Follow these simple tips when taking care of your porcelain dinnerware.
It is a wonderful experience to enjoy your favorite tea from your beautiful porcelain cup that always fills you with positive emotions. Tea ceremony had always united people and made conversations more peaceful, slow and analytic. Consider the following interesting examples of international tea ceremony experiences.
The art of tea the ceremony in Japan is imbued with the Buddhism philosophy. The main idea of the tea ritual is to make your spirit peaceful and calm.
The art of tea drinking reflects the Japanese lifestyle and traditions. All the tea ceremony traditions are passed down from generation to generation. They are unique and you will never meet the same traditions in any other country.
Consider the interesting details of the Japanese tea ceremony. In the middle of a Japanese tea room there is a square groove, in which charcoal is smoldering on a special tray. A pot, filled with hot water, is put above the smoldering charcoal. The ceremony guests sit on special zabuton pillows. During the tea ceremony process every detail means a lot. For example, by any means you cannot sit in cross-legged posture. This is considered a sign of disrespect towards a tea ceremony master. You have to sit on your heels and put a zabuton pillow under your knees.
Today, the Japanese tea ceremony art is a method of achieving a deeper understanding of life. It is also a part of many calming Japanese SPA procedures.
Interesting facts about the Japanese tea ceremony:
The chinese tea ceremony is not as strict as the Japanese, though. You do need to use beautiful porcelain teaware, as well. However, the feelings you have during the tea ceremony are more important than the extrinsic ceremony attributes. You can have conversations during the rituals. You should, however, never speak loudly or discuss unpleasant and annoying things.
The Gong Fu Cha ritual, which literally means the highest art of tea, is an opportunity to enjoy the four tea virtues: the color of a brew, the shape of a leaf, the taste and the aroma of a beverage.
The Gung Fu Cha ritual symbolic meaning is to turn the cups down and to feel the Yin and Yang energies.
The British tea ceremony appeared later than the Japanese or Chinese tea rituals. It doesn’t have such a long history. In 1662, when King Charles II married Catherine Bragança, a Portuguese princess, elegant tea ceremonies became popular for the first time. Queen Catherine passionately loved tea. A large tea box was even included in her dowry. That`s how tea became extremely popular among the aristocrats. Coffee was no longer a trend. Edmund Waller, a famous British poet, even wrote a poem dedicated to tea and a tea ceremony. The poem became a bestseller.
Thomas Twinning, the merchant, was the first to open a tea shop next to its own coffee shop. His tea shop was a first place, where you could not only buy tea leaves, but also have a cup of tea as well. Surprisingly, no women were allowed in coffee houses.
However, both women and men could drink tea together in a teashop!
