Editing Japanese tea ceremony (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of tea in Japan}}{{More citations needed|date=April 2025}}[[Image:Sen no Rikyu JPN.jpg|thumb|Master [[Sen no Rikyū]], who codified the way of tea (painting by [[Hasegawa Tōhaku]])]]
[[File:Kanō Osanobu 71 utaiawase.jpg|thumb|An open [[tea house]] serving {{transliteration|ja|matcha}} ({{nihongo||一服一銭|ippuku issen}}, right) and a peddler selling extracts ({{nihongo||煎じ物売|senjimono-uri}} left), illustration from {{nihongo||七十一番職人歌合|Shichiju-ichiban shokunin utaawase}}, Muromachi period; {{transliteration|ja|Ippuku issen}}'s monk clothing depicts the relationship between {{transliteration|ja|matcha}} culture, tea offerings, and Buddhism]]
[[File:The monkey scroll.jpg|thumb|400px|One of the earliest surviving images of the formal serving of tea. Here monkeys, who were sacred to the shrine, imitate humans in a poetry competition that lasts all night. The monkeys try to stay awake by drinking strong green tea, but some have fallen asleep.]]

The first documented evidence of tea in Japan dates to the 9th century. It is found in an entry in the {{transliteration|ja|[[Nihon Kōki]]}} having to do with the [[Bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]] {{nihongo|Eichū|永忠}}, who had brought some tea back to Japan on his return from [[Tang dynasty|Tang China]]. The entry states that Eichū personally prepared and served {{transliteration|ja|sencha}} (tea beverage made by steeping tea leaves in hot water) to [[Emperor Saga]], who was on an excursion in [[Karasaki Station|Karasaki]] (in present [[Shiga Prefecture]]) in 815. By imperial order in 816, tea plantations began to be cultivated in the [[Kinki]] region of Japan.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1=Kaisen Iguchi |editor2=Sōkō Sue |editor3=Fukutarō Nagashima |encyclopedia=Genshoku Chadō Daijiten |title=Eichū |language=ja |edition=19 |year=2002 |publisher=Tankōsha ([[:ja:淡交社]]) |oclc=62712752}}</ref> However, the interest in tea in Japan faded after this.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1=Kaisen Iguchi |editor2=Sōkō Sue |editor3=Fukutarō Nagashima |encyclopedia=Genshoku Chadō Daijiten |title=Eisai |language=ja |edition=19 |year=2002 |publisher=Tankōsha ([[:ja:淡交社]]) |oclc=62712752}}</ref>

[[History of tea in China|In China]], tea had already been known, according to legend, for more than three thousand years (though the earliest archaeological evidence of tea-drinking dates to the 2nd century BCE). The form of tea popular in China in Eichū's time was {{nihongo3|"cake tea" or "brick tea"|団茶|dancha}}<ref>{{cite web|title=The Origin of Japanese Tea Ceremony|url=http://matcha-tea.com/matcha/the-origin-of-japanese-tea-ceremony|author=Yuki|publisher=Matcha Tea|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180611074802/https://matcha-tea.com/matcha/the-origin-of-japanese-tea-ceremony|archive-date=11 June 2018}}</ref> – tea compressed into a nugget in the same manner as the {{transliteration|zh|[[Pu'er tea|pu-er]]}} tea is today. This then would be ground in a mortar, and the resulting ground tea mixed together with various other herbs and flavourings.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Han Wei |year=1993 |title=Tang Dynasty Tea Utensils and Tea Culture |journal=Chanoyu Quarterly |issue=74 |pages=38–58 |location=Kyoto |publisher=Urasenke Foundation of Kyoto |oclc=4044546 |access-date=2012-07-05 |url=http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/study/book/image/chanoyu-quarterly.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208031843/http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/study/book/image/chanoyu-quarterly.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-08 }}</ref> The custom of drinking tea, first for medicinal, and then largely for pleasurable reasons, was already widespread throughout China. In the early 9th century, Chinese author [[Lu Yu]] wrote ''[[The Classic of Tea]]'', a treatise on tea focusing on its [[Tillage|cultivation]] and preparation. Lu Yu's life had been heavily influenced by Buddhism, particularly the Zen–[[Chán]] Buddhist school. His ideas would have a strong influence in the development of the Japanese tea.<ref>{{cite book |author=Sen Sōshitsu XV |author-link=Sen Sōshitsu XV |title=The Japanese way of tea: from its origins in China to Sen Rikyū |publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |location=Honolulu |year=1998 |pages=V |isbn=0-8248-1990-X |others=Trans. Dixon Morris |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?d=95933716 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201090823/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?d=95933716 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2013 |access-date=2012-07-05 }}</ref>

Around the end of the 12th century, the style of tea preparation called {{nihongo||点茶|tencha}}, in which powdered {{transliteration|ja|matcha}} was placed into a bowl, hot water added, and the tea and hot water whipped together, was introduced to Japan by Buddhist monk [[Eisai]] on his return from China. He also took tea seeds back with him, which eventually produced tea that was considered to be the most superb quality in all of Japan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tsutsui |first=Hiroichi |title=Tea-drinking Customs in Japan |date=1996 |location=Seoul |publisher=4th International Tea Culture Festival, Korean Tea Culture Association}}</ref> This powdered green tea was first used in religious rituals in [[Vihāra|Buddhist monasteries]]. By the 13th century, when the [[Kamakura shogunate]] ruled the nation and tea and the luxuries associated with it became a kind of status symbol among the [[samurai|warrior class]], there arose {{nihongo3|"tea tasting"|闘茶|[[tōcha]]}} parties wherein contestants could win extravagant prizes for guessing the best quality tea – that was grown in [[Kyoto]], deriving from the seeds that Eisai brought from China.

