September 2, 2025 • 22 mins
The Book of Tea, written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century, is a profound exploration of the art and philosophy surrounding tea in Japanese culture. First published in 1906, this timeless work has captivated readers across generations. Kakuzo introduces the concept of Teaism, illustrating how tea has permeated nearly every aspect of Japanese life, from thought to aesthetics. His unique background‚being born and raised in Japan yet fluent in English‚allows him to bridge cultural gaps, making the book accessible to Western readers. Within its pages, he delves into the intersections of Zen, Taoism, and the secular dimensions of tea culture, emphasizing the simplicity that Teaism imparts. This simplicity, he argues, has profoundly influenced Japanese art and architecture. The book culminates with insightful reflections on the Tea Masters, particularly Sen no Rikyu, and his pivotal role in shaping the Japanese Tea Ceremony. (Summary from Wikipedia)
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This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Book of Ta by Okaku
Da Kakuzo, Chapter four, The tea Room. To European architects
(00:25):
brought up on the traditions of stone and brick construction,
our Japanese method of building with wooden bamboo seems scarcely
worthy to be ranked as architecture. It is but quite
recently that a competent student of Western architecture has recognized
and paid tribute to the remarkable perfection of our great temples.
Such being the case as regards our classic architecture, we
(00:48):
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 idiographs for sukiya mean the abode of fancy. Latterly,
(01:13):
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.
(01:33):
It is an abode of vacancy inasmuch as it is
devoid of ornamentation, except for what may be placed in
it to satisfy some esthetic need of the moment. It
is an abode of the unsymmetrical inasmuch as it is
consecrated to the worship of the imperfect, purposely leaving something
unfinished for the play of the imagination to complete. The
(01:56):
ideals of teaism have since the sixteenth century in blouin
star architecture, to such a 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
(02:20):
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
(02:43):
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 Kakhoi 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
(03:06):
than five persons, a number suggestive of the saying more
than the graces and less than the muses, an ante
room mitsuya, where the tea utensils are washed and arranged
before 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
(03:29):
with the tea room. The tea room is unimpressive in
its 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,
(03:50):
and 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 tar teaom 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
(04:13):
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
(04:37):
their mere size. The few that have been spared in
the disastrous conflagrations of centuries are still capable of eyeing
as by their grandeur and richness of their decorations. 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 that enormous beams which grow owned
(05:00):
under the weight of the tile covered slanting roofs. The
materials and mode of construction, though weak against fire, proved
itself strong against earthquakes and was well suited to the
climactic conditions of the country. In the golden hull of
hod Yuji and the pagoda of Yakshiji, we have noteworthy
examples of the durability of our wooden architecture. These buildings
(05:24):
have practically stood intact for nearly twelve centuries. The interior
of the old temples and palaces was profusely decorated. In
the Holdo Temple at Uji, dating from the tenth century,
we can see the elaborate canopy and gilded baldachinos, many
colored and inlaid with mirrors and mother of pearl, as
(05:45):
well as the 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 in which color and exquisite detail
is equals the utmost gorgeousness of Arabian or Moorish effort.
The simplicity and purism of the tea room resulted from
(06:08):
the emulation of the Zen monastery. A Zen monastery differs
from those of other Buddhists sects inasmuch as it is
meant to be only 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
(06:28):
for a central alcove, in which, behind the altar is
a statue of the Bodhidharma, the founder of the sect
or of Sakyamuni, attended by Kashiappa and Ananda, the two
earliest Zen patriarchs. On the altar, Flowers and incense are
offered up in memory of the great contributions which these
sages made to Zen. We have already said that it
(06:52):
was the ritual instituted by the Zen mugs of successively
drinking tea out of a bowl before the image of Bodhidharma,
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 honor in
a Japanese room where paintings and flowers are placed for
(07:12):
the edification of the guests. All our great tea masters
were students of Zen and attempted to introduce the spirit
of Zenism into the actualities of life. Thus, the room,
like the other equipments of the tea ceremony, reflect many
of the Zen doctrines. The size of the Orthodox tea room,
which is formats and a half or ten feet square,
(07:34):
is determined by the passage in the Sutra of Vikramaditia,
and that interesting work Vikramaditia welcomes the Saint Manjusheti and
eighty four thousand disciples of Buddha into a room of
this size, an allegory based on the theory of non
existence of space. To the truly enlightened again, the Roji
the garden path which leaves from the machiai to the
(07:55):
tea room, signified the first stage of meditation, the passage
into self illumination, though dorogy was intended to break connection
with the outside world and to 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
(08:18):
the twilight of evergreens, over the irregular 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 civilization. Great was
(08:40):
the ingenuity displayed by the tea masters in producing these
efforts of serenity and purity. The nature of the sensations
to be aroused in passing through the dorogi differed with
different tea masters. Some, like Rique, aimed at utter loneliness
and claimed the secret of making eurogi was candained in
(09:00):
the ancient ditty I looked beyond flowers are not nor
tinted leaves. On the sea beach, A solitary cottage stands
in the waiting light of an autumn eve. Others, like
Kobori Enshu, sought for a different effect. Enshiu said that
the idea of the garden path was to be found
(09:22):
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
(09:45):
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 pre eminently 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.
