Zen Gardens and Temples of Kyoto. John Dougill

      The tea served at Zen temples is matcha, made by whisking hot water and green tea powder. This is served in a bowl of aesthetic or historic significance, with particular attention paid to the color contrast with the tea. The somewhat bitter taste is offset by the sweetness of the accompanying confectionery.

      Master of Masters

      Rikyu was the son of a wealthy Sakai merchant and from an early age took an interest in the tea ceremony, studying for fifteen years under Takeno Joo. Like his teacher, he was drawn to the study of Zen at Daitoku-ji and he also traveled widely to visit first hand the places where utensils were made, such as the kilns for the pottery. By middle age he had acquired such a reputation that he was appointed tea master to Oda Nobunaga. It was an influential position, for tea was used as a diplomatic tool and alliances were cemented with gifts of expensive utensils. As tea master to the ruler, Rikyu was privy to matters of state.

      One of Rikyu’s principles was that all should be equal in the tea room, so he dispensed with the niceties of rank and used a small ‘crawling entrance’ to prevent the wearing of swords and ensure humility in entering. He also promoted the values of wabi-sabi, an aesthetic that combines rustic simplicity with natural beauty and an awareness of transience. This was reflected in the utensils he favored, which were made of simple but natural materials. In a similar manner, his tea houses were built in the peasant hut style. His unerring aesthetic sense is captured in an anecdote about his gardener, who had swept the garden free of fallen leaves in keeping with the tea principle of cleanliness. Seeing this, Rikyu completed the scene by shaking a branch and scattering leaves over the path in an irregular manner as ordained by nature. The arrangement of autumn hues was a perfect wabi-sabi presentation for his guests.