“Green Tea for Peace II,” A workshop to Introduce Tea Ceremony Culture for Peace
More than 120 students and others participated in a workshop on the history, practice and aesthetic elements of the Japanese tea ceremony, centering on Urasenke school chanoyu and the underlying spirit of harmony (peace). The lecture explained how zen master Yōsai brought the tea ceremony from China to Japan in the 12th century, and its evolution to become wabicha by the I5th century. It also touched on the spirit of harmony, respect, purity and tranquility that the tea master Sen no Rikyu made essential to the ceremony in the 16th century.