(10:05):
This proceeding was incumbent on all guests high and low alike,
and was intended to inculate 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 obsessence to the picture or flower
arrangement on the tokonoma. The host will not enter the
(10:27):
room until all the guests have seated themselves and quiet reins,
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 the cataract muffled by clouds of
(10:47):
the distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rain storm
sweeping through the bamboo forest, or the sowing of pines
on some far away 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.
(11:09):
The guests themselves have carefully chosen garments of unobtrusive colors.
The mellowness of age is overall, everything suggestive of recent
acquirement being tabooed, save only the one note of contrast,
furnished by a bamboo dipper and the linen napkin, both
immaculately white and new, however faded. The tea room and
(11:31):
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 the tea master is
the knowledge of how to sweep, clean and wash, for
there is an art in cleaning and dusting. A piece
(11:54):
of antique metal work must not be attacked with the
unscrupulous seal 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
(12:17):
his son show on as he swept through 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 sun returned 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
(12:40):
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
(13:01):
demanded was not cleanliness alone, but the most 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
(13:26):
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.
(13:47):
It is on account of such customs that we find
the Imperial capital so frequently moved from one site to
another in ancient days. The rebuilding every twenty years of
the es Temple the Supreme Shine of the Sun Goddess
is an example of one of these ancient rites which
still obtain at the present day. The observance of these
(14:07):
customs was only possible with some such 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
(14:28):
of China was adopted by us after the Nada 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. Zenism, with the
Buddhist theory of effanescence, in its demands for the mastery
(14:49):
of spirit over matter, recognized the house as only a
temporary refuge for the body. The body itself was, but
as a hut in the wilderness, a flimsy shelter made
by Tyn das 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
(15:10):
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 is embodied in these simple surroundings,
beautifies them with the subtle light of its refinement. That
(15:30):
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
(15:52):
the past, but that we should try to assimilate them
into our consciousness. Slavish conformity to traditions and formulas fetters
the expression of individuality and architecture. We can but weep
over the senseless imitations of European buildings, which one beholds
in modern Japan. We wonder why, among the most progressive
(16:12):
Western nations, architecture should be so devoid of originality, so
replete with repetitions of obsolete styles. Perhaps we are now
passing through an age of democratization in art, while awaiting
the rise of some princely master who shall establish a
new dynasty. Would that we loved the ancients more and
(16:33):
copy 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
(16:54):
satisfy some esthetic 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
(17:17):
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
(17:39):
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 limited, 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 houses of Europe. In America, the abode of
(18:02):
the unsymmetrical suggests another phase of our decorative scheme. The
absence of symmetry in Japanese art objects has often been
commented on my Western critics. This also is a result
of a working out through Zenism of Taoist ideas, Confucianism
with its deep seated idea of dualism, and Northern Buddhism,
(18:23):
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 Nada period,
we shall recognize a constant striving after symmetry. The decoration
of our classical interiors was decidedly regular in its arrangement.
(18:47):
The Daoist 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
(19:07):
in its possibilities for growth. In the tea room, it
is left for each guest in imagination to complete the
total effort in realization to himself. Since Zenism has become
the prevailing mode of thought, the art of the extreme
orient has purposely avoided the symmetrical, as expressing not only
completion but repetition. Uniformity of design was considered as fatal
(19:33):
to the freshness of imagination. Thus, landscapes, birds, and flowers
became the favorite subjects for the 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,
(19:55):
the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The various
objects for the decoration of a room should be selected
that no color 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
(20:15):
not be associated with a tea caddy of black lacquer.
In placing a vase or incense burner on the tokonoma,
care should be taken not to put it in the
exact center, 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,
(20:38):
the Japanese method of interior decoration differs from that of
the oxidant, where we see objects arranged symmetrically on mantelpieces,
and elsewhere in Western houses, we are often confronted with
what appears to be 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
(21:01):
is real, he of the picture or he who talks,
and feels a curious conviction that one of them must
be a fraud. Many a time have we sat on
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 chasen sport, the elaborate carvings of
(21:22):
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 can one consecrate himself
to the undisturbed adoration of the beautiful. In the sixteenth century,
(21:47):
the tea room afforded a welcome respite from labor to
the fierce warriors and statesmen engaged in the unification and
reconstruction of Japan in the seventeenth century, after the strict
formalization of the Tokogua rule had been developed. It offered
the only opportunity possible for the free communication of artistic spirits.
