But, after all, we see only our own image in the universe,--our +particular idiosyncracies dictate the mode of our perceptions. The +tea-masters collected only objects which fell strictly within the +measure of their individual appreciation. + +One is reminded in this connection of a story concerning Kobori-Enshiu. +Enshiu was complimented by his disciples on the admirable taste he had +displayed in the choice of his collection. Said they, "Each piece is +such that no one could help admiring. It shows that you had better taste +than had Rikiu, for his collection could only be appreciated by one +beholder in a thousand." Sorrowfully Enshiu replied: "This only proves +how commonplace I am. The great Rikiu dared to love only those objects +which personally appealed to him, whereas I unconsciously cater to +the taste of the majority. Verily, Rikiu was one in a thousand among +tea-masters." + +It is much to be regretted that so much of the apparent enthusiasm +for art at the present day has no foundation in real feeling. In this +democratic age of ours men clamour for what is popularly considered +the best, regardless of their feelings. They want the costly, not +the refined; the fashionable, not the beautiful. To the masses, +contemplation of illustrated periodicals, the worthy product of +their own industrialism, would give more digestible food for artistic +enjoyment than the early Italians or the Ashikaga masters, whom they +pretend to admire. The name of the artist is more important to them than +the quality of the work. As a Chinese critic complained many centuries +ago, "People criticise a picture by their ear." It is this lack of +genuine appreciation that is responsible for the pseudo-classic horrors +that to-day greet us wherever we turn. + +Another common mistake is that of confusing art with archaeology. The +veneration born of antiquity is one of the best traits in the human +character, and fain would we have it cultivated to a greater extent. The +old masters are rightly to be honoured for opening the path to future +enlightenment. The mere fact that they have passed unscathed through +centuries of criticism and come down to us still covered with glory +commands our respect. But we should be foolish indeed if we valued their +achievement simply on the score of age. Yet we allow our historical +sympathy to override our aesthetic discrimination. We offer flowers of +approbation when the artist is safely laid in his grave. The nineteenth +century, pregnant with the theory of evolution, has moreover created +in us the habit of losing sight of the individual in the species. A +collector is anxious to acquire specimens to illustrate a period or a +school, and forgets that a single masterpiece can teach us more than any +number of the mediocre products of a given period or school. We classify +too much and enjoy too little. The sacrifice of the aesthetic to the +so-called scientific method of exhibition has been the bane of many +museums. + +The claims of contemporary art cannot be ignored in any vital scheme of +life. The art of to-day is that which really belongs to us: it is our +own reflection. In condemning it we but condemn ourselves. We say that +the present age possesses no art:--who is responsible for this? It is +indeed a shame that despite all our rhapsodies about the ancients we pay +so little attention to our own possibilities. Struggling artists, weary +souls lingering in the shadow of cold disdain! In our self-centered +century, what inspiration do we offer them? The past may well look with +pity at the poverty of our civilisation; the future will laugh at the +barrenness of our art. We are destroying the beautiful in life. Would +that some great wizard might from the stem of society shape a mighty +harp whose strings would resound to the touch of genius. + + + + +VI. Flowers + +In the trembling grey of a spring dawn, when the birds were whispering +in mysterious cadence among the trees, have you not felt that they +were talking to their mates about the flowers? Surely with mankind the +appreciation of flowers must have been coeval with the poetry of love. +Where better than in a flower, sweet in its unconsciousness, fragrant +because of its silence, can we image the unfolding of a virgin soul? +The primeval man in offering the first garland to his maiden thereby +transcended the brute. He became human in thus rising above the crude +necessities of nature. He entered the realm of art when he perceived the +subtle use of the useless. + +In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends. We eat, drink, +sing, dance, and flirt with them. We wed and christen with flowers. We +dare not die without them. We have worshipped with the lily, we have +meditated with the lotus, we have charged in battle array with the rose +and the chrysanthemum. We have even attempted to speak in the language +of flowers. How could we live without them? It frightens one to conceive +of a world bereft of their presence. What solace do they not bring to +the bedside of the sick, what a light of bliss to the