Wanhua tzuchi jingsi hall

1.Topic：Experience tea ceremony

2.Date：2018.11.23

3.Location：Wanhua Tzuchi Jingsi Hall

4.Procedure：a. Interview with the tea ceremony teacher, Chen Yingru

                       b. Bring up questions

                       c. Experience tea ceremony curriculum

                       d. Fold the chakin

                       e. Dessert time

5. Sharing feedback

6. Data management

Tea ceremony curriculum	Tea ceremony decoration	Wanhua tzuchi jingsi hall

1.Interview With the Tea Ceremony Teacher

　• Address：No. 222, Juguang Rd., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City 108, Taiwan

　• Telephone：02-23366526

Interview with teacher Chen Yingru

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2.Questions

Q1: What is the meaning of tea ceremony?  Why do we practice tea ceremony?

A1: Tea ceremony helps cultivate your mind and helps you to think. Jingsi tea ceremony blends in Tzuchi Humanism Spirit. It makes us beautify our life, and lead a happy and joyful life. Through serendipity, I started to practice tea ceremony.

Q2: When did you start to practice tea ceremony?

A2: About ten years ago, when I joined Tzuchi.  I spent three years to pass nine levels’ test. The test includes the written test, the oral test, and the 1,500 autobiography.  When you pass all the tests, you will get a professional tea ceremony license.  It is not easy.

Q3: What is the difference between Taiwanese tea ceremony and Japanese tea ceremony? What is difference between tea art and tea ceremony?

A3: Japanese tea ceremony is for self-cultivation and Taiwanese tea ceremony is for life. The history of Taiwanese tea culture is rather long, complicated and rich while Japanese tea ceremony creates its own system which has strict and solemn procedure.  Tea art focuses on space arrangement.  Tea ceremony is overall and teaches concepts and manners.

Tea ceremony curriculum	Tea ceremony curriculum teachers

3.Experience Tea Ceremony

• Teacher：Chen Yingru, Lee Bigui

　　The teacher explained the posture of serving tea.  The eldest guest should be served tea first with a smile, eyes contact, fifteen-degree bows and when the guest takes the bowl of tea, the host is allowed to raise his head.Teacher explained the method and manner of drinking tea.  The host shows respect to the guest by showing the bowl’s face, the most beautiful part, to the guest.  On the contrary, when drinking tea, the guest has to rotate the face of the tea bowl aside. 

　　You slowly rotate the tea bowl clockwise, place the bowl on your left palm, and your right hand hold the side of the bowl to drink tea. In order to respect the host, you should pay attention to the tea bowl and looking around is not allowed.  After finishing tea, to show respect to the host, you rotate the face of the tea bowl counterclockwise to face the host and you can continue talking  to the host.

Fold the Chakin	Fold the Chakin

4.Fold the Chakin

　　Chakin is one of the most important tools to brew tea.  When brewing tea, neat chakin, placed aside all the times, shows that the teacher pays attention to delicate details.

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Dessert Time

5.Dessert Time

　　When drinking tea, some sweets and cakes are served to help people communicate with each other. Not only slight sweet cakes not only neutralize the bitter and astringent taste in tea but create the feeling of satiety.  It also avoids tea drunk symptom.

Dessert Time

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6.Sharing Feedback

　　In everyday life, people need to communicate with and respect each other and so does the tea ceremony.  Etiquette is indispensable.  Tea ceremony helps you develop the habit of courtesy and know how to interact with people better. In today’s tea ceremony curriculum, I realized the truth: Cultivate sincerity, integrity faith, honesty, and practice kindness, compassion, joy giving.  I wish I can have another tea ceremony class.  Then, I will do things gracefully, interact with people with manners and polish my disposition.

With tea ceremony teachers

• Photo credit：Tea Journey in Taipei Wenshan

• Reference：Tea Journey in Taipei Wenshan

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