(22:07):
Before a great work of art, there was no distinction
between daimyo, samurdai and commoner. Nowadays, industrialism is making our
true refinement more and more difficult all the world over.
Do we not need a tea room more than ever?
This is the end of part four of the Book
of Ta by Okakua Kakuzo, recorded October tenth, two thousand
(22:32):
and six in Olga, Washington,
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Book of Ta by Okaku
Da Kakuzo, Chapter four, The tea Room. To European architects
(00:25):
brought up on the traditions of stone and brick construction,
our Japanese method of building with wooden bamboo seems scarcely
worthy to be ranked as architecture. It is but quite
recently that a competent student of Western architecture has recognized
and paid tribute to the remarkable perfection of our great temples.
Such being the case as regards our classic architecture, we
(00:48):
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 idiographs for sukiya mean the abode of fancy. Latterly,
(01:13):
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.
(01:33):
It is an abode of vacancy inasmuch as it is
devoid of ornamentation, except for what may be placed in
it to satisfy some esthetic need of the moment. It
is an abode of the unsymmetrical inasmuch as it is
consecrated to the worship of the imperfect, purposely leaving something
unfinished for the play of the imagination to complete. The
(01:56):
ideals of teaism have since the sixteenth century in blouin
star architecture, to such a 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
(02:20):
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
(02:43):
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 Kakhoi 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
(03:06):
than five persons, a number suggestive of the saying more
than the graces and less than the muses, an ante
room mitsuya, where the tea utensils are washed and arranged
before 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
(03:29):
with the tea room. The tea room is unimpressive in
its 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,
(03:50):
and 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 tar teaom 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
(04:13):
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
(04:37):
their mere size. The few that have been spared in
the disastrous conflagrations of centuries are still capable of eyeing
as by their grandeur and richness of their decorations. 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 that enormous beams which grow owned
(05:00):
under the weight of the tile covered slanting roofs. The
materials and mode of construction, though weak against fire, proved
itself strong against earthquakes and was well suited to the
climactic conditions of the country. In the golden hull of
hod Yuji and the pagoda of Yakshiji, we have noteworthy
examples of the durability of our wooden architecture. These buildings
(05:24):
have practically stood intact for nearly twelve centuries. The interior
of the old temples and palaces was profusely decorated. In
the Holdo Temple at Uji, dating from the tenth century,
we can see the elaborate canopy and gilded baldachinos, many
colored and inlaid with mirrors and mother of pearl, as
(05:45):
well as the 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 in which color and exquisite detail
is equals the utmost gorgeousness of Arabian or Moorish effort.
The simplicity and purism of the tea room resulted from
(06:08):
the emulation of the Zen monastery. A Zen monastery differs
from those of other Buddhists sects inasmuch as it is
meant to be only 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
(06:28):
for a central alcove, in which, behind the altar is
a statue of the Bodhidharma, the founder of the sect
or of Sakyamuni, attended by Kashiappa and Ananda, the two
earliest Zen patriarchs. On the altar, Flowers and incense are
offered up in memory of the great contributions which these
sages made to Zen. We have already said that it
(06:52):
was the ritual instituted by the Zen mugs of successively
drinking tea out of a bowl before the image of Bodhidharma,
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 honor in
a Japanese room where paintings and flowers are placed for
(07:12):
the edification of the guests. All our great tea masters
were students of Zen and attempted to introduce the spirit
of Zenism into the actualities of life. Thus, the room,
like the other equipments of the tea ceremony, reflect many
of the Zen doctrines. The size of the Orthodox tea room,
which is formats and a half or ten feet square,
(07:34):
is determined by the passage in the Sutra of Vikramaditia,
and that interesting work Vikramaditia welcomes the Saint Manjusheti and
eighty four thousand disciples of Buddha into a room of
this size, an allegory based on the theory of non
existence of space. To the truly enlightened again, the Roji
the garden path which leaves from the machiai to the
(07:55):
tea room, signified the first stage of meditation, the passage
into self illumination, though dorogy was intended to break connection
with the outside world and to 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
(08:18):
the twilight of evergreens, over the irregular 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 civilization. Great was
(08:40):
the ingenuity displayed by the tea masters in producing these
efforts of serenity and purity. The nature of the sensations
to be aroused in passing through the dorogi differed with
different tea masters. Some, like Rique, aimed at utter loneliness
and claimed the secret of making eurogi was candained in
(09:00):
the ancient ditty I looked beyond flowers are not nor
tinted leaves. On the sea beach, A solitary cottage stands
in the waiting light of an autumn eve. Others, like
Kobori Enshu, sought for a different effect. Enshiu said that
the idea of the garden path was to be found
(09:22):
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
(09:45):
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 pre eminently 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.
