Korean Tea Ceremony
Posted by Maureen on January 15, 2007
The Korean tea ceremony is a unique form of tea ceremony practiced in Korea for more than a thousand years.
The Korean tea ceremony originates from the Chinese tea ceremony in China. The chief element of the Korean tea ceremony is the ease and naturalness of enjoying tea within an easy formal setting.
Tea ceremonies are now being revived in Korea as a way to find relaxation and harmony in the fast-paced new Korean culture, and continuing in the long tradition of intangible Korean art.
History
The first historical record documenting the offering of tea to an ancestral god describes a rite in the year 661 in which a tea offering was made to the spirit of King Suro, the founder of the Geumgwan Gaya Kingdom (42-562). Records from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) show that tea offerings were made in Buddhist temples to the spirits of revered monks.
During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the royal Yi family and the aristocracy used tea for simple rites, the “Day Tea Rite” was a common daytime ceremony, whereas the “Special Tea Rite” was reserved for specific occasions. These terms are not found in other countries.
Toward the end of the Joseon Dynasty, commoners joined the trend and used tea for ancestral rites, following the Chinese example based on Zhu Xi’s text Formalities of Family.
Equipment
Korean tea ceremonies follow the seasons, and the ceramics and metalware used vary. Religious traditions were influential. Stoneware was common, ceramic more frequent, mostly made in provincial kilns, with porcelain rare, imperial porcelain with dragons the rarest. Examples of equipment used in this ceremony are also discussed in the general entry Korean Ceramics as well as the more specific Korean pottery with images cited.
Historically the appearance of the bowls and cups is naturalistic, with a division according to religious influence. Celadon or jade green, “punchong”, or bronze-like weathered patinas for Buddhist tea rituals; the purest of white with faint designs in porcelain for Confucian tea rituals; and coarser porcelains and ash-stone glazes for animist tea rituals, or for export to Japan where they were known as “gohan chawan”. An aesthetic of rough surface texture from a clay and sand mix with a thin glazing were particularly prized and copied. The randomness of this creation was said to provide a “now moment of reality” treasured by tea masters.
Glazing has very rich texture and variations between many tones occur that change colour according to light and season. Clay used was generally light, with celadon clays being particularly prized. Glazing tricks could imitate most materials: from bamboo, through pebbles in rivers, through tree-bark, to human skin, with rare and unique glazes that gave tiger’s eye, peach, or snow-like attributes in deep snow-drift glazes or fine etched white porcelain. Thus enhancing memories of seasons, poems, writings, or still moments.
Potting style, glazing, form vary according to date. Old designs are still kept up, and exports to Japan were significant, from the late 16th century onwards. Korean potters such as the Yi Sukkwang and Yi Kyong brothers transferred traditional styles abroad that became known as the “Hagi” styles. Individual families of potters and provincial kilns provided highly individual glazes whose depth identifies the best middle Yi Dynasty wares.
Summer tea equipment consisted of “katade” bowls that were 5cm tall and 12cm wide. The dimensions exposed a maximum surface area to aid in cooling boiled water. Hot water would be poured into the bowls, allowed to cool a bit, then poured into a teapot. The water was cooled because pouring boiling hot water over tea leaves extracts too much of the bitter taste and results in a bitter tea. With two hands, the tea would be poured into smaller matching cups with covers, placed on a rough wood or lacquer table. The tea was drunk by lifting the cup cover while drinking so as not to show the open mouth. Tea would be taken cool.
Autumn and winter tea equipment consisted of taller narrower bowls, such as the “irabo” style, that would contain and maintain heat. Typically of spiral construction, shallow, with a high rim. Once again tea made within that bowl would then be poured into heated teapots, and poured centered over a smaller matching cup with cover. Tea would be taken hot. And once again repeatedly poured in small spurts from cup to cup so as to prevent flavour concentrated in one cup.
Unlike the Chinese tradition, no Korean tea vessels used in the ceremony are tested for a fine musical note. Judgment instead is based on naturalness in form, emotion, and colouring.
