Wind in the Pines: Japanese Art and Tea Ceremony

Catalog description

This course is an examination of the art history of chanoyu, the tea ceremony, from its origin in Japan in the fifteenth century to its global practice today. We will explore the various artistic elements that comprise the tea environment - the garden setting, the architecture of the tea room, the forms of tea utensils, and the performance. We will further consider these artistic elements alongside the intellectual history of tea in Japan, retrieved from accounts of the careers of influential tea masters and textual sources on history, religion, philosophy, and beyond. Over this course, we will trace how tea and the tea ceremony have become a metaphor for Japanese culture and Japanese aesthetics, both within and outside of Japan. Satisfies Art History major and minor requirement. Satisfies East Asian Studies major and minor requirement. Satisfies Visual and Performing Arts requirement. Satisfies Cultural Diversity requirement.