Ga-ran-dō, 伽蘭洞, Help-orchid-cave, set with utensils for the Lunar New Year of the Dragon, 2024. Kake-mono, 掛物, hang-thing, Ryū-hi Hō-bu, 龍飛鳳舞, Dragon-leap Phoenix-dance. Kake hana-ire, 掛花入, hang flower-receptacle, bamboo, by Nishi-kawa Bai-gen, 西川楳玄, West-river Prunus-mystery. Buri-buri kō-gō, ぶりぶり香合, full-full incense-gather. Kagami mochi, 鏡餅, mirror mochi. Ya-hazu gama, 矢筈釜, arrow-nock kettle. Ha-ssoku, 八足, eight-leg, hinoki, 桧, Japanese cypress, Shintō offering stand. Usu-ki, 薄器, tea-container, masu, 升, box measure, calligraphy by Hō-un-sai, 鵬雲斎, Phoenix-cloud-abstain. Mizu-sashi, 水指, water-indicate, ceramic, by Makoto Ya-be, 誠矢部, Truth Arrow-guild. Cha-wan, 茶碗, tea-bowl, ceramic with black glaze by Kuro-da Tatsu-aki, 黒田辰秋, Black-field Dragon-autumn. Japan follows both the solar and lunar calendars, and observes some events...
Continue readingDragon in Chanoyu
Pictured above are: Kake hana-ire, 掛花入, hang flower-receptacle, bamboo ni-jū-giri, 二重切, two-tier-cut; L. 15 sun kane-jaku, by David Flanagan, Jamaica Plain, Mass. Kō-gō, 香合, incense-gather, porcelain, design of ryū-hō, 龍鳳, dragon-‘phoenix’; diam. 2.1 sun kane-jaku: China, displayed on pack of folded paper, kami-kama-shiki, 紙釜敷, paper-kettle-spread. Kagami mochi, 鏡餅, mirror-mochi, on wooden san–bō, 三宝, three-treasures, H. 5 sun kane-jaku. Ro, 炉, hearth: ‘kashiwa-de gama’, 柏手釜, oak-hand kettle, by Taka-hashi Kei-ten, 高橋敬典, High-bridge Respect-law, Nin-gen Koku-hō, 人間国宝, Person-interval Country-treasure, Yama-gata, 山形, Mountain-form. Kai-gu, 皆具, all-tools; tobi sei-ji, 飛青磁, fly blue-porcelain, mizusashi, shakutate, hibashi, hishaku, kensui, futaoki, by Ishi-zaki Hide-haru, 石崎英治, Stone-cape Splendor-peace, Yo-kka-ichi, 四日市, Four-day-city. Cha-ire, 茶入, tea-receptacle, ceramic...
Continue readingSetsubun and Risshun
Setsu-bun, 節分, Season-divide, has a variable date from February 3 to February 4, and is the eve of Ri-sshun, 立春, Start-spring. On Setsubun, the image of O-ta-fuku, お多福, O-much-fortune, appears everywhere. She is a primal fertility deity who dispels the harsh winter winds which are deified as an oni, 鬼, demon. Otafuku welcomes the return of the spring sun. People call out “Oni wa soto Fuku wa uchi”, 鬼は外 福は内, Demon is out Fortune is in. Risshun is the first day of spring, and the start of the lunar Tora no Tsuki, 寅の月, Tiger’s Month. On this day, everyone celebrates the age they will become in the...
Continue readingKuro: The Color Black in Chanoyu Part 2
In Chanoyu, according to Buddhist tradition, venerated objects are displayed on elevated stands and altars, which are customarily lacquered black. These pieces of furniture are frequently adorned with gold lacquer to reflect light. Black in the Asian tradition is the color of joy. The nobility and aristocracy are deemed above the common mankind, hence are called ‘your highness’. Deities are regarded as celestial in heaven, and mountains being closer to heaven, are themselves deemed divine. Many sacred mountains identified as female are forbidden even to the devout clergy. Mount Kailash in Tibet is such a sacred place, that no one is allowed to climb her. It is...
Continue readingSensu: Nine and Five
In my research, I have found numerous examples of utensils that manifest or suggest 9 and 5 together. For example, the length of the kazari hi-bashi, 飾火箸, is 9.5 sun kane-jaku. The length of the sensu, 扇子, fan-of, pictured above is 10 sun kujira-jaku. The length of the sensu sen-men, 扇面, fan-face, paper is 5.7 sun kujira, the length of the exposed part of the ribs is 4.2 sun kujira. When the both lengths are compared, the ratio is 8 to 10. The number 18, jū-hachi, 十八, ten-eight, is symbolic of Infinity in Space and Time, and when 18 is divided in half it equals 9. This...
