The Book of Tea
by Kakuzō Okakura (1906)
2024 books, 2/22:
“Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence.”
I feel like this year I want to make good progress on my “Want to Read” collection (easier said than done, as it continuously grows anyways), so I’ve been browsing my list, seeing what I’ve previously shelved that I might want to dive into.
The Book of Tea is a short collection of essays on the Japanese art of the tea ceremony, as well as its Chinese influences. Throughout its chapters, Kakuzō covers the schools of thought regarding tea, how Taoism and Zen are intertwined with the tea ceremony, and the architecture of the tearoom. He actually spends very little time on the cup of tea itself, opting to focus more on the journey to that cup.
This book is poetic, philosophical, and historic all in one. Kakuzō will even compare the differences between Eastern traditions of tea and art with West (with a clear bias towards the former). I love learning about Taoism, and its relation to tea, therefore this was a great accompaniment to my morning tea session.
“The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things.”