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Re: 3"S" (Small-Sweet-Smart) English Corner [M29]
The original article is from Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) - April 4, 2006
Japanese Tea Ceremony in Germany
Hanover, Germany (dpa) Guests' shoes remain outside the teahouse in a neat row: inside, the tea drinkers will sit on tatami mats as their host, Setsuko Poetzsch, prepares her utensils for a Japanese ceremony that in its fullest form is known as the chaji.
All this is taking place in Germany, one of many lands where small groups of people cultivate the aesthetic of serving tea in peace and calm, Japanese-style. Poetzsch, who wears a white kimono printed with pink flowers is Japanese, but has lived for 30 years in Germany.
She did not learn the ceremony at home, but from two German enthusiasts, Jana, 31, and Dietrich Roloff, and is now hosting a tea ceremony in the city of Hanover to demonstrate her new mastery of the ritual.
"I visited my first Japanese tea ceremony 11 years ago and I was deeply impressed and couldn't wait to learn to do it too," says Dietrich Roloff, 71. He has been a teacher of the ceremony since 1998 and has established a tea-ceremony school, Cha zen ichimi.
Currently the school has 25 students, with classes held at irregular intervals. They are learning to host a ritual that goes back about 600 years and that is still evolving in Japan. The guests too must understand something of the proper gestures and deportment.
"I find it a very meditative. But it's also quite enjoyable and I like the peculiar taste of the tea," says student Poetzsch, who declines to give her age. In Japan, the ceremony is a chance to calm the thoughts and find inner peace.
With smooth but exact hand movements, the student practitioner reaches for the tea caddy that contains the powdered tea and uses a bamboo scoop, the chashaku, to place a little in each tea bowl, or chawan--the drinking vessels used by the guests.
Steam rises from a kettle on a sunken hearth in the middle of the room.
Continuing the ceremony, Poetzsch scoops up hot water and places some in each bowl, and, using set hand movements, stirs it with a bamboo whisk to create the pale green, slightly frothy beverage.
Dietrich Roloff says there are Japanese tea houses in several German cities and some of the others also teach the ceremony.
Hanover's tea house is in the main city park and was a present from Hiroshima, Hanover's twin city, in 1988. A Germany-Japan society, the Chado Kai, was established in Hanover the following year and now has about 200 members.
Its president, Renate Schaadt, says it promotes Japanese culture locally.
"Apart from the tea-house, Hanover also has Germany's sole tea garden," she explains. During warmer weather from May to October, the ceremony takes place once per week for groups which usually number about four guests, and the number of applicants has been growing.
"Over the past five years we have noticed that interest here in Japanese traditions has increased enormously," she said.
Before Poetzsch serves tea, she gives each guest a sweet, the only food served at today's ceremony, but a necessity for German taste.
"The tea is very bitter, so we eat the sweet directly before drinking it," explains Jana Roloff.
The guests are served one by one, and there is always a second helping: anything less would be impolite. Guests are encouraged to practice Japanese manners, such as inquiring about the type of tea being served.
They also learn a Japanese phrase to end their participation in the ceremony: "Chodai itaschi masu (Thank you for the tea)." |
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发表于 2006-4-29 11:29
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发表于 2006-4-29 11:41