The next major period in Japanese history was the [[Muromachi period]], pointing to the rise of {{nihongo|Kitayama Culture|[[:ja:北山文化]]|Kitayama bunka}}, centered around the cultural world of [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] and his villa in the northern hills of Kyoto ([[Kinkaku-ji]]), and later during this period, the rise of [[Higashiyama culture]], centered around the elegant cultural world of [[Ashikaga Yoshimasa]] and his retirement villa in the eastern hills of Kyoto ([[Ginkaku-ji]]). This period, approximately 1336 to 1573, saw the budding of what is generally regarded as Japanese traditional culture as it is known today.

The use of Japanese tea developed as a "transformative practice" and began to evolve its own aesthetic, in particular that of {{transliteration|ja|[[wabi-sabi]]}} principles. {{transliteration|ja|Wabi}} represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of human lives. Its original meaning indicated quiet or sober refinement, or subdued taste "characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry" and "emphasizes simple, unadorned objects and architectural space, and celebrates the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.urasenkeseattle.org/page22 |title=Chado, the Way of Tea |publisher=Urasenke Foundation of Seattle |access-date=2012-07-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723085014/http://www.urasenkeseattle.org/page22 |archive-date=2012-07-23 }}</ref> 

{{transliteration|ja|Sabi}}, on the other hand, represents the outer, or material side of life. Originally, it meant "worn", "weathered", or "decayed". Particularly among the nobility, understanding emptiness was considered the most effective means to spiritual awakening, while embracing imperfection was honoured as a reminder to cherish one's unpolished and unfinished nature – considered to be the first step to {{transliteration|ja|satori}}, or enlightenment.<ref>{{cite book |author=Taro Gold |title=Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life |publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing |location=Kansas City, MO |year=2004 |pages=19–21 |isbn=0-7407-3960-3}}</ref> 
Central are the concepts of ''[[omotenashi]]'', which revolves around [[hospitality]].

[[Murata Jukō]] is known in {{transliteration|ja|chanoyu}} history as an early developer of tea as a spiritual practice. He studied Zen under the monk [[Ikkyū]], who revitalized Zen in the 15th century, and this is considered to have influenced his concept of {{transliteration|ja|chanoyu}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor1=Kaisen Iguchi |editor2=Sōkō Sue |editor3=Fukutarō Nagashima |encyclopedia=Genshoku Chadō Daijiten |title=Jukō |language=ja |edition=19 |year=2002 |publisher=Tankōsha ([[:ja:淡交社]]) |oclc=62712752}}</ref>
<!-- If this part could be expanded still, we should begin to introduce here: [[Murata Shukō]], Jōō's master and Zen Buddhist disciple not entering into priesthood, and then Daitokuji & Ashikaga Shogunate interaction. Shukō is often referred as the founder of Wabi-cha. -->
By the 16th century, tea drinking had spread to all levels of society in Japan. [[Sen no Rikyū]] and his work ''[[Southern Record]]'', perhaps the best-known – and still revered – historical figure in tea, followed his master [[Takeno Jōō]]'s concept of {{transliteration|ja|[[ichi-go ichi-e]]}}, a philosophy that each meeting should be treasured, for it can never be reproduced. His teachings perfected many newly developed forms in [[Japanese architecture|architecture]] and [[Japanese garden|gardens]], [[Japanese art|art]], and the full development of the "way of tea". The principles he set forward – {{nihongo|harmony|和|wa}}, {{nihongo|respect|敬|kei}}, {{nihongo|purity|清|sei}}, and {{nihongo|tranquility|寂|jaku}} – are still central to tea.<ref>Rupert Cox – The Zen Arts: An Anthropological Study of the Culture of Aesthetic 2013 1136855580 "Jaku is significantly different from the other three principles of the chado: wa, kei and set. These all substantiate the normative procedures of chado. Jaku, on the other hand, is pure creation."</ref>

Sen no Rikyū was the leading teamaster of the regent [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], who greatly supported him in codifying and spreading the way of tea, also as a means of solidifying his own political power. Hideyoshi's tastes were influenced by his teamaster, but nevertheless he also had his own ideas to cement his power such as constructing the [[Golden Tea Room]] and hosting the [[Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony]] in 1587. The symbiotic relationship between politics and tea was at its height. However, it was increasingly at odds with the rustic and simple aesthetics continuously advertised by his tea master, which the regent increasingly saw as a threat to cementing his own power and position, and their once close relationship began to suffer. 

In 1590, one of the leading disciples of Rikyu, [[Yamanoue Sōji]], was brutally executed on orders of the regent. One year later the regent ordered his teamaster to commit [[Seppuku|ritual suicide]]. The way of tea was never so closely intertwined with politics before or after. After the death of Rikyū, essentially three schools descended from him to continue the tradition. The way of tea continued to spread throughout the country and later developed not only from the court and samurai class, but also towards the townspeople. Many [[Schools of Japanese tea|schools of Japanese tea ceremony]] have evolved through the long history of {{transliteration|ja|chadō}} and are active today.