The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) originated in Southeast Asia, somewhere between north India, north Myanmar, Southwest China and Tibet. Legend has it that Buddha discovered its virtues when a tea leaf fell into a glass of water he was drinking. Another fable tells of the Zen monk Daruma (Bodhidharma), meditating for seven years in a cave. In an attempt not to fall asleep, Daruma plucked his eyelashes and a tea plant then emerged from where they fell on the ground.
In the eighth century, tea was used in China for medicinal purposes, over the years becoming a Chinese favourite. During the Song era (960-1279), Chan (Zen) monks drank tea to relieve fatigue after prolonged meditation. Chan monks also adopted ink painting combining the beauty of nature and the spirit of human enlightenment to produce an abstract form of expression.
Tea seedlings were brought to Japan from China in 1191 by the Buddhist monk Myôan Eisai (1141-1215), one of the Fathers of Zen in Japan. Subsequently, the Japanese adopted all art forms related to tea, including ceramic bowls, ink paintings, architecture, gardens etc. In the 15th century, preparing and serving tea reached a particularly high form of art. Japanese connoisseurs developed the art of tea as a way of life – the “Way of Tea” (sadô, or chadô). They set rules for socializing, where the host prepared tea for selected guests. Gradually these social events took on cultural and aesthetic characteristics that contributed to the development of arts. The “Way of Tea,” known in the West as the tea ceremony, developed along two different lines – the elegant tea ceremony which was customary among the aristocracy and took place in the presence of many guests in magnificent buildings and gardens; and the humble tea ceremony, led primarily by Zen monks, stressing the closeness to nature and the beauty of simplicity.
The tea house and its garden were designed by tea masters to provide an appropriate ambience for the event. The structure of the tea house consists of materials taken from nature whose natural quality is preserved to ensure simplicity. Beams and wooden posts are left with their bark untouched and walls, made of clay and straw, are left unpainted. The roof is built from bamboo covered with wood bark or straw. The floor mats (tatami), upon which the guests sit, give off the scent of straw.
Careful attention is paid to every detail in preparing the tea. All the tools in the room have been selected by the host to fulfil a specific purpose. The host enters the room with measured steps. A hanging scroll with painting or calligraphy is displayed in a niche (tokonoma) aside a flower vase. Guests show their appreciation for the artistic creation by bowing in front of the painting before taking their place on the mat. The host sits in front of guests, and in neat and stylized movements pours water into a cauldron placed over hot coals. Once the water is boiled, he prepares a cup of tea from green powder (matcha) for each guest using a stirring brush made of bamboo. The tea bowl is the only object passed by the host to the guests during the tea ceremony. After drinking the tea, the guest then proceeds to examine the beauty of the vessel. All these measures taken in preparing and drinking tea are designed to induce in the hosts and guests a sense of harmony and tranquillity.
Indeed, all the human senses are appealed to in the tea event. The sense of touch is stimulated by the texture of the tatami and the tea bowl served to them; the sense of smell is aroused by the scent of straw and fragrant wood chips sprinkled on the hot coals; the sense of hearing is stirred by the sounds from the garden or the room; the sense of sight is appealed to by the use of the materials used for the tea house, by the surrounding colours and by the presence of objects of art.
Most of the tea bowls on exhibition resemble the aesthetic style and taste of tea masters and Zen monks. Sen no Rikyû (1522-1591), a master of the 'Way of Tea', saw in simplicity and tranquillity a means of aesthetic expression. This approach led to the development of a Japanese style which can be summed up by two main concepts: wabi, meaning a sense of solitude and simplicity, and sabi, which means old, rusty and antique.
These values were the basis of sadô and the creation of suitable ceramic vessels, each of which has a different shape. The tea bowls are characterized by imbalance and roughness. But while they appear as if they have been made by the forces of nature and not by design, they reflect great diversity and imagination and even display a sculptural quality. Evidently, Japanese potters found satisfaction in rough, organic materials and in unsymmetrical shapes that that in no way appear to come from a potter's wheel. In a word, the strength of the tea bowls, especially of the raku, lies their simplicity. They resemble the material from which they were formed, bearing the handprint of the artist who created them.
Raku ceramics originated with the potter Sasaki Chôjirô (1516-1592), who was the son of a Korean immigrant, Ameya Sôkei, a professional maker of roof tiles. Chôjirô, himself, produced the carved decorations for the roofs of temples and other buildings. It is said that that the tea master Sen no Rikyû saw Chôjirô’s works and invited him to create tea ceremony dishes for him under his guidance. Chôjirô’s bowls convey a sense of simplicity and plainness – embodying the wabi aesthetic that Rikyû brought to ultimate perfection.
Many tea masters believe that, of all the Japanese ceramics, raku bowls, and those of Chôjirô, in particular, are the best adapted to the aesthetic requirements of the tea ceremony. This may be because Rikyû personally advised Chôjirô, first making models of the shapes he required out of paper. Indeed, some feel that raku bowls known in the world as the works of Chôjirô are, in fact, an expression of Rikyû’s personal taste. Since Raku bowls are made by hand, not on a wheel, they thus reflect the individuality of each potter.