darkness of weary +spirits? Their serene tenderness restores to us our waning confidence +in the universe even as the intent gaze of a beautiful child recalls our +lost hopes. When we are laid low in the dust it is they who linger in +sorrow over our graves. + +Sad as it is, we cannot conceal the fact that in spite of our +companionship with flowers we have not risen very far above the brute. +Scratch the sheepskin and the wolf within us will soon show his teeth. +It has been said that a man at ten is an animal, at twenty a lunatic, at +thirty a failure, at forty a fraud, and at fifty a criminal. Perhaps he +becomes a criminal because he has never ceased to be an animal. Nothing +is real to us but hunger, nothing sacred except our own desires. Shrine +after shrine has crumbled before our eyes; but one altar is forever +preserved, that whereon we burn incense to the supreme idol,--ourselves. +Our god is great, and money is his Prophet! We devastate nature in order +to make sacrifice to him. We boast that we have conquered Matter and +forget that it is Matter that has enslaved us. What atrocities do we not +perpetrate in the name of culture and refinement! + +Tell me, gentle flowers, teardrops of the stars, standing in the +garden, nodding your heads to the bees as they sing of the dews and the +sunbeams, are you aware of the fearful doom that awaits you? Dream on, +sway and frolic while you may in the gentle breezes of summer. To-morrow +a ruthless hand will close around your throats. You will be wrenched, +torn asunder limb by limb, and borne away from your quiet homes. The +wretch, she may be passing fair. She may say how lovely you are while +her fingers are still moist with your blood. Tell me, will this be +kindness? It may be your fate to be imprisoned in the hair of one whom +you know to be heartless or to be thrust into the buttonhole of one who +would not dare to look you in the face were you a man. It may even be +your lot to be confined in some narrow vessel with only stagnant water +to quench the maddening thirst that warns of ebbing life. + +Flowers, if you were in the land of the Mikado, you might some time +meet a dread personage armed with scissors and a tiny saw. He would call +himself a Master of Flowers. He would claim the rights of a doctor and +you would instinctively hate him, for you know a doctor always seeks to +prolong the troubles of his victims. He would cut, bend, and twist +you into those impossible positions which he thinks it proper that you +should assume. He would contort your muscles and dislocate your bones +like any osteopath. He would burn you with red-hot coals to stop your +bleeding, and thrust wires into you to assist your circulation. He would +diet you with salt, vinegar, alum, and sometimes, vitriol. Boiling water +would be poured on your feet when you seemed ready to faint. It would +be his boast that he could keep life within you for two or more weeks +longer than would have been possible without his treatment. Would you +not have preferred to have been killed at once when you were first +captured? What were the crimes you must have committed during your past +incarnation to warrant such punishment in this? + +The wanton waste of flowers among Western communities is even more +appalling than the way they are treated by Eastern Flower Masters. The +number of flowers cut daily to adorn the ballrooms and banquet-tables of +Europe and America, to be thrown away on the morrow, must be something +enormous; if strung together they might garland a continent. Beside +this utter carelessness of life, the guilt of the Flower-Master becomes +insignificant. He, at least, respects the economy of nature, selects +his victims with careful foresight, and after death does honour to their +remains. In the West the display of flowers seems to be a part of the +pageantry of wealth,--the fancy of a moment. Whither do they all go, +these flowers, when the revelry is over? Nothing is more pitiful than to +see a faded flower remorselessly flung upon a dung heap. + +Why were the flowers born so beautiful and yet so hapless? Insects can +sting, and even the meekest of beasts will fight when brought to bay. +The birds whose plumage is sought to deck some bonnet can fly from its +pursuer, the furred animal whose coat you covet for your own may hide +at your approach. Alas! The only flower known to have wings is the +butterfly; all others stand helpless before the destroyer. If they +shriek in their death agony their cry never reaches our hardened ears. +We are ever brutal to those who love and serve us in silence, but the +time may come when, for our cruelty, we shall be deserted by these best +friends of ours. Have you not noticed that the wild flowers are becoming +scarcer every year? It may be that their wise men have told them to +depart till man becomes more human. Perhaps they have migrated to +heaven. + +Much may be said in favor of him who cultivates plants. The man of the +pot is far more humane than he of the scissors. We watch with delight +his concern about water and sunshine, his