Favorite Tea Stories

[chanokokoro]

What is your favorite tea story?  The story of Sotan and the camellia is without question one of my favorites.  There is so much one can learn from this simple story as described by the Chado Association of Philadelphia's blog entry from this past May:

http://phillytea.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

[Donald Soryu]

I've never thought about it, but I guess I admire Rikyu's presence of mind when he was handed a gold bowl, some water and a branch of cherry flowers and ordered to make an arrangement.

 

 

On Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 1:23 PM, chanokokoro <brian....@gmail.com> wrote:

What is your favorite tea story?  The story of Sotan and the camellia is without question one of my favorites.  There is so much one can learn from this simple story as described by the Chado Association of Philadelphia's blog entry from this past May:

http://phillytea.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html

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[chamekke]

Definitely the story about Sen no Rikyu and the humble host whose
hands shook as he performed his otemae.

[Morgan Beard]

One of my very favorites is from the recently released Urasenke Chado Textbook. It's about Rikyu and an eccentric tea practitioner named Hechikan. I'll type it as it appeared in the book:

When Rikyu arrived at Hechikan's house [where he had been invited for a gathering], he found a big hole dug in front of the low doorway of the roji, covered in a makeshift fashion with a sunoko drain board and topped with some dirt. Rikyu casually stepped on it, whereupon the dirt crumbled and he fell into the hole. Since muddy water was at the bottom of the hole, Rikyu got wet and muddy from head to toe. Looking aghast, Hechikan came rushing out of the house. "Oh my goodness! Are you all right?" he said, and guided Rikyu to a bath that had already been readied. Rikyu washed himself and put on a fresh kimono that Hechikan provided. Then he was shown into the tea room and served tea. Rikyu enjoyed his tea and went home.

A person who heard the story asked Rikyu, "Why did you fall in the hole on purpose? You knew there was a hole, didn't you?" Rikyu answered, "I knew his plan. It was easy to guess. But if I didn't fall into the hole, my host's careful planning and efforts would all have been to naught. Precisely because I fell in the hole, the tea gathering was so interesting that it is now a precious memory I shall never forget as long as I live. Chanoyu is not successful unless the host and the guest are sensitive enough to understand their mutual intentions and respond to them properly."

Every time I think of Hechikan gleefully digging that hole I just smile. :-)

Morgan

On Dec 2, 2011, at 1:23 PM, chanokokoro wrote:

What is your favorite tea story?  The story of Sotan and the camellia is without question one of my favorites.  There is so much one can learn from this simple story as described by the Chado Association of Philadelphia's blog entry from this past May:

http://phillytea.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html