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Tag Archives: wabi-sabi history
Simply Imperfect.
Wabi-Sabi Weekend: The Art of Tea, The Art of Life
On Wabi-Sabi Weekends, I post excerpts from my book, Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.
“The art of chanoyu consists in nothing else but in boiling water, making tea, and sipping it.” — Tea Master Sen no Rikyu
Though most Westerners don’t see the delight in spending four hours kneeling (painfully) to watch someone build a charcoal fire and whisk a bitter green powder known as matcha into a froth, Chanoyu, or Tea (literally “hot water for … Continue reading
Posted in Wabi-Sabi
Tagged Sen no Rikyu, tea ceremony, Tea ceremony history, wabi-sabi and Tea, wabi-sabi history
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Wabi-Sabi Weekend: William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Revolution
On Wabi-Sabi Weekends, I post excerpts from my book, Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.
“It is common now to hear people say of such and such a piece of country or suburb: ‘Ah! It was so beautiful a year or so ago, but it has been quite spoilt by the building.’ Forty years back the building would have been looked on as a vast improvement; now we have grown conscious of the hideousness we are creating, and we … Continue reading
Wabi-Sabi Weekend: Tea for the Masses
On Wabi-Sabi Weekends, I post excerpts from my book, Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.
“A fire is made, water is boiled and tea is served; this is all that is needed here. No other worldly considerations are to intrude.” – Sen no Rikyu
Wabi-sabi’s roots lie in Zen Buddhism, brought from China to Japan by 12th-century traveling monk Esai, who also picked up a few tea seeds while he was there. Zen, with its principles of “vast … Continue reading
Wabi-Sabi Weekend: Beauty in Imperfection
On Wabi-Sabi Weekends, I post excerpts from my book, Simply Imperfect: Revisiting the Wabi-Sabi House.
Sitting quietly, doing nothing
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.
–Zenrin, The Gospel According to Zen
The words wabi and sabi weren’t always linked, although they’ve been together for such a long time that many people use them interchangeably. I met a Tea teacher who hates the phrase because the marriage dilutes the two words’ separate … Continue reading
Posted in Wabi-Sabi
Tagged imperfect beauty, understanding wabi-sabi, wabi-sabi, wabi-sabi explained, wabi-sabi history
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