feuds with parasites, his +horror of frosts, his anxiety when the buds come slowly, his rapture +when the leaves attain their lustre. In the East the art of floriculture +is a very ancient one, and the loves of a poet and his favorite plant +have often been recorded in story and song. With the development +of ceramics during the Tang and Sung dynasties we hear of wonderful +receptacles made to hold plants, not pots, but jewelled palaces. A +special attendant was detailed to wait upon each flower and to wash +its leaves with soft brushes made of rabbit hair. It has been written +["Pingtse", by Yuenchunlang] that the peony should be bathed by a +handsome maiden in full costume, that a winter-plum should be watered +by a pale, slender monk. In Japan, one of the most popular of the +No-dances, the Hachinoki, composed during the Ashikaga period, is based +upon the story of an impoverished knight, who, on a freezing night, in +lack of fuel for a fire, cuts his cherished plants in order to entertain +a wandering friar. The friar is in reality no other than Hojo-Tokiyori, +the Haroun-Al-Raschid of our tales, and the sacrifice is not without its +reward. This opera never fails to draw tears from a Tokio audience even +to-day. + +Great precautions were taken for the preservation of delicate blossoms. +Emperor Huensung, of the Tang Dynasty, hung tiny golden bells on the +branches in his garden to keep off the birds. He it was who went off in +the springtime with his court musicians to gladden the flowers with soft +music. A quaint tablet, which tradition ascribes to Yoshitsune, the +hero of our Arthurian legends, is still extant in one of the Japanese +monasteries [Sumadera, near Kobe]. It is a notice put up for the +protection of a certain wonderful plum-tree, and appeals to us with +the grim humour of a warlike age. After referring to the beauty of the +blossoms, the inscription says: "Whoever cuts a single branch of this +tree shall forfeit a finger therefor." Would that such laws could +be enforced nowadays against those who wantonly destroy flowers and +mutilate objects of art! + +Yet even in the case of pot flowers we are inclined to suspect the +selfishness of man. Why take the plants from their homes and ask them to +bloom mid strange surroundings? Is it not like asking the birds to sing +and mate cooped up in cages? Who knows but that the orchids feel stifled +by the artificial heat in your conservatories and hopelessly long for a +glimpse of their own Southern skies? + +The ideal lover of flowers is he who visits them in their native haunts, +like Taoyuenming [all celebrated Chinese poets and philosophers], +who sat before a broken bamboo fence in converse with the wild +chrysanthemum, or Linwosing, losing himself amid mysterious fragrance as +he wandered in the twilight among the plum-blossoms of the Western +Lake. 'Tis said that Chowmushih slept in a boat so that his dreams might +mingle with those of the lotus. It was the same spirit which moved the +Empress Komio, one of our most renowned Nara sovereigns, as she sang: +"If I pluck thee, my hand will defile thee, O flower! Standing in the +meadows as thou art, I offer thee to the Buddhas of the past, of the +present, of the future." + +However, let us not be too sentimental. Let us be less luxurious but +more magnificent. Said Laotse: "Heaven and earth are pitiless." Said +Kobodaishi: "Flow, flow, flow, flow, the current of life is ever onward. +Die, die, die, die, death comes to all." Destruction faces us wherever +we turn. Destruction below and above, destruction behind and before. +Change is the only Eternal,--why not as welcome Death as Life? They are +but counterparts one of the other,--The Night and Day of Brahma. Through +the disintegration of the old, re-creation becomes possible. We have +worshipped Death, the relentless goddess of mercy, under many different +names. It was the shadow of the All-devouring that the Gheburs greeted +in the fire. It is the icy purism of the sword-soul before which +Shinto-Japan prostrates herself even to-day. The mystic fire consumes +our weakness, the sacred sword cleaves the bondage of desire. From our +ashes springs the phoenix of celestial hope, out of the freedom comes a +higher realisation of manhood. + +Why not destroy flowers if thereby we can evolve new forms ennobling the +world idea? We only ask them to join in our sacrifice to the beautiful. +We shall atone for the deed by consecrating ourselves to Purity and +Simplicity. Thus reasoned the tea-masters when they established the Cult +of Flowers. + +Anyone acquainted with the ways of our tea- and flower-masters must have +noticed the religious veneration with which they regard flowers. They +do not cull at random, but carefully select each branch or spray with an +eye to the artistic composition they have in mind. They would be ashamed +should they chance to cut more than were absolutely necessary. It may +be remarked in this connection that they always associate the leaves, +if there be any, with the flower, for the object is to present the whole +beauty of plant life. In this respect, as in many others, their method +differs from that pursued in Western countries. Here we are apt to +see only the flower stems, heads as it were, without body, stuck +promiscuously into a vase. + +When a tea-master has arranged a flower to his satisfaction he will +place it on the tokonoma, the place of honour in a Japanese room. +Nothing else will be placed near it which might interfere with its +effect, not even a painting, unless there be some special aesthetic +reason for the combination. It rests there like an enthroned prince, +and the guests or disciples on entering the room will salute it with a +profound bow before making their addresses to the host. Drawings from +masterpieces are made and published for the edification of amateurs. The +amount of literature on the subject is quite voluminous. When the flower +fades, the master tenderly consigns it to the river or carefully buries +it in the ground. Monuments are sometimes erected to their memory. + +The birth of the Art of Flower Arrangement seems to be simultaneous with +that of Teaism in the fifteenth century. Our legends ascribe the first +flower arrangement to those early Buddhist saints who gathered the +flowers strewn by the storm and, in their infinite solicitude for all +living things, placed them in vessels of water. It is said that Soami, +the great painter and connoisseur of the court of Ashikaga-Yoshimasa, +was one of the earliest adepts at it. Juko, the tea-master, was one of +his pupils, as was also Senno, the founder of the house of Ikenobo, a +family as illustrious in the annals of flowers as was that of the Kanos +in painting. With the perfecting of the tea-ritual under Rikiu, in the +latter part of the sixteenth century, flower arrangement also attains +its full growth. Rikiu and his successors, the celebrated Oda-wuraka, +Furuka-Oribe, Koyetsu, Kobori-Enshiu, Katagiri-Sekishiu, vied with each +other in forming new combinations. We must remember, however, that the +flower-worship of the tea-masters formed only a part of their aesthetic +ritual, and was not a distinct religion by itself. A flower arrangement, +like the other works of art in the tea-room, was subordinated to the +total scheme of decoration. Thus Sekishiu ordained that white plum +blossoms should not be made use of when snow lay in the garden. +"Noisy" flowers were relentlessly banished from the tea-room. A flower +arrangement by a tea-master loses its significance if removed from +the place for which it was originally intended, for its lines +and proportions have been specially worked out with a view to its +surroundings. + +The adoration of the flower for its own sake begins with the rise of +"Flower-Masters," toward the middle of the seventeenth century. It now +becomes independent of the tea-room and knows no law save that the +vase imposes on it. New conceptions and methods of execution now become +possible, and many were the principles and schools resulting therefrom. +A writer in the middle of the last century said he could count over one +hundred different schools of flower arrangement. Broadly speaking, +these divide themselves into two main branches, the Formalistic and the +Naturalesque. The Formalistic schools, led by the Ikenobos, aimed at +a classic idealism corresponding to that of the Kano-academicians. We +possess records of arrangements by the early masters of the school which +almost reproduce the flower paintings of Sansetsu and Tsunenobu. The +Naturalesque school, on the other hand, accepted nature as its model, +only imposing such modifications of form as conduced to the expression +of artistic unity. Thus we recognise in its works the same impulses +which formed the Ukiyoe and Shijo schools of painting. + +It would be interesting, had we time, to enter more fully than it is +now possible into the laws of composition and detail formulated by +the various flower-masters of this period, showing, as they would, the +fundamental theories which governed Tokugawa decoration. We find them +referring to the Leading Principle (Heaven), the Subordinate Principle +(Earth), the Reconciling Principle (Man), and any flower arrangement +which did not embody these principles was considered barren and dead. +They also dwelt much on the importance of treating a flower in its three +different aspects, the Formal, the Semi-Formal, and the Informal. The +first might be said to represent flowers in the stately costume of the +ballroom, the second in the easy elegance of afternoon dress, the third +in the charming deshabille of the boudoir. + +Our personal sympathies are with the flower-arrangements of the +tea-master rather than with those of the flower-master. The former +is art in its proper setting and appeals to us on account of its true +intimacy with life. We should like to call this school the Natural +in contradistinction to the Naturalesque and Formalistic schools. The +tea-master deems his duty ended with the selection of the flowers, and +leaves them to tell their own story. Entering a tea-room in late winter, +you