Day 2 Photographs
Wabi Sabi
Wabi - A cultivated aesthetic that finds beauty in simplicity and an impoverished rusticity.
Sabi - A slightly bleak quality suggesting age, deterioration and the passage of time.
(Richie, 2007)
Taka told us that the tea ceremony is a chance to "live in the moment." Treat your guests with the best etiquette, food, tea and environment, as if it is the first and last time you will see them. This is an example of wabi sabi.
The tea ceremony itself is simple and finds pleasure and beauty in using worn tea bowls that have been colored through the passing of many hands and some even cracks in the glaze. The tea storage containers are also "decorated" through touch and lifestyle, making every container different.
Wabi - A cultivated aesthetic that finds beauty in simplicity and an impoverished rusticity.
Sabi - A slightly bleak quality suggesting age, deterioration and the passage of time.
(Richie, 2007)
"If a man were never to fade away . . . but lingered on forever in the world, how things would lose their power to move us. The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty."
Yoshida Kenko
Taka told us that the tea ceremony is a chance to "live in the moment." Treat your guests with the best etiquette, food, tea and environment, as if it is the first and last time you will see them. This is an example of wabi sabi.
The tea ceremony itself is simple and finds pleasure and beauty in using worn tea bowls that have been colored through the passing of many hands and some even cracks in the glaze. The tea storage containers are also "decorated" through touch and lifestyle, making every container different.
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| Our class at the Shunkoin Temple tea ceremony. |
Treating your guests with the best doesn't necessarily mean amount or excessive decoration. In Japan it often means simple beauty and elegance.
The Temple
The Temple
Also Shunkoin Temple built in 1590 is filled with examples of wabi sabi. The sliding door panels are built of light cedar and paper. The large sliding doors are crafted from one cedar tree. The huge pillars are crafted from one cypress trunk. The floor is crafted from flexible and strong red pine. All of these materials show the signs of age, sunlight and touch. Taka said in order to think about the creation of the temple, you also need to think about the many years it took for the trees to grow -- that this is also part of Shunkoin's story.
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| The cedar and paper door screens surround the room supported by massive wooden pillars. |
The gardens throughout the temple complex are symbols of change, deterioration and beauty. Seasons are greatly appreciated in Japan because they are fleeting and signify the passage of time - the passage of our lives.
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| These flowers in the Shunkoin Temple garden are a reminder of impermanence. |
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