The Book of Tea · Question
How does The Book of Tea develop the theme of Simplicity and Humility?
Answer
The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō develops Simplicity and Humility across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The tea ceremony and Teaism promote simplicity, refined poverty, and humility as virtues, seen in the tearoom's design, the garden path (roji), and the requirement for guests to bow and enter through a low door.
The tea ceremony aims for movements performed simply and naturally, with no color, sound, gesture, or word to disturb the harmony.
Zen discipline assigns menial tasks to advanced monks, emphasizing greatness in the smallest incidents of life, a core Teaism ideal.
The tearoom's thatched roof, slender pillars, and commonplace materials suggest fugitiveness and frailty; the low door forces all guests to bend and creep in, inculcating humility.
Evidence in the book
- The Schools of Tea
The tea ceremony aims for movements performed simply and naturally, with no color, sound, gesture, or word to disturb the harmony.
- Taoism and Zennism
Zen discipline assigns menial tasks to advanced monks, emphasizing greatness in the smallest incidents of life, a core Teaism ideal.
- The Tearoom
The tearoom's thatched roof, slender pillars, and commonplace materials suggest fugitiveness and frailty; the low door forces all guests to bend and creep in, inculcating humility.
- Flowers
Tea-masters select flowers with care, avoid excess, and place a single bloom in the tokonoma, reflecting simplicity and humility in their aesthetic.
- Tea-Masters
Tea-masters taught the beauty of humility and simplicity, influencing dress, food, flower arrangement, and domestic life, emphasizing that one must become beautiful before approaching beauty.
