ART H317: Chado Japanese Aesthetics
Autumn 2012 5 Credits Final grade: 3.9 Japanese and Religion |
Japanese Tea CeremonyPerhaps of all the classes I took at the UW, this is the one I was the most looking forward to. I heard about it from a friend who had taken it the year before was determined to take it as well. I was particularly lucky as the class applied towards both my comparative religion major and the minor in Japanese I was starting to accumulate.
Class was twice a week. One class was spent learning the steps of the Japanese tea ceremony ritual. The other class we spent in lecture, learning about the history of tea in Japan, its influence, and the religious overtones and mindsets which had been integrated into the tea ceremony itself. This included finding beauty in impurity, the natural decay of time, and the cycle of the seasons. I chose to write my final paper on the use of tea as medicine throughout time. I thought the topic was extremely interesting and the paper was, therefore, one of my most enjoyable writing experiences at the University. Additionally, the paper became a source of pride as my professor e-mailed me after its submission praising my writing and to ask if I would be okay with him saving it to show to future students as an example of what he was looking for. Of course, I said yes. |
Image: Cherry blossoms in the UW quad as seen from Miller Hall