The tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of tea. The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called Tea ceremony. The Japanese tea ceremony is better known, and was influenced by the Chinese tea ceremony during ancient and medieval times. One can also refer to the whole set of rituals, tools, gestures, etc. used in such ceremonies as tea culture. All of these tea ceremonies and rituals contain "an adoration of the beautifull among the sordid facts of everyday life", as well as refinement, an inner spiritual content, humility, restraint and simplicity "as all arts that partake the extraordinary, an artistic artificiality, abstractness, symbolism and formalism" to one degree or another.[2]
At a very basic level, tea ceremonies are a formalized way of making tea, in a process which has been refined to yield the best taste. Historical documents on the subject include the 8th century monograph "The Classic of Tea" and the 12th century book Treatise on Tea.
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