The Book of Tea

The Book of Tea

Description of book

This book is written by Kakuzo Okakura about the concept of teaism and how tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life.

The writer himself has learnt English language since the young age and is proficient at it. So he took the chance to share his thoughts to the Western Mind.

In this book, he also touch base on topics as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of Tea and Japanese life.

The book emphasises how Teaism taught the Japanese many things; most importantly, simplicity.

Kakuzo argues that this tea-induced simplicity affected art and architecture, and he was a long-time student of the visual arts.

He ends the book with a chapter on Tea Masters, and spends some time talking about Sen no Rikyu and his contribution to the Japanese Tea Ceremony.