The preferred clay for raku wares usually came from the Kyoto region. This is a relatively soft clay with iron content to give its strength. The characteristic raku bowl has a rounded body with a slightly inverted rim. While not heavy, the sides are thick, protecting the hands from the hot liquid. Raku is fired at a low temperature, coated with a layer of lead-glaze solution, and usually has the same glaze inside and out, though for some, parts of the outside are left unglazed and fired as bisque. The raku colours are usually red with transparent over glaze, black and sometimes white. The firing process is similar to that for roof tiles, done in a simple kiln with a single chamber that can easily be built in the back yard. Items are fired separately or in small groups. Red glaze is fired at 800°C, black at approximately 1,000°C. Tea bowls with grey-black glaze are especially appropriate to Rikyû’s aesthetics and some rare versions even have their own names. The most famous of these were owned by Rikyû.
The term ‘raku’ came into use when Jokei, from the second generation of raku-makers, received from Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) – who was military governor of Japan at the time - a gold seal bearing the Chinese ideogram ‘raku’, meaning ‘pleasure’ and appearing as the middle syllable of the word ‘Jurakudai’ – the name of Hideyoshi’s palace. The name ‘Raku’ was then adopted by all the artists of the Chôjirô family, and fourteen generations of raku artists have continued to use variations of the same seal up to the present day.
Each raku piece is different. These variations demonstrate the revolution in the concept of the potter, not just as an artisan, but also as an individual creator. Since making raku is relatively easy, many potters outside the raku heritage do so, including Zen monks, artists and tea-ceremony enthusiasts. Raku-yaki is the name given to all pottery that has been made quickly and fired at a low temperature.
The tea bowls in the collection of the Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art bear the seals of Tanyu – from the 9th generation of raku potters; of Ryonyu – from the 10th generation; and of Keinyu – the 11th generation.
During the tea ceremony, much attention is also paid to the scroll hanging in the tokonoma. One is called upon to decipher the written or painted work and its relation to the event. Ink drawings from the Song (960-1279) and early Ming (1644-1368) eras, when monochrome drawing styles were developed in China, were greatly praised by Japanese Zen artists.
The ink drawings, on exhibition, were created by Japanese artists from the 15th to the 20th century. They are typical examples of the artist's approach to the Chinese idealization of their time. The faithful reproduction of the Chinese landscape tradition of the Song era is evident here in the combination of heavy brushstrokes and the choice of a subject that is conducive both to inducing meditation and evoking emotion.
For example, a pool of water with a lone cottage perched above it, mountains shrouded in mist in the background and a scattering of rocks—all this together conveys a serenity of spirit within a setting that also stirs the observer's feelings. Here is a peaceful, rural scene detached from everyday life, where one can find the purity of nature, and contemplate the power of the natural order. The empty spaces in these works express the prevailing sense of isolation expressed by the Song artists. The ideal balance between mountains, trees, and figures is evident. But these works also have a dramatic atmosphere, enhanced by the mists that convey a sense of proportion and perspective. Their realism emphasizes the seasons of the year, bringing the dimension of time to the paintings.
Another type of painting which reached Japan was that of the Zen monks, which ruled supreme in Japanese art especially in the 14th century. Ink painting was beloved by the Zen monks, who were not professional artists, because, they believed, it could lead to spiritual enlightenment. With the speed in which the artist could represent his vision with brush and ink, the Zen masters had found a lightning mode of expression which would then be followed by meditation. They believed that Truth could be revealed even by representing seemingly inanimate nature - a branch of a tree, a drooping flower, even a grain of sand. Their search for the meaning of existence in all things has sharpened the sensitivity and awareness of artists throughout history.
While the Zen ink paintings suggest an apparent spontaneity, their simplicity and economy of means present a real challenge to the observer. These drawings attempt to express, with a deliberate abandon, the spirit of Zen by means of a mere few strokes, but in actual fact they are the result of continual practice and concentration. Indeed, a few lines of ink on a white background may evoke an entire universe. Moreover, the empty spaces in the paintings play as important a role as the painted areas, because the viewer’s imagination is required to complete what is absent in the lines. Among these paintings are the portraits of renowned Zen monks, illustrations of concepts of Zen philosophy, bamboo, orchids, and many other subjects. Some of them successfully convey, by means of a few splashes and dots, magical, misty landscapes. Abstract landscape elements appearing in some of these paintings were considered appropriate for study during tea ceremonies.
This exhibition features ink paintings of varying styles, but all of them are characterized by the ability to express, in a few strokes of the brush and splotches of ink, the infinite variations of a universe rich in colour and form. Currently, there are three schools that teach the art of tea in Japan, all of which were founded some three centuries ago. But while the aesthetics of tea in their traditional form are a thing of the past, their delicate fragrance still lingers today.
Dr. Ilana Singer Blaine, Chief Curator - Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art