the history of chanoyu1

** From a powdered drink to chanoyu

simply put, chanoyu is based on the activity of drinking matcha, a mixture of powdered tea and hot water. After the introduction of this form of tea to Japan from China, however, it did not give rise to the Japanese practice of chanoyu right away. It took three hundred long years before chanoyu assumed its rudimentary form, and over the duration of more than five hundred years since then, it has changed in many ways. In the next tow chapters, let us take a simple look at its history from the time mathca entered Japan to its history from the time chapters, let us take a simple look at its history from the time matcha entered Japan to its establishment as the practice called chanoyu and, furthermore, its history to present times.

** Powdered tea enters Japan and is initially drunk as a medicine
the method of making matcha entered Japan from song-dynasty china around the end of the 13th century. Buddhist monks were responsible for its introduction to Japan, and apparently it was monks of the Zen sect of Buddhism, which had been introduced to Japan just a bit earlier,who accomplished this. Going for studies to Zen temples in China, upon their return to Japan they brought back knowledge about how to prepare this kind of tea that was drunk at the temples where they had studied, together with implements such as tea bowls and tea whisks required for it.

At first, matcha was drunk in order to overcome drowsiness during the practice of seated meditation, and for its benefits as a sort of medicinal cure-all. A monk named EISAI wrote a treatise describing the healthful benefits of tea drinking, and presented it to the shogun, Minamoto no SANETOMO, together with some tea in leaf form.

As time went by, matcha took hold not only as an herbal drink but also as a tasty beverage, and consequently tea plantations increased. The tea deriving from the seeds that MYOEI SHONIN had received from EISAI and had planted at the temple where he lived, KOZANJI temple in the TAGANO'O corner of Kyoto, gained repute as the best-quality tea, and even members of the ruling warrior class in remote KAMAKURA scrambled to procure some of it.

** the age of TOCHA(闘茶), tea-tasting competitions

the next era saw the rise of tea comparison, which developed into the competitive game called TOCHA(tea competition) wherein the players were to drink several kinds of tea and be tested for their ability to distinguish the 'real tea' grown in TAGANO'O from the 'false tea' grown elsewhere. Extravagant prizes were awarded to the ones who scored high, and this game became　an exciting fad. We can read about it in the TAIHEIKI history of the times, indicating its great popularity.

This amusement gradually became more involved, requiring not simply the ability to distinguish between 'real tea' and 'false tea', but the drinking of ten bowls of tea that were of four different tea varieties, and the ability to distinguish between them. Archaeological studies reveal that this game, called SHISHU JUPPUKU CHA(四種十服茶),　became popular not only among the warrior class, but also among the nobility as well as the common townsfolk, and was not limited to people in KAMAKURA( the center of the military government) and Kyoto(the official seat of emperor and capital of the country), but was popular throughout the country.

** Tea-enjoyment develops as an elegant activity, chasuki

The shishu juppuku cha game was a long and widespread fad, but, entering the 15th century, there appeared people who were particular about the implements used for it, such as the tea bowls(chawan) and vessels for fresh cold water( mizusashi), and so tea drinking took on another aspect besides providing sport for prize-winning, and assumed spiritual significance.

At this time in history, the activity called renga(collaborative verse-linking 連歌) was a great fad, and get-togethers for ti were taking place here and there. The enjoyment of renga was also referred to as utasuki(poetic aestheticism 歌数寄), and from this, the get-togethers held among those particularly keen about the tea implements and who felt that the get-together for tea enjoyment held special meaning came to be called chasuki(tea aestheticism 茶数寄). There even appeared a writting commenting that it would be nice if poetry recitation were like chasuki.

Previously, it was explained that chanoyu is comprised of three indispensable elements, the chashitsu(place), the temae(procedures), and the chadogu(implements). Looking to the era a chasuki to see if we find these three, we do find that by the end of the 15th century, although they were not yet completely developed, they had come into being, and the early stage of chanoyu had been established. The figure active in the history of chanoyu at this time was MURATA SHUKO(村田珠光), who in later ages came to be regarded as 'the father of chanoyu'.