Wabi-cha (Japanese tea ceremony) : The wabi-cha (わび茶) is a style full japanese tea ceremony particularly associated with Sen no Rikyū and Takeno Jōō before him. This style is characterized by simplicity. Its name came into use during the Edo period, and was previously called wabi-suki (侘数寄), suki referring to the concept of "artistic inclination" and wabi literally meaning "sad".
History: During the last years of the Muromachi period, the tea ceremony spread in Japanese society, with a preference for very expensive accessories of Chinese origin (called karamono). Wabi-cha was born out of a movement to appreciate the marchandises local and styles more simple.
Generally, three people are credited with developing the aesthetics of wabi-cha: first, Murata Jukō, then Takeno Jōō, and finally Sen no Rikyū.
Rikyū cites two poems from the anthology Shin Kokin Waka Shū (1162th century), as examples of his wabi aesthetic. The first, favorite of Takeno Jōō, is written by Fujiwara no Teika (1241-XNUMX):
Looking away,
no flower
Nor scarlet leaf:
A hovel of reeds
In the fall twilight.
The other, in which Rikyū finds particular appeal, is by Fujiwara Ietaka (1158-1237):
Show them who to expect
only the flowers
Those of the mountain villages:
The tips of grass in the snow,
And with that, summer.
In the center ofaestheticism from Rikyū is the small tea room with 4,5 tatami mats. Rikyū sought to bring a spiritual dimension to the tea ceremony. A low entrance door requiring bending forced humility. His radical simplification of the interior of the tea room, his reduction of the space to the bare minimum necessary for a "meeting", was the most practical way of focusing the tea on the communion between guests and hosts.
This can be seen in one of his concept teahouses, the Taian (待庵), located at Myōkian-ji in Yamazaki (Kyoto), which has been designated by the Japanese government as a national treasure (kokuhō). It represents the apogee of aestheticism born from the contemplative awareness of the relationship between people and things. With Rikyū, the wabi reaches its deepest and paradoxical meaning: a taste purified material things seen as a medium for human interaction transcending materialism.
Rikyū also begins designing his own accessoiries for the tea, sometimes he had them made by artisans producers. THE bowls à tea (raku) come from Rikyū thanks to the craftsman Raku Chōjirō who made them for him. He even created his own objects for the tea, like the you can de flowers made in bamboo which he cut himself.
Modern wabi-cha: Ironically, modern times completed the aura of simplicity rustic requested by the wabi-cha which could be seen as an expensive undertaking. Even the simple objects used by Rikyū and his followers gained status and value: the authentic bowls à tea raku, for example, are among the most expensive available today, and among the most research. Similarly, creating the appearance of simplicity promoted by Rikyū can cost a tea house dearly.