Chanoyu, which is translated into “the Japanese tea ceremony”, or more formally known as Shado/Chado (the Way of Tea) is one of the most highly regarded and refined forms of traditional art that is celebrated in Japan. This elaborate ceremony involves the meticulous brewing and serving of matcha, a form of powdered green tea (Reider, 2015). The Japanese tea ceremony is not simply just about drinking delightful tea; it incorporates the sacred and revered teachings of Zen Buddhism in an exquisite form of art. The Japanese tea ceremony reflects the Zen doctrine through tea aesthetic in its representation of the mundane as source of refinement and beauty. In addition, this ceremony teaches respect and honor through the essence of proper tea etiquette (Kondo, 1985).
Although tea is considered a crucial part of Japanese culture, tea plants do not originate in Japan. Instead, the first documentation of tea was when it was brought into the country from China around the 8th century. In 1815, a Buddhist monk named Eichu, first introduced tea by preparing and serving sencha, a type of unground green tea, to Emperor Saga who
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Because of the separation caused by the class system, various differing schools of the tea ceremony, each with their own doctrines, were establisher (Sadler, 1963). For example the Sekishu School, which was founded by feudal lord Katagiri Sadamasa, was favored among other schools because Katagiri was a disciple of Rikyu, one of the most well-known and prominent influencers of Chanoyu (Sadler, 1963). Even though some of the iemoto -the headmasters of tea ceremony schools- were of lower social class, they were able to socialize with those of higher social classes. Thus, Chanoyu served to elevate its practitioners and bridge the gap between social classes (Sadler,
Japan has a history that dates back thousands of years. Researchers believe the Japanese people descended from many groups that migrated to the islands from other parts of Asia, including China and Korea. As early as 4500 B.C., the Japanese islands
After importing tea into Britain, the East India Company was required to auction it off to other merchants, some of whom then exported the tea to the American colonies. By law, this was virtually the only tea permitted in the colonies.
The Buddha was and is an important figure in several different cultures, and his influence has spread over large areas. Across these different cultures, many forms of art portrayed him in different ways. In Japan, one of the Buddha’s titles stood out as the “Amida Buddha.” The statue that this paper will be detailing portrays “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light” (“Amida”). The statue is located in the Dayton Art Institute’s Japanese Art Gallery 105 with the acquisition number 1935.1. Created in the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period, this statue stands out in the Dayton Art Institute as a prominent Buddha figure. It is made of wood with lacquer and gilt, and it was built to be approximately the size of a normal person.
The Art Institute of Chicago houses a sculpture that epitomizes Shingon Buddhism in Japan. Born from an influence of Chinese esoteric Buddhism and the Indian God Shiva, the deity Fudo Myo-o, or “The Immovable One”, is one of the most important figures in Japanese Buddhism. The deity first appears in the Heian Period during the ninth century and is made to help followers of Buddhism with any adversity faced. During the Kamakura Period from the 12th-14th centuries the figure of this guardian king developed into a more realistic sculptural form. Fudo Myo-o is unique to the Shingon Buddhism of Japan with qualities that distinguish him from most any other deity, qualities that embody his vicious compassion, wisdom, and wrath.
The Tea Act was passed on May 10, 1773 by Parliament. The act granted the British East India Company Tea a monopoly on tea sales in the American colonists. The main reason this passed was to get the East India Company out of bankruptcy, which the company was in due to reduced sales of their tea. The act gave the East India Company two benefits. One was to allow it to market its tea directly to America, using its own agents there. This allowing it to bypass the network of auctions, wholesalers, and colonial merchants through which the tea previously had seen sold. The other benefit was to free the company of the duty on tea that it imported to Britain and then reshipped to America.
“Until the seventeenth century, Japanese Literature was privileged property. …The diffusion of literacy …(and) the printed word… created for the first time in Japan the conditions necessary for that peculiarly modern phenomenon, celebrity” (Robert Lyons Danly, editor of The Narrow Road of the Interior written by Matsuo Basho; found in the Norton Anthology of World Literature, Second Edition, Volume D). Celebrity is a loose term at times; it connotes fortune, flattery, and fleeting fame. The term, in this modern era especially, possesses an aura of inevitable transience and glamorized superficiality. Ironically, Matsuo Basho, (while writing in a period of his own newfound celebrity as a poet) places an obvious emphasis on the transience of life within his travel journal The Narrow Road of the Interior. This journal is wholly the recounting of expedition and ethos spanning a fifteen hundred mile feat, expressed in the form of a poetic memoir. It has been said that Basho’s emphasis on the Transient is directly related to his and much of his culture’s worldview of Zen Buddhism, which is renowned for its acknowledgement of the Transient as a tool for a more accurate picture of life and a higher achievement of enlightenment. Of course, in the realization that Basho does not appear to be unwaveringly religious, perhaps this reflection is not only correlative to Zen Buddhism, but also to his perspective on his newfound celebrity. Either way, Matsuo Basho is a profound lyricist who eloquently seeks to objectify and relay the concept of transience even in his own name.
