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    The Book of Tea
    The Book of Tea
    The Book of Tea
    Audiobook2 hours

    The Book of Tea

    Written by Kakuzo Okakura

    Narrated by LibriVox Community

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    About this audiobook

    The Book of Tea was written by Okakura Kakuzo in the early 20th century. It was first published in 1906, and has since been republished many times. - In the book, Kakuzo introduces the term Teaism and how Tea has affected nearly every aspect of Japanese culture, thought, and life. The book is noted to be accessibile to Western audiences because though Kakuzo was born and raised Japanese, he was trained from a young age to speak English; and would speak it all his life, becoming proficient at communicating his thoughts in the Western Mind. In his book he elucidates such 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. (Summary from Wikipedia)

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLibriVox
    Release dateAug 25, 2014
    Author

    Kakuzo Okakura

    Okakura Kakuzo was born in 1862, the son of a merchant. He learnt English as a child and went on to study languages at Tokyo University. There, he started a movement to preserve Japanese culture from the rise of modernism and westernization. At the age of only twenty-nine he was made principle of the National Art School and many of his students went on to become famous artists. In 1898 he resigned to found a dissident school of art. To raise funds, he travelled to America where he found a wealthy and interested patron in Mrs Isabella Gardner, ‘Queen of Boston’. Now a successful artist, he was also appointed curator of Chinese and Japanese art at the Boston Museum. A dramatic and extrovert character, he wrote The Book of Tea in 1906 and died seven years later, in 1913.

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    Reviews for The Book of Tea

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    • 5/5
      Beauty, mystery and pain is the roller-coaster of this sweet journey. Never have I ever read such beauty, mystery and pain in a book. Beauty in connecting the past with the present, mystery in the journey of ancestors past and pain in the ever approaching end. I shall read this one again.
    • 5/5
      Breathtaking. How this is not a more well known artistic master piece, and teaching is perhaps part of the mystery contained within it
    • 3/5
      It’s missing chapter 3. Otherwise a book which has very little to do with tea, moreso provides poems and histories which might be related to tea.
    • 5/5
      This book has given so much insight and depth. I feel a sincere Gratitude to Okakura to compiling these words in such beautiful ways.