Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1946/31770
Japanese tea ceremony extends beyond the mere act of tea drinking: it is also known as chadō, or “the Way of Tea”, as it is one of the artistic disciplines conceived as paths of religious awakening through lifelong effort. One of the elements that shaped its multifaceted identity through history is the evolution of the physical space where the ritual takes place. This essay approaches Japanese tea ceremony from a point of view that is architectural and anthropological rather than merely aesthetic, in order to trace the influence of Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism on both the architectural elements of the tea room and the different aspects of the ritual. The structure of the essay follows the structure of the space where the ritual itself is performed: the first chapter describes the tea garden where guests stop before entering the ritual space of the tea room; it also provides an overview of the history of tea in Japan. The second chapter figuratively enters the ritual space of the tea room, discussing how Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism, and Zen Buddhism merged into the architecture of the ritual space. Finally, the third chapter looks at the preparation room, presenting the interplay of the four cognitive systems within the ritual of making and serving tea. Each chapter also follows the different phases of a hypothetical tea gathering, in order to facilitate the comprehension of the architectural features by examining the ritual space in terms of the activities taking place in it.
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BA_thesis_The Abode of Fancy of Vacancy and of the Unsymmetrical_Francesca.pdf | 607,6 kB | Open | Complete Text | View/Open | |
Declaration of Access to the Copies of my Thesis_Francesca.pdf | 48,59 kB | Locked | Yfirlýsing |