may see a slender spray of wild cherries in combination with a +budding camellia; it is an echo of departing winter coupled with +the prophecy of spring. Again, if you go into a noon-tea on some +irritatingly hot summer day, you may discover in the darkened coolness +of the tokonoma a single lily in a hanging vase; dripping with dew, it +seems to smile at the foolishness of life. + +A solo of flowers is interesting, but in a concerto with painting and +sculpture the combination becomes entrancing. Sekishiu once placed some +water-plants in a flat receptacle to suggest the vegetation of lakes and +marshes, and on the wall above he hung a painting by Soami of wild ducks +flying in the air. Shoha, another tea-master, combined a poem on the +Beauty of Solitude by the Sea with a bronze incense burner in the form +of a fisherman's hut and some wild flowers of the beach. One of the +guests has recorded that he felt in the whole composition the breath of +waning autumn. + +Flower stories are endless. We shall recount but one more. In the +sixteenth century the morning-glory was as yet a rare plant with us. +Rikiu had an entire garden planted with it, which he cultivated with +assiduous care. The fame of his convulvuli reached the ear of the Taiko, +and he expressed a desire to see them, in consequence of which Rikiu +invited him to a morning tea at his house. On the appointed day Taiko +walked through the garden, but nowhere could he see any vestige of the +convulvulus. The ground had been leveled and strewn with fine pebbles and +sand. With sullen anger the despot entered the tea-room, but a sight +waited him there which completely restored his humour. On the tokonoma, +in a rare bronze of Sung workmanship, lay a single morning-glory--the +queen of the whole garden! + +In such instances we see the full significance of the Flower Sacrifice. +Perhaps the flowers appreciate the full significance of it. They are not +cowards, like men. Some flowers glory in death--certainly the Japanese +cherry blossoms do, as they freely surrender themselves to the winds. +Anyone who has stood before the fragrant avalanche at Yoshino or +Arashiyama must have realized this. For a moment they hover like +bejewelled clouds and dance above the crystal streams; then, as they +sail away on the laughing waters, they seem to say: "Farewell, O Spring! +We are on to eternity." + + + + +VII. Tea-Masters + + +In religion the Future is behind us. In art the present is the eternal. +The tea-masters held that real appreciation of art is only possible to +those who make of it a living influence. Thus they sought to regulate +their daily life by the high standard of refinement which obtained +in the tea-room. In all circumstances serenity of mind should be +maintained, and conversation should be conducted as never to mar the +harmony of the surroundings. The cut and color of the dress, the poise +of the body, and the manner of walking could all be made expressions of +artistic personality. These were matters not to be lightly ignored, for +until one has made himself beautiful he has no right to approach beauty. +Thus the tea-master strove to be something more than the artist,--art +itself. It was the Zen of aestheticism. Perfection is everywhere if +we only choose to recognise it. Rikiu loved to quote an old poem +which says: "To those who long only for flowers, fain would I show +the full-blown spring which abides in the toiling buds of snow-covered +hills." + +Manifold indeed have been the contributions of the tea-masters to art. +They completely revolutionised the classical architecture and interior +decorations, and established the new style which we have described in +the chapter of the tea-room, a style to whose influence even the palaces +and monasteries built after the sixteenth century have all been subject. +The many-sided Kobori-Enshiu has left notable examples of his genius in +the Imperial villa of Katsura, the castles of Nagoya and Nijo, and the +monastery of Kohoan. All the celebrated gardens of Japan were laid out +by the tea-masters. Our pottery would probably never have attained its +high quality of excellence if the tea-masters had not lent it to their +inspiration, the manufacture of the utensils used in the tea-ceremony +calling forth the utmost expenditure of ingenuity on the parts of our +ceramists. The Seven Kilns of Enshiu are well known to all students +of Japanese pottery. Many of our textile fabrics bear the names of +tea-masters who conceived their color or design. It is impossible, +indeed, to find any department of art in which the tea-masters have +not left marks of their genius. In painting and lacquer it seems almost +superfluous to mention the immense services they have rendered. One +of the greatest schools of painting owes its origin to the tea-master +Honnami-Koyetsu, famed also as a lacquer artist and potter. Beside +his works, the splendid creation of his grandson, Koho, and of his +grand-nephews, Korin and Kenzan, almost fall into the shade. The whole +Korin school, as it is generally designated, is an expression