Tea played a significant part in the development of the East Asian arts.
Beginning in the thirteenth century and lasting for hundreds of years, there was a large and enthusiastic market for fine utensils, particularly fine ceramics, to be used in the brewing and serving of tea in Japan, China, and Korea.
The tea ceremony in seventeenth-century Japan became a way for noblemen to display their wealth or power and to establish their social standing within the community. One of the greatest proponents of this was Hideyoshi, who had a great love of Korean pottery. In 1592 (only a year after he commanded his tea master, Rikyu, to commit ritual suicide), he sent warships to Korea and brought back fifty Korean potters to make the ceramics he wanted. This was the first of the Japanese invasions of Korea—others followed in 1597 and 1598 —that were eventually called the “pottery wars.”
Of course, Hideyoshi wanted more than pots. His ultimate goal was to
dominate the Koreans and to force them to help him overtake the Chinese throne in Beijing. China sent troops to Korea to prevent this, and the combined Chinese and Korean forces were winning the war against the Japanese when Hideyoshi died suddenly in September 1598, apparently of a heart attack. The Japanese gave up the fight and returned home.
The results in Korea of these pottery wars were devastating. Economic hardship was widespread, and only the wealthy aristocrats and scholars could afford to drink tea during the years following these wars. Tea drinking and the tea ceremony were only reestablished in Korea in the early nineteenth century under the direction of the scholar Tasan Chong Yak-yong (1762–1836), who began the practice of drinking tea in a formal way in a special tearoom.
Tea in Russia
In the 1600s, a trade route was developed between China and Russia. The route was long and difficult, as the paths went through treacherous mountainous terrain and barren countryside for a distance of about eleven thousand miles. It took Chinese traders approximately sixteen months to make the journey to Russia, so all products brought from China were expensive and considered luxury items in Russia, including tea.
There is some controversy about just when tea first came to Russia, but most scholars date the event to 1618, when the emperor of China sent a gift of several chests of tea to the Czar Alexis.
In spite of its great cost, tea became immensely popular with the royalty and high society of Moscow. It took nearly a century for the price of tea to drop, but when it did, the general populace became equally enthusiastic about the beverage. The Russians were quick to develop their own way of blending different teas together. On the whole, they preferred strong, dark tea sweetened with honey, sugar, or jam.
Typically, two or three different kinds of tea were brewed in individual pots, then small but concentrated amounts of the infusion were poured into a single cup. Hot water was added to dilute the concentrated liquid, the quantity depending on personal preferences.
The water was heated in a samovar, a large kettle first used in the eighteenth century, patterned after those used in Mongolia as early as the thirteenth century. The samovar consisted of a large kettle (usually copper or bronze), a tap, and a charcoal burner as a heat source. A cylindrical pipe of hot air passed through the water-filled container to heat the water and keep it an even temperature. During the warm summer months, the samovar was placed outside in the garden. In winter, it was brought into the house, where a long pipe carried the smoke directly into the chimney. The water was deemed ready for tea when the samovar began to make sounds. According to tradition, the water is ready after it “sings,” but before it
“growls.”
Tea was served in a glass, and wealthy Russians used a silver or bronze holder, decorated with engraved pictures, to hold the heat-tempered tea glass. Called podstakanniki, which literally means “under the glass,” these are still in use today.
Russians generally ate only one large meal a day, usually between three and six in the afternoon, but they would drink tea all day long. A cup of tea, whenever it was taken, was usually served with sweets— cakes and cookies. Rather than putting a sweetener in the tea, it became customary to take a spoonful of jam or a lump of sugar in the mouth, followed by a mouthful of hot tea, flavored with citrus.
Teas that are commonly called “Russian teas” were actually China teas such as Keemun, Chingwoo, Szechwan, and Lap-sang souchong, blended together and sweetened with spices and citrus.
Korean Potters
Most of the Korean potters brought to Japan were taken to the port city of Karatsu, in eastern Japan. Here, in the seventeenth century, they introduced the noborigama, the chambered “climbing kiln,” which greatly impacted the
Japanese ceramics industry by opening up the possibility of creating many
different types of glazes. The huge kilns used massive amounts of firewood, and
the resulting ash created beautiful colors and glazes on the pottery. The pottery coming from this district was called Karatsu ware and was characterized by freehand or geometric patterns from nature, painted on a white background.
Raku Ware
Different potters, of course, developed different styles, some of which were forgotten as soon as they developed, while others, such as raku, are still
remembered and revered today. Raku ware, a lead-glazed earthenware, was first created in the sixteenth century in Kyoto, specifically for making vessels for the tea ceremony. Many consider raku the most remarkable of all tea pottery.
Tanaka Chojiro, the son of one of the Korean potters taken to Japan, made bowls that were simply shaped, with a basic monochrome glaze, usually either black or dark brown. This was in keeping with the aesthetic of wabi, held so important by the tea master Rikyu. The bowls were originally called ima-yaki, meaning “now wares,” but the name was eventually changed when Hideyoshi awarded Chojiro an honorary gold seal with the name Jurakudai, the name of his palace, which eventually came to symbolize his rule. Chojiro was probably
greatly honored to receive this accolade from the ruler, but he eventually
shortened the name to raku, which literally means “joy” or “happiness.” He not only used the name for his pottery, but also adopted it as the family name.
Today, Kichizaemon Raku maintains the family tradition and represents the fifteenth generation to do so.
Oribe
By the end of the sixteenth century, art in Japan had undergone a transformation, due in part to the creative genius of the tea master, scholar, and gentleman
samurai Furuta Oribe (1544–1615).
Oribe, who had been one of Rikyu’s students, was one of the first tea masters appointed by the emperor after his teacher’s death. Among his other skills, Oribe was also a stunningly innovative artist who showed great creativity in creating ceramics to be used in the tea ceremony. He completely changed the type of glaze used on traditional pottery, and his wares were used not only for formal tea ceremonies but for more casual, domestic occasions as well.
His ceramics featured thick glazes of brilliant green, pink, and black. He was able to attain such a stunning, glistening effect that his pottery shone like glass.
The graphic motifs found on his pottery were painted on with an iron glaze, creating an almost modernistic appearance. Many of the motifs were exotic for Japan, showing for the first time the influence of the West.
CHAPTER 7
Tea Spreads Throughout the World
“Goodness is a decision for the mouth to make.”
—Lu Yu, eighth-century tea master