DOI Heft:
Nr. 191 (February 1909)
DOI Artikel:Holme, Charles: The Cha-No-Yu pottery of Japan
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20966#0054
The Cha-no-yu Pottery of Japan
rampant, the tea ceremony was cultivated as a foil
to and as a protest against the evil tendencies of
the time, and was the means by which the minds
of those taking part in it might be turned from the
clash of arms, from the display of wealth, and
inclined towards the elevating influences of pure
aestheticism ; and it was fitting that all the adjuncts
to the ceremony should be so formed as to be con-
ducive to that end.
Rikiu, the founder of the most popular school
of Cha-noyu, being quizzed upon the supposed
elaborate secrets of the ceremony, is stated to have
replied,* “Well, there is no particular secret in the
ceremony save in making tea agreeable to the
palate, in piling charcoal on the brazier so as to
make a good fire for boiling the water, in arranging
flowers in a natural way and in making things
cool in summer and warm in winter.” Somewhat
disappointed with the apparently commonplace
explanation, the enquirer said, “ Who on earth
does not know how to do that ? ” Rikiu’s happy
retort was, “Well, if you know it, do it.”
The main influence at work in the foundation of
the tea ceremony was of a religious nature. The
teaching of Laotze, a contemporary of Confucius,
and the influence of Zenism—a branch of Buddhism
in which is incorporated much of the spirit of
the Laotze philosophy—are largely responsible for
the characteristics which signalise every detail
of the ceremony. They had, in the thirteenth
century and onwards, a potent influence on the
thoughts and, indeed, on the very life of the
Japanese nation—an influence of so beneficent a
character that it may truly be said that its purest
ideals may be traced directly thereto. Luxury was
turned to refinement, the abasement of self was
taught as the highest virtue, simplicity as
its chief charm. Laws of art were derived
from a close study of the life of nature,
and an intimate sympathy with it in all
its phases. The ideals of the painter and
the poet were filled with Romanticism in
its purest and most elevating form—in its
exaltation of spirit above mere naturalism.
Never, perhaps, in the world’s history had
the doctrine of high thought and simple
living become so materialised as under
the influence of that cult.
The tea-room, following the rules laid
down by the masters, was extremely small
and most unpretentious in character. But
every detail in its least particular was
* Prof. Takashima Steta in “ The Far East.”
32
planned with the greatest care. Okakura-Kakuzo
in his charming “Book of Tea” says: “Even
in the daytime the light of the room is subdued,
for the low eaves of the slanting roof admit but
few of the sun’s rays. Everything is sober in
tint from the ceiling to the floor; the guests
themselves have carefully chosen garments of
unobtrusive colours. The mellowness of age is
over all, everything suggestive of recent acquire-
ment being tabooed save only the one note of
contrast furnished by the bamboo dipper and the
linen napkin, both immaculately white and new.
However faded the tea-room and the tea equipage
may seem, everything is absolutely clean. Not a
particle of dust will be found in the darkest corner,
for if any exists, the host is not a tea master. . . .
Rikiu was watching his son Shoan as he swept and
watered the garden path. ‘ Not clean enough,’
said Rikiu, when Shoan had finished his task, and
bade him try again. After a weary hour the son
hurried to Rikiu : ‘ Father, there is nothing more
to be done. The steps have been washed for the
third time, the stone lanterns and the trees are well
sprinkled with water, moss and lichens are shining
with the fresh verdure ; not a twig, not a leaf have
I left on the ground.’ ‘ Young fool,’ chides the tea
master, 1 that is not the way a garden path should
be swept.’ Saying this, Rikiu stepped into the
garden, shook a tree, scattered over the garden
gold and crimson leaves, scraps of the brocade of
autumn. What Rikiu demanded was not cleanli-
ness alone but the beautiful and natural also.”