of Teaism. +In the broad lines of this school we seem to find the vitality of nature +herself. + +Great as has been the influence of the tea-masters in the field of art, +it is as nothing compared to that which they have exerted on the conduct +of life. Not only in the usages of polite society, but also in the +arrangement of all our domestic details, do we feel the presence of the +tea-masters. Many of our delicate dishes, as well as our way of serving +food, are their inventions. They have taught us to dress only in +garments of sober colors. They have instructed us in the proper spirit +in which to approach flowers. They have given emphasis to our natural +love of simplicity, and shown us the beauty of humility. In fact, +through their teachings tea has entered the life of the people. + +Those of us who know not the secret of properly regulating our own +existence on this tumultuous sea of foolish troubles which we call life +are constantly in a state of misery while vainly trying to appear happy +and contented. We stagger in the attempt to keep our moral equilibrium, +and see forerunners of the tempest in every cloud that floats on the +horizon. Yet there is joy and beauty in the roll of billows as they +sweep outward toward eternity. Why not enter into their spirit, or, like +Liehtse, ride upon the hurricane itself? + +He only who has lived with the beautiful can die beautifully. The last +moments of the great tea-masters were as full of exquisite refinement +as had been their lives. Seeking always to be in harmony with the great +rhythm of the universe, they were ever prepared to enter the unknown. +The "Last Tea of Rikiu" will stand forth forever as the acme of tragic +grandeur. + +Long had been the friendship between Rikiu and the Taiko-Hideyoshi, and +high the estimation in which the great warrior held the tea-master. But +the friendship of a despot is ever a dangerous honour. It was an age +rife with treachery, and men trusted not even their nearest kin. Rikiu +was no servile courtier, and had often dared to differ in argument with +his fierce patron. Taking advantage of the coldness which had for some +time existed between the Taiko and Rikiu, the enemies of the latter +accused him of being implicated in a conspiracy to poison the despot. It +was whispered to Hideyoshi that the fatal potion was to be administered +to him with a cup of the green beverage prepared by the tea-master. With +Hideyoshi suspicion was sufficient ground for instant execution, and +there was no appeal from the will of the angry ruler. One privilege +alone was granted to the condemned--the honor of dying by his own hand. + +On the day destined for his self-immolation, Rikiu invited his chief +disciples to a last tea-ceremony. Mournfully at the appointed time the +guests met at the portico. As they look into the garden path the trees +seem to shudder, and in the rustling of their leaves are heard the +whispers of homeless ghosts. Like solemn sentinels before the gates of +Hades stand the grey stone lanterns. A wave of rare incense is wafted +from the tea-room; it is the summons which bids the guests to enter. +One by one they advance and take their places. In the tokonoma hangs +a kakemon,--a wonderful writing by an ancient monk dealing with the +evanescence of all earthly things. The singing kettle, as it boils over +the brazier, sounds like some cicada pouring forth his woes to departing +summer. Soon the host enters the room. Each in turn is served with +tea, and each in turn silently drains his cup, the host last of all. +According to established etiquette, the chief guest now asks permission +to examine the tea-equipage. Rikiu places the various articles before +them, with the kakemono. After all have expressed admiration of their +beauty, Rikiu presents one of them to each of the assembled company as a +souvenir. The bowl alone he keeps. "Never again shall this cup, polluted +by the lips of misfortune, be used by man." He speaks, and breaks the +vessel into fragments. + +The ceremony is over; the guests with difficulty restraining their +tears, take their last farewell and leave the room. One only, the +nearest and dearest, is requested to remain and witness the end. Rikiu +then removes his tea-gown and carefully folds it upon the mat, thereby +disclosing the immaculate white death robe which it had hitherto +concealed. Tenderly he gazes on the shining blade of the fatal dagger, +and in exquisite verse thus addresses it: + + "Welcome to thee, + O sword of eternity! + Through Buddha + And through + Dharuma alike + Thou hast cleft thy way." + +With a smile upon his face Rikiu passed forth into the unknown. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Book of Tea, by Kakuzo Okakura + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOOK OF TEA *** + +***** This file should be named 769.txt or 769.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/6/769/ + +Produced by Matthew and Gabrielle Harbowy + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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