Tea Goes to the world |
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Tea Goes Around The World |
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Japan was among the earliest countries
to be deeply influenced by China's tea drinking, which was one of
the many customs to spread from China to Japan during the Tang
dynasty. Japanese history records that as early as 729 Emperor Shomu
served tea to a hundred monks in the palace. The Japanese sumise
that the leaves had been brought back by their missions to China. Buddhists in China had been tea drinkers for a long time, as it helped them stay awake during their long meditations. In 803 the Japanese Buddhist monk Saicho (posthumously known as Dengyo Daishi) went to study in China and there met another Japanese monk, Eichu. They came home together in 805, the former bringing tea seeds, which he planted in a monastery. Five years later, after the plant had reached maturity, Emperor Saga stopped at the monastery and Eichu, its abbot, served him green tea he had processed. The emperor enjoyed it so much that he instituted tea cultivation in five provinces near the capital. Tea was to become an important part of Japanese life. The original Japanese tea ceremony began as a custom practiced in China during the tang dynasty. However, while it died out in China, the Japanese continued developing it as a complex ritual with close ties to art. Japanese artists designed beautiful bowls, jars, cups, incense burners, and other utensils for the ceremony. |
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Last updated :09 June, 2008
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