Continue readingKuro: The Color Black in Chanoyu – Part 1
When preparing for a Tea presentation, there are many choices to be made. Considerations include the season, event, purpose, nature of the guest, style of formality, location, time, preference, and suitability of occasion. Assembling the utensils is called tori-awase, 取合せ, take-together, the selection of objects to be used together in a Chanoyu Tea presentation. Konomi, 好み, choice, like, favor, refers to the style, manner, color, form, etc. that is the selection according to one’s preferences of objects and procedures. Kata-mono, 型物, form-thing, is an acknowledged standard of objects. Color is a major aspect when choosing utensils, as colors have emotional and symbolic connotations for personal choice,...
Continue readingHigashi – Sweets for Thin Tea
Sweets are arranged on a maru-bon, 丸盆, round-tray lacquered red throughout, with the Kanji fuku, 福, fortune, written in gold lacquer; diam 6 sun kujira-jaku, from Tachi-kichi, たち吉, Tachi-good luck, Kyōto. The ideal hi-ga-shi bon, 干菓子盆, dry-sweet-of tray, has a diameter of 8 sun kane-jaku or 6.4 sun kujira-jaku. Higashi are customarily served with usu-cha, 薄茶, thin-tea. Pictured above are Necco (New England Confectionary Company) wafers are pressed sugar sweets in a variety of colors and flavors that had been made in the Boston area since 1847. Glenn Sōrei Pereira made the little gel trees adorned with colored sugar sprinkles for Christmas. The sweets on the back...
Continue readingWinter Solstice and Chanoyu
Garandō set for presenting Bon-ryaku Ten-mae, 盆略点前, Tray-abbreviate Offer-fore, on the occasion of the winter solstice, Tō-ji, 冬至, Winter-attain. Tokonoma: sen-su, 扇子, fan-of; silk camellia in a ceramic bottle, hana-ire, 花入, flower-receptacle; displayed on a black-lacquered round board; kō-gō, 香合incense-gather, black-lacquered, octagonal, covered wooden box displayed on a kami-kama-shiki, 紙釜敷, paper-kettle-spread. Sen-su, 扇子, fan-of, white paper with blackened bamboo ribs, with calligraphy, ‘Ko–kon-shiki’, 古今色, Past-preset-color, by Hō-un-sai, 鵬雲斎, Phoenix-cloud-abstain, XV Iemoto, Urasenke. The word, kokon, is drawn from the Zen expression, 松無古今色 , pine no past present color, which is read, ‘Matsu ni Ko-kon Iro Nashi’. The sensu has thirteen black ribs independent of the two...
Continue readingDecember Observances
Ga-ran-dō, 伽蘭洞, Attend-orchid-cave; shiki-shi, 色紙, color-paper, paste-board, (see below) mounted as kake-jiku, 掛軸, hang-scroll. Hana, 花, flower, tsubaki, 椿, camellia, in a kake hana-ire, 掛花入, hang flower-receptacle, wooden bobbin. Kō-gō, 香合, incense-gather, porcelain covered box displayed on brown fabric ko-buku-sa, 古帛紗, old-cloth-gauze. In the ro, 炉, hearth is a ya-hasu-gama, 矢筈釜, arrow-nock-kettle. The theme of the Tea presentation features sewing and fabrics, and the Buddhist and Shintō rites of Hari ku-yō, 針供養, needle offer-nurture, memorial, which occurs on December 8th. The rites offer thanks to sewing needles for their efforts in making clothing and other fabric items. As part of the offering, the needles and pins that...
Continue readingRo and the Goma
The sunken hearth in a cha-shitsu, 茶室, tea-room, called a ro, 炉, hearth, is set with sho-zumi, 初炭, first-charcoal, sumi-bi, 炭火, charcoal-fire. The ro-dan, 炉壇, hearth-foundation, is masonry with sand finish, and is about half-ful of wood hai, 灰, ash. On the upper ledge of the rodan are two pieces of wood called suki-gi, 透木, clear-wood, that support a suki-gi gama, 透木釜, clear-wood kettle, that has a wide, flaring flange. The ro has a black lacquered wooden frame, ro-buchi, 炉縁, hearth-edge, that protects the surrounding tatami. The ideal, traditional ro-dan, 炉壇, hearth-foundation, is made of masonry as pictured above. It is constructed in the manner of traditional...
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