Chinese artwork is a form that contains and demonstrates many different meanings and morals that can be linked back to not only religion, but the overall meaning of life. This paper will discuss the sculpture titled Seated Buddha and how it represents peace, enlightenment, and the overall importance of how these two components influence the mindset of the people involved in the Buddhist religion. The Seated Buddha was created between the 5th and 6th century in China. The artist of this piece is unknown, but this does not hinder us at all from seeing what the artist was trying to portray through the different aspects that they included in the Seated Buddha sculpture. This piece is crafted from stone and a chisel was then used to create the
Buddhism is a beautifully complex religion that since its widespread introduction to Japanese culture by the end of the seventh century has made enormous impacts and direct influences on the government and cultural practices of society (Hoffmann 36). The Japanese death poetry composed by Zen monks and haiku poets, compiled by Albert Hoffmann, is an excellent literary explication of the Japanese attitude towards death. This attitude is most notably derived from Buddhism, the main religion of the Japanese people. Even Japanese citizens who are not literal Buddhists still embrace the philosophies that have now become instilled in the cultural history of Japan due to such a heavy Buddhist influence on government and education throughout the centuries.
Mizuno, S. (1974) Asuka Buddhist Art: Horyu-ji John Weatherhill Inc, NY, USA & Heibonasha, Tokyo
I was always fascinated in the Buddhist religion and this class assignment was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of my curiosity. I decided I would visit a Buddhist center. With the company of my mother, I went to the Diamond Way Buddhist Center in Miami. According to my interview with the Buddhist that instructed the meditation service, every Monday and Friday they have a meditation service for the 16th Karmapa meditation from 8:00pm to 8:30pm. This center is part of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism (Anonymous). Upon arriving, I realized that it was in someone’s home. Many Buddhist offer their homes for Buddhist centers and are unpaid for their services. However, they do accept donations. Before entering the house, we had to remove our shoes. When we entered I could smell the scent of incense burning. As presented in World-Faiths, removing your shoes before entering a Buddhist center or temple is a form of worship. Also, incense and candles are used to represent Buddha’s enlightenment (World-Faiths).
Confucian beliefs have played an important role in the East Asian societies for centuries, thus Japan is not an exception. One of the main features of Confucianism is the set of five hierarchical orders, one of them being the master and his disciple interaction. It can be adapted to a specific relationship between a ramen noodle master and his apprentice. This kind of interactions has been shown in the Japanese film Tampopo and its modern American remake The Ramen Girl. In both films the student and teacher interaction can be seen as one of the main, if not the most important, narrative strands, around which all the action is centred. This essay will be dealing with this hierarchical order in the context of The Ramen Girl, where the relationship is rather Americanized and goes against the Japanese traditions. The main character is not only disrespectful of her teacher, but is overall very ignorant towards the Japanese culture. This movie will be compared to the already mentioned “noodle western” Tampopo, where the hierarchy is much more evident, despite being slightly modernized. Therefore, while using the medium of food and hierarchical order of Confucianism, both films successfully tell the viewers a lot about the way people interact in the portrayed nations.
The study Hua-yen focuses on the Avatamsaka Sutra. The philosophy behind this school is considered as “the highest expression of Buddhist thought” in China (Keown 2004, under “Hua-yen”). Cleary, Thomas. The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra. Boston: Shambala, 1993.
There has also been a growing commercial interest in Buddhist trinkets and memorabilia with both specialty stores and gift shops selling ‘authentic’ artifacts, meditation aids, tattoos and even Buddhist T-shirts Figure 5. This modern expansion of Buddhist resulted from a combination of European colonialism and
The Web. The Web. 18 Mar. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. " The Buddhist World: Lay Buddhist's Guide to the Monk's Rules. "
It comes in many different varieties, and was first made at least 2,000 years ago. Since then, sake played an important role in Japanese culture and history. From its origins as the "drink of the Gods" to its current status as one of the most popular drinks in the country, the history of sake is steeped in tradition, innovation, and custom. (AsianArtMall, 2017)