From the Wikipedia page [1]
Perennial tea ceremony / Four Seson Tea Ceremony (四序茶會) is a Chinese tea ceremony, created by Lin Easu (林易山), of the Ten Ren Teaism Foundation. The first two characters of the Chinese term literally mean four steps or sequences that are linked together, the latter two simply meaning "tea ceremony". With eternal continuity, perfect harmony, rhythm and vitality of nature. Also promotes cultivation of love and respect for nature. Each of the four participants represents a season of the year, and along with the "center" of the ceremony, with incense burners and flowers, these five represent the five elements and colors of Chinese philosophy. Each participant is assigned a season, and these four seasons around the center—the earth— suggest an idea of the endless cycle of seasons, hence the name Perennial Tea Ceremony. This tea ceremony is an important link to modern tea culture and ceremony with the traditional Chinese Tea Lore Ceremony. [1]
Tea setting
There are spring, summer, fall, and winter teas. “Perennial Tea Ceremony” (Perennial, literally means four steps or sequences that are linked together and each one represents a season of the year). The tea ceremony includes four tea settings(茶席) and a tea master(司茶), below are the four settings:
- 春風(Spring Wind), green, east
- 夏露(Summer Dew), red, south
- 秋籟(Fall Sounds), white, west
- 冬陽(Winter Sunshine) black, north
Each tea setting is arranged and stands for the four directions (north, south, east, and west). A vase of the seasons flowers are put on tea table. Some times if four tea masters are include then five chairs are arranged per each tea setting, making a total of twenty plus the 4 tea masters equalling 24, which symbolizes the 24 solar terms of the Chinese calendar, and represents that nature continues or is perennial.
The five elements
The three realms of heaven, earth, and mankind are subject to natural cycles; including the yin and yang cycle , which corresponds to yielding and hard, shade and sunlight, feminine and masculine, and the moon and sun. The five elements or phases is another cycle of the elements of: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water succeeded each other in rotation and each corresponds with certain traits of the three realms.
References
- Jones, Steven R. (2005). Perennial Tea Ceremony. Taipei.
- Flushing,NY 2009-11-03 , Perennial Tea Ceremony, (Chinese)
External links
- Tea Arts
- Tea Culture Group, Shilin Community College
- Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony site (Chinese)
- Chinese description of the ceremony with English translation