Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 2 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 6 minutes The Book of Tea is a long essay written by Okakura Kakuzo in 1906, which links the role of chado (teaism) to the aesthetic and cultural aspects of Japanese life. The book emphasizes how Teaism taught the Japanese many things, the most important of which were simplicity and humility. Okakura believed that this aesthetic should inform everything from the arts and architecture to daily life and was already informing them in Japan. The book also discusses topics such as Zen and Taoism, but also the secular aspects of tea and Japanese life. According to Tomonobu Imamichi, Heidegger's concept of Dasein in Sein und Zeit was inspired by Okakura Kakuzo's concept of das-in-der-Welt-sein (being-in-the-worldness) expressed in The Book of Tea to describe Zhuangzi's philosophy. The Book of Tea has been cited as an important influence on the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Arthur Wesley Dow, and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Écrit en 1906 par un maître de l'esthétique japonaise, Le Livre du thé révèle comment une simple tasse de thé devient le symbole d'une philosophie de vie.

Depuis un siècle, Le Livre du thé, qui offre une introduction des plus subtiles à la vie et à la pensée asiatiques, s'adresse à toutes les générations. Et ce grand classique, qui a permis naguère de jeter un pont entre l'Orient et l'Occident, n'a rien perdu de sa force et peut encore éclairer notre modernité. Le trait de génie d'Okakura fut de choisir le thé comme symbole de la vie et de la culture en Asie : le thé comme art de vivre, art de penser, art d'être au monde. Il nous parle d'harmonie, de respect, de pureté, de sérénité. Au fond, l'idéal du thé est l'aboutissement même de cette conception zen : la grandeur réside dans les plus menus faits de la vie. Qui cherche la perfection doit découvrir dans sa propre vie le reflet de sa lumière intérieure. Aussi la voie du thé est-elle bien plus qu'une cérémonie : une façon de vivre en creusant aux racines de l'être pour revenir à l'essentiel et découvrir la beauté au cour de la vie.

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 accessible 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 emphasizes 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.

The Book of Tea is as much about philosophy, religion and art as it is about a drink made with dried leaves in boiling water. It traces the development of tea into teaism. The author's first paragraph summarizes the whole book:"Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage. In China, in the eighth century, it entered the realm of poetry as one of the polite amusements. The fifteenth century saw Japan ennoble it into a religion of aestheticism--Teaism. Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life."The author shows that the philosophy of Teaism, which was developed from Japanese Zen Buddhist teachings, actually has deeper roots in Chinese Confucianism and Taoism as well.After its publication in 1906 The Book of Tea provided a window into Japanese culture, and furthered a better understanding and appreciation of the philosophy behind minimalism in Japanese art, architecture, design and living.