| | The
Book of Tea. Okakura
Kakuzo.
Japanese art scholar Okakura Kakuzo,
aka Tenshin, wrote The Book of Tea at the turn
of the 19th and 20th centuries for the intellectual elite
of Boston - the city where he worked and spent most of his
time outside native Japan - as a way to remedy the spiritual
misunderstandings of East and West. Since its first publication
in 1906, though, the book has received immense popularity
amongst many people all over the world, being translated
into numerous languages. But its popularity isn't due so
much to its discussion of tea and the tea ceremony, but
for giving a greater understanding of Eastern ideas. With
chapter titles like "Cup of Humanity" and "Taoism
and Zennism", Tenshin definitely recognized the importance
of the tea ceremony in both illustrating Eastern ideas and
as a culmination of those same ideas. While the link above
provides a full transcription of the famous text, a more
suitable read is achieved via either the Classic
Edition or the Illustrated
Edition (both by Tuttle Publishing), where the weight
of the words can slowly unfold across the pages, giving
the reader an insight into Japan and the Eastern spirit.
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