In our investigations of the characteristics of the
pottery utensils which played so important a part
in this ceremony, it is necessary for us continually
to bear in mind the spirit of simplicity which
FIG. I. TEA BOWL, RAKU WARE, BY DONIU
rampant, the tea ceremony was cultivated as a foil
to and as a protest against the evil tendencies of
the time, and was the means by which the minds
of those taking part in it might be turned from the
clash of arms, from the display of wealth, and
inclined towards the elevating influences of pure
aestheticism ; and it was fitting that all the adjuncts
to the ceremony should be so formed as to be con-
ducive to that end.
Rikiu, the founder of the most popular school
of Cha-noyu, being quizzed upon the supposed
elaborate secrets of the ceremony, is stated to have
replied,* “Well, there is no particular secret in the
ceremony save in making tea agreeable to the
palate, in piling charcoal on the brazier so as to
make a good fire for boiling the water, in arranging
flowers in a natural way and in making things
cool in summer and warm in winter.” Somewhat
disappointed with the apparently commonplace
explanation, the enquirer said, “ Who on earth
does not know how to do that ? ” Rikiu’s happy
retort was, “Well, if you know it, do it.”
The main influence at work in the foundation of
the tea ceremony was of a religious nature. The
teaching of Laotze, a contemporary of Confucius,
and the influence of Zenism—a branch of Buddhism
in which is incorporated much of the spirit of
the Laotze philosophy—are largely responsible for
the characteristics which signalise every detail
of the ceremony. They had, in the thirteenth
century and onwards, a potent influence on the
thoughts and, indeed, on the very life of the
Japanese nation—an influence of so beneficent a
character that it may truly be said that its purest
ideals may be traced directly thereto. Luxury was
turned to refinement, the abasement of self was
taught as the highest virtue, simplicity as
its chief charm. Laws of art were derived
from a close study of the life of nature,
and an intimate sympathy with it in all
its phases. The ideals of the painter and
the poet were filled with Romanticism in
its purest and most elevating form—in its
exaltation of spirit above mere naturalism.
Never, perhaps, in the world’s history had
the doctrine of high thought and simple
living become so materialised as under
the influence of that cult.
The tea-room, following the rules laid
down by the masters, was extremely small
and most unpretentious in character. But
every detail in its least particular was
* Prof. Takashima Steta in “ The Far East.”
32
planned with the greatest care. Okakura-Kakuzo
in his charming “Book of Tea” says: “Even
in the daytime the light of the room is subdued,
for the low eaves of the slanting roof admit but
few of the sun’s rays. Everything is sober in
tint from the ceiling to the floor; the guests
themselves have carefully chosen garments of
unobtrusive colours. The mellowness of age is
over all, everything suggestive of recent acquire-
ment being tabooed save only the one note of
contrast furnished by the bamboo dipper and the
linen napkin, both immaculately white and new.
However faded the tea-room and the tea equipage
may seem, everything is absolutely clean. Not a
particle of dust will be found in the darkest corner,
for if any exists, the host is not a tea master. . . .
Rikiu was watching his son Shoan as he swept and
watered the garden path. ‘ Not clean enough,’
said Rikiu, when Shoan had finished his task, and
bade him try again. After a weary hour the son
hurried to Rikiu : ‘ Father, there is nothing more
to be done. The steps have been washed for the
third time, the stone lanterns and the trees are well
sprinkled with water, moss and lichens are shining
with the fresh verdure ; not a twig, not a leaf have
I left on the ground.’ ‘ Young fool,’ chides the tea
master, 1 that is not the way a garden path should
be swept.’ Saying this, Rikiu stepped into the
garden, shook a tree, scattered over the garden
gold and crimson leaves, scraps of the brocade of
autumn. What Rikiu demanded was not cleanli-
ness alone but the beautiful and natural also.”
In our investigations of the characteristics of the
pottery utensils which played so important a part
in this ceremony, it is necessary for us continually
to bear in mind the spirit of simplicity which
FIG. I. TEA BOWL, RAKU WARE, BY DONIU