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This proceeding was incumbent on all guests high and low alike,
and was intended to inculate 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 obsessence to the picture or flower
arrangement on the tokonoma. The host will not enter the
(10:27):
room until all the guests have seated themselves and quiet reins,
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 the cataract muffled by clouds of
(10:47):
the distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rain storm
sweeping through the bamboo forest, or the sowing of pines
on some far away 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.
(11:09):
The guests themselves have carefully chosen garments of unobtrusive colors.
The mellowness of age is overall, everything suggestive of recent
acquirement being tabooed, save only the one note of contrast,
furnished by a bamboo dipper and the linen napkin, both
immaculately white and new, however faded. The tea room and
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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 the tea master is
the knowledge of how to sweep, clean and wash, for
there is an art in cleaning and dusting. A piece
(11:54):
of antique metal work must not be attacked with the
unscrupulous seal 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
(12:17):
his son show on as he swept through 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 sun returned 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
(12:40):
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
(13:01):
demanded was not cleanliness alone, but the most 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
(13:26):
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.
(13:47):
It is on account of such customs that we find
the Imperial capital so frequently moved from one site to
another in ancient days. The rebuilding every twenty years of
the es Temple the Supreme Shine of the Sun Goddess
is an example of one of these ancient rites which
still obtain at the present day. The observance of these
(14:07):
customs was only possible with some such 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
(14:28):
of China was adopted by us after the Nada 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. Zenism, with the
Buddhist theory of effanescence, in its demands for the mastery
(14:49):
of spirit over matter, recognized the house as only a
temporary refuge for the body. The body itself was, but
as a hut in the wilderness, a flimsy shelter made
by Tyn das 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
(15:10):
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 is embodied in these simple surroundings,
beautifies them with the subtle light of its refinement. That
(15:30):
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
(15:52):
the past, but that we should try to assimilate them
into our consciousness. Slavish conformity to traditions and formulas fetters
the expression of individuality and architecture. We can but weep
over the senseless imitations of European buildings, which one beholds
in modern Japan. We wonder why, among the most progressive
(16:12):
Western nations, architecture should be so devoid of originality, so
replete with repetitions of obsolete styles. Perhaps we are now
passing through an age of democratization in art, while awaiting
the rise of some princely master who shall establish a
new dynasty. Would that we loved the ancients more and
(16:33):
copy 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
(16:54):
satisfy some esthetic 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
(17:17):
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
(17:39):
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 limited, 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 houses of Europe. In America, the abode of
(18:02):
the unsymmetrical suggests another phase of our decorative scheme. The
absence of symmetry in Japanese art objects has often been
commented on my Western critics. This also is a result
of a working out through Zenism of Taoist ideas, Confucianism
with its deep seated idea of dualism, and Northern Buddhism,
(18:23):
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 Nada period,
we shall recognize a constant striving after symmetry. The decoration
of our classical interiors was decidedly regular in its arrangement.
(18:47):
The Daoist 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
(19:07):
in its possibilities for growth. In the tea room, it
is left for each guest in imagination to complete the
total effort in realization to himself. Since Zenism has become
the prevailing mode of thought, the art of the extreme
orient has purposely avoided the symmetrical, as expressing not only
completion but repetition. Uniformity of design was considered as fatal
(19:33):
to the freshness of imagination. Thus, landscapes, birds, and flowers
became the favorite subjects for the 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,
(19:55):
the fear of repetition is a constant presence. The various
objects for the decoration of a room should be selected
that no color 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
(20:15):
not be associated with a tea caddy of black lacquer.
In placing a vase or incense burner on the tokonoma,
care should be taken not to put it in the
exact center, 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,
(20:38):
the Japanese method of interior decoration differs from that of
the oxidant, where we see objects arranged symmetrically on mantelpieces,
and elsewhere in Western houses, we are often confronted with
what appears to be 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
(21:01):
is real, he of the picture or he who talks,
and feels a curious conviction that one of them must
be a fraud. Many a time have we sat on
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 chasen sport, the elaborate carvings of
(21:22):
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 can one consecrate himself
to the undisturbed adoration of the beautiful. In the sixteenth century,
(21:47):
the tea room afforded a welcome respite from labor to
the fierce warriors and statesmen engaged in the unification and
reconstruction of Japan in the seventeenth century, after the strict
formalization of the Tokogua rule had been developed. It offered
the only opportunity possible for the free communication of artistic spirits.
(22:07):
Before a great work of art, there was no distinction
between daimyo, samurdai and commoner. Nowadays, industrialism is making our
true refinement more and more difficult all the world over.
Do we not need a tea room more than ever?
This is the end of part four of the Book
of Ta by Okakua Kakuzo, recorded October tenth, two thousand
(22:32):
and six in Olga, Washington,
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