The Book of Tea

Zen and the art of tea-the classic book about the Japanese tea ceremony that is as much a guide to life.

Ritualized, romantic, and historically rich, the tea ceremony is the creation of something beautiful out of the everyday. Originally written in English more than a hundred years ago to be read aloud at Isabella Stewart Gardner's famous salon, The Book of Tea presents ...

Zen and the art of tea-the classic book about the Japanese tea ceremony that is as much a guide to life.

Ritualized, romantic, and historically rich, the tea ceremony is the creation of something beautiful out of the everyday. Originally written in English more than a hundred years ago to be read aloud at Isabella Stewart Gardner's famous salon, The Book of Tea presents the meeting of East and West in a teacup. It explores Asian culture through the history and aestheticism-or "teaism"-of the tea ceremony and also suggests a deep connection between beauty and war, and between flowers and social mores. In its formality, attention to detail, and celebration of beauty and harmony, the tea ceremony encapsulates the Japanese view of life-in fact, the art of life.

冈仓天心（Kakuzo Okakura）

原名冈仓觉三，1863年生于日本横滨一个商人之家。七岁起同时接受汉学与英语教育，十六岁进入东京帝国大学就读，受到其师Fenollosa启发而对保存与发扬日本传统艺术及美学不遗余力。曾任日本美术学校的筹建者、校长，创立日本美术院，去职后游历于印度与中国，最后任职于波士顿美术馆东方美术部门，其著作《茶之书》、《东洋的理想》与《日本的觉醒》即写于这段时间。天心自幼学习外语，因其典雅动人之英文写作，三种著作皆于美国和英国出版，影响20世纪之初西方人对日本的印象可谓非常深远。