Исследование об улучшении качества жизни на основе взаимодействия между природой и людьми и его последствия. Культура зеленого чая как японское искусство

A STUDY ON iMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALiTY OF LiFE ON THE BASiS OF iNTERACTiON BETWEEN NATURE AND HUMAN BEiNGS, AND iTS EFFECT.

ADOPTiON OF THE DRiNKiNG OF TEA AS A JAPANESE CULTURAL ART

Wakai ikujiro

Faculty of Human Environment, Osaka Sangyo University, Japan

Исследование об улучшении качества жизни на основе взаимодействия между природой и людьми и его последствия.

Культура зеленого чая как японское искусство

Икуджиро Вакай

Университет Осака Ñангё, Япония

Чай, который был частью повседневной жизни японцев, начал совершенствоваться как форма искусства примерно в 15 веке . Это то, что мы теперь знаем как искусство чайной церемонии. Она включает в себя не только систему приготовления и питья чая, но также способ обогащения качества жизни и очищению духа. В этом исследовании я буду обсуждать улучшение качества жизни путем питья зеленого чая и его последствия.

Tea, which had been drunk as part of the daily life of Japanese, began to be refined as a form of art in about the 15th century. This is what we now know as the art of the tea ceremony. It involves not only the manner of serving and drinking tea, but also has the effect of enriching the quality of life and purifying the spirit. In this study, I will discuss the improvement of the quality of life through the drinking of tea, and its effects.

The tea culture which was introduced from China to Japan in the 9th century transformed into a uniquely Japanese style as its practice proliferated. In the early days, tea was drunk by select people such as high priests, nobles and high ranking warriors, but was taken over by Sen Rikyu in the 16th century, who perfected it as a spiritual culture art known as ‘ chanoyu ’ or ‘ sado ’, and has been passed down to the present day as a basic element of Japanese culture. The culture of tea drinking, which had its origin in Buddhism, became established in Japan and has had a profound influence on the Japanese view of life, art and the environment.

Tea is a subtropical plant. In well-known Japanese tea-producing areas, sunny southern slopes on hills are used for tea plantations. Rows of wavy lines of tea plants play an important role in regional cultural landscapes. People living in or close to a natural environment always receive both tangible and intangible influences from the interaction between nature and human beings.

Sado is a ritual art involving the enjoyment of serving and drinking tea in a rustic style ‘soan’ tea ceremony house built in a garden with the mysterious charm of deep mountains and dark valleys. The tea room is an indoor space with a simple, tranquil and tasteful atmosphere called ‘ wabi ’, and creates a small world far from mundane worldly affairs. The adoption of drinking tea as a cultural art has worked to elevate the level of Japanese culture.

The concept of sado which, in its expansion, has been elevated to an art from the custom of tea drinking can be seen in various aspects of daily life such as the ways of exchanging greetings and other behavior, as well as indoor decoration. Such improvement in the quality of life has had the following effects: 1) valuing symbiosis with the natural environment, 2) saving by a natural way of living, 3) fostering near-at-hand natural environments.

In this study, the author discussed the improvement of the quality of life from the viewpoint of interaction between nature and human beings, and its effect, through the example of the adoption of the drinking of tea as a cultural art, based on the consideration that the ‘cultural’ viewpoint is important for the conservation of natural ecosystems and improvement of the quality of life. In Sado , ‘simplicity’ is valued, and people appreciate the minimum decoration of hanging scrolls and flower arrangements, think of nature and quietly exchange conversation in the small space of a tea ceremony room representing the universe. There, valuing the nonsymmetrical composition of beauty seen in tea room hanging scrolls and flower arrangements and stimulating sophisticated mental activity, people enjoy to live with nature. It can be said that, unless natural ecosystems and improvement of the quality of life are recognized in connection with natural environments, they cannot really be preserved. It is also true that simplicity and saving will indirectly contribute to conservation of the natural environment and ecosystems, only when they become embedded in our daily lives.

References

1. Tenshin Okakura (translated into Japanese by Hiroshi Muraoka), The book of tea, Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 1929

28

ВЕСТНИК МЕЖДУНАРОДНОЙ АКАДЕМИИ НАУК (РУССКАЯ СЕКЦИЯ) • 2011 • СПЕЦИАЛЬНЫЙ ВЫПУСК