I am truly amazed by the intricacy, elegance, and beauty presented and embedded in Senchado. The practice reminds me of the high mountains and flowering water tea art (高山流水) but it is softer and more peaceful. It calms people down and reaches a realm where you only focus on the tea practice itself, just like any meditations.

Linking back to the readings of the week, I am intrigued by the way tea originated as a medicine and herb but gradually developed to be a delicate and artistic practice. It shows that people have aesthetic and recreational pursuits besides necessary conditions to survive. And as it evolves, it is truly touching to see how tea practices become an important cultural heritage in both China and Japan.

It is my first time seeing how people in Tang Dynasty practice tea (or at least reimagining) and it is quite different from how Chinese people drink tea today. Starting from the fine and fancy tea sets, I can almost tell tea was not a popular enjoyment for all social classes as it is today. And the procedure is much more complex with grinding and adding condiments.

As to the reading, it is very interesting to me how drinking tea is related to values such as longevity and transcendence that Taoist emphasized. Maybe it reflects how Tang Dynasty (or at least High Tang) is a culturally plural society because nowadays Chinese people do not practice Taoism anymore with penetrated and enduring influence of Confucian culture. But with tea practice, it is as if all other ancient Chinese cultures have revived and interweaving.

We can see similarities in tea practice between the Tang and Song Dynasty. Tea leaves are crushed and ground before being mixed with boiling water. Yet, tea is stirred with a tea whisk and mixed seven times with boiling water, a more refined process than in the Tang Dynasty.

It is interesting to me that Buddhists played an important role in expanding tea production and manufacturing during the Song Dynasty. It shows that in Song Dynasty tea was not only an elite and literati entertainment but was also popularized among the public.

After watching this video, I found the differences and similarities between Japanese and Chinese (perhaps Song Dynasty) tea practices fascinating. In Chanoyu, arranging charcoals and food serving before drinking tea is a part of the ritual ceremony, while tea practices in China only highlight the tea-drinking part and regard the rest as "preparation" for tea drinking. I think tea ceremonies in Japan are more intricate and unique in that way.

Meantime, the exchange of spirit in tea ceremonies connects Japanese and Chinese tea practices, although there are slightly different emphases on both sides. The theme of transcendence is more seen in Chinese tea culture while Chanoyu emphasizes investing tea practitioners' souls in the moment and purifying their inner selves through the tea ceremony.

From the trading of pottery between Japan and Korea we can see the importance of commerce. Not only tea itself can be traded and shared inter-culturally, same for its vessels and spirits. One of the differences appears to me that Raku ware tea bowl is black compared to Korean tea bowls closer to the color of earth.

It is very interesting to me in the reading how Hur wrote that the development of commercialism is ironic against the spirit tea practice entails. Trading benefits a nation's economy and contributes to its culture (how chanoyu was inspired by whisking tea practice in Song Dynasty), but it inevitably means the loss of originality and some of its spirits.

Though multiple sources indicate the existence of unique Korean tea from 5000 years ago, tea culture remained unpopular in Korea unlike Japan and China. According to the readings, tea practice and appreciation was restricted to mostly nobility and literati during the Three Kingdom Period. During the Joseon Dynasty, Taoism was not encouraged due to the advocacy of Confucianism, further limiting the popularity of tea practice.

Although the spread of tea culture was limited, tea appreciation is an influential part of Korean literature. Poets like Jeong Yak-yong not only showed expert knowledge in tea cultivation and connoisseurship, they also followed the material and spiritual harmony emphasized by Taoism. It is worth noting that, like Japanese tea practitioners, these poets were also influenced by Lu Yu's Classic of Tea. Thus, to some extent, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean tea cultures shared their originality, but then diverged due to historical, political, and social reasons.

My question is even though Korea has a long history of tea cultivation, tea culture has not been widely popular among the public. Besides the advocacy of Confucian culture during the Joseon Dynasty, are there any other reasons causing this phenomenon?

It is interesting to me how the certainty and regularity of Chinese architecture contrasts with the uncertainty of Chinese gardens for pursuits of different aesthetics. Ponds, grotesque rocks, floral gardens, and buildings all connect through zigzag walkways. I have been to one classical garden of Suzhou several years ago. The compact yet exquisite arrangement and amalgamation of these elements stood out to me, but what I did not know was the beauty of uncertainty played out in the garden. From the lecture and video I learned that these views are set to evoke contingent sentiments as pedestrians move, a visual display of the intellectual tradition of Confucianism. I love the sense that human and nature become a unity when you place and immerse yourself in these gardens.

I was stunned by the tea preparation process and the entire interactive ceremony. I truly liked the four principles, especially touched by being respect to others since the ceremony can make all guests unite and harmonize through tea appreciation regardless of their social status outside the tea room.

The design of the tea room is plain and simple, but it is this simplicity that enables the guests to despite frivolity and successfully achieve a stable metal state during the ceremony.

The design of sencha tea bowls is just as simplistic and minimalistic as what Baisaō advocated spiritually. The simplistic grid and blending of black and white discard the flamboyant aristocrats or the mainstream's pursuit of the materialistic and mundane, returning to a stable status from which people can acquire mental peace and purity. The design of the tea bowl also aligns with Baisaō's impoverished life trajectory.

Baisaō's return to Zen spirit could have stemmed from his admiration towards Chinese literati which became the reason he placed Sencha culture over Chanoyu.

At this point, it is not a surprise to see the embodiment of black space and vacuum in the design of an architect considering how this idea is employed in paintings and calligraphy. As Okakura cited Taoism in his book, the beauty of the empty is its potential to achieve the full, and the beauty of East lies right in this emptiness and naturalness. In the reading Okakura also mentioned how simplicity can create an enclosed environment free of distraction, echoing Laotzu's philosophy.

What surprises me is how Wright was influenced by this aesthetics and built an auditorium hall in his studio, and The Book of Tea's influence on American art in general. II did not anticipate that Western aesthetics, which seemingly do not align with Eastern philosophy, would be so profoundly influenced.