Vintage, CHAWAN traveling tea ceremony utensils set rectangular box.

Vintage, CHAWAN traveling tea ceremony utensils set rectangular box.

Japan 1960s

Size box: 43 cm H x 23 cm W x 21 cm L

The Japanese Tea Ceremony (chanoyu or chado) is a cultural tradition involving very particular places, procedures, and equipment for drinking green tea. Originating as a habit of Chinese Buddhistmonks to aid their meditation, tea-drinking in Japan and other parts of East Asia became such a refined activity that, from the 13th century CE, aristocrats adopted it as a means to display one's culture. With a specifically designed room, landscaped garden, and fine porcelain all becoming essential components of the ceremony, drinking tea became nothing less than an art form.

Origins & Developments

Tea-drinking began in China, and its discovery is credited to the Indian sage Bodhidharma (aka Daruma), the founder of Chan Buddhism, a precursor of Zen Buddhism. From the 2nd century BCE, Buddhist monks began to drink tea to help support themselves while they meditated and to ward off sleep. However, it was not until the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) that tea-drinking spread to the aristocracy, the only people who could afford such an expensive drink. From China, the habit spread along with other ideas via traders, diplomats, and visiting monks so that eventually it reached Japan in the 8th century CE, evolving into a whole cultural experience from the 13th century CE onwards.