Volume 2: Thick and Thin Clouds Chapter 27: The Intricacies of Tea Ceremony

  In Japan, the daimyos or samurai who valued the art of Chanoyu would have a special tea room for holding tea ceremonies. A standard tea room is generally four and a half tatami mats in size.

  In the middle of the high castle's Tenshukaku, there was a tea room that had been left behind by the previous lord, Akiyama no Shigenaga. The tea room was just four and a half tatami mats in size, with tatami mats laid out on the floor. On the wall at the very center of the room hung a calligraphic scroll with the two characters "Yuugen" written on it.

  Yūgen is derived from the Zen aesthetic consciousness, and many Japanese Buddhist scriptures have mentioned the two words "yūgen". This expresses a profound and mysterious sense of the beauty of the world, and the sad beauty of human suffering. The concept of yūgen is often used in various fields in Japan, such as in the game of Go. In the manga "Hikaru no Go", the main character Hikaru Shindo and his rival Akira Touya have their first match in a room called the Yūgen Room.

  As a warrior's tea room, apart from these calligraphic and pictorial works that showcase one's knowledge level, a famous long sword is often placed. The long sword is placed on a special stand with the blade tip pointing upwards, the handle downwards, and the edge facing inwards.

  As a display, the hilt must be placed to the left, on one hand the left side is the front of the knife, and on the other hand it indicates no threat, if the hilt is placed to the right, it means that the knife can be drawn with the right hand at any time.

  In the center of the teahouse is a small brazier, on which a tea kettle is boiling water. The teahouse has walls on three sides, and outside the sliding doors is an engawa and a pond that make up a Japanese-style courtyard.

  A bamboo tube is placed at the edge of a pond in the courtyard, connected to a spring. However, after the bamboo tube is almost full, it will overturn and pour water into a small pool made of stone, then return to its original position to continue storing water, repeating this process over and over again.

  When pouring water from a bamboo tube, the sound of hitting stones at the bottom is particularly clear and elegant in this quiet courtyard.

  This bamboo tube water fetching device is called 'tian shui', and it appears in the shadows of a series of Japanese-style comics such as Naruto.

  "Suikinkutsu" was originally an agricultural tool used to scare away birds and deer from the fields by the sound of water dripping into a bamboo tube. It was later adopted in Japanese gardens, where it is said that the combination of bamboo and water, both symbols of purity, represents a Zen concept that can cleanse the mind of worldly distractions.

  All the above arrangements are intended to create an atmosphere for drinking tea in a tea party. Japanese Tea Ceremony was introduced from China during the Song Dynasty by monks who studied abroad, and it first prevailed among those idle monks before spreading to the imperial court and samurai families.

  It is said that monks love to drink tea because they can experience the bitterness of life from the bitter taste of tea, and have a unique help in understanding a certain profound meaning. I don't know if this is true or false, but at that time, tea leaves were imported goods for Japan, which had to be transported across the ocean from China, belonging to the super-expensive kind.

  The monk uses such expensive tea leaves to drink tea and comprehend the meaning of Zen, this excuse in Li Xiao's view is a bit like when elementary school students ask their parents for money to buy a learning machine, saying it's for practicing typing and studying well.

  As the host, Takeda Shingen poured water and washed the tea bowls, every move had to be in accordance with etiquette. During this waiting process, Takeda Nobuyuki's brothers, Hōjō Ujiyasu's brothers, Sanada Yukimura and others could not whisper to each other. They either looked at the calligraphy on the wall, admired the long sword, gazed out into the garden, or listened carefully to the sound of boiling water in the teapot, occasionally accompanied by the clear sound of adding water with a 'ding'.

  They don't care whether they're just going through the motions or truly immersing themselves, they all put on an air of being able to attain a certain Zen state from this tea ceremony. Even if they haven't attained it, they must pretend to have elevated their mental state, indicating that everyone is together on a spiritual level; otherwise, they will be looked down upon by others.

  As they slowly blend into this realm, reaching a level of spiritual communication, just like in Taiga 5, using that elegant and quiet heart card, everyone gets the effect of increased friendship.

  In comparison, Li Xiao didn't give much face, yawning throughout the whole event. Although he didn't behave too outrageously, he looked completely uninterested. This pretentious Japanese tea ceremony was of no interest to him; he'd rather have everyone gather together to play cards, creating a more harmonious atmosphere.

  The water had finally boiled, and Takeda Shingen first poured a packet of matcha powder into the tea bowl, then slowly poured in the boiling water with a bamboo ladle, quietly waiting for the powder to fully infuse with the water. At this time, the Japanese way of drinking tea was still matcha, which involved grinding the tea leaves into a fine powder before brewing.

  This was also the way of drinking tea in China during the Song and Tang dynasties, only they used tea bricks or tea cakes instead. It wasn't until the Ming dynasty that the pursuit of harmony between nature and man led to a return to simplicity and authenticity, with the true fragrance of tea being placed first, that the method of brewing tea was changed and has been passed down to this day.

  Takeda Shōryū presented the tea bowl to Takeda Nobutaka on his right, who received it with reverence and gratitude towards the host's warm hospitality. He then slowly turned the bowl three times to appreciate its color, smell the fragrance, and examine the utensils carefully before taking a small sip and passing the bowl to his younger brother Mōgetsu Nobunaga.

  Yes, this is the transmission method invented by Sen no Rikyū, also known as the "one bowl for all" method in tea ceremonies where no matter how many people are present, they all share the same tea bowl to drink from. It's said that this way can create a bond among participants who share a cup of tea and allow others' emotions to blend together.

  Li Xiao could only secretly pray that whoever it was wouldn't contract AIDS, gonorrhea, SARS or something and end up killing everyone who drank tea after him.

  Mōri Motonari, who had been waiting for a long time, finished drinking the tea and handed the bowl to Li Xiao. Li Xiao pretended to drink it, just touching his lips to the extremely bitter tea water, and then passed the bowl to Sanada Yukimura, indicating that he had already finished drinking.

  In this way, it was passed around one by one until everyone had finished drinking. Then Takeda Shingen brewed another pot and they drank again. After that, everyone picked up their tea bowls and utensils to admire them. At the time, Japan's warring states were infatuated with the art of tea to a crazy extent.

  This includes the collection and pursuit of tea utensils, such as Oda Nobunaga's famous "Ninety-Nine Firing Kiln".

  The Demon King not only loved the art of tea himself, but also encouraged his generals to do so, with the most famous being Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi was not only obsessed with the art of tea, but also collected tea utensils to a crazy extent. It is said that one of the funniest things he did was when he acquired a Southern Barbarian product that looked like a teapot and used it as a high-quality tea utensil to entertain guests, only to find out later that it was actually a chamber pot used by the Southern Barbarians.

  It can be seen that there is no culture that kills people, and what's more ridiculous is that the glorious game is further brain-dead. For example, in Nobunaga's Ambition, after collecting tea sets, you can even get a bonus of + several politics, which Li Xiao has always been unable to understand. It's okay if tea sets can increase charm, but what does it have to do with politics?

  After everyone had praised the tea utensils collected by Takeda Shōryū, the tea utensil appreciation was over. Then, some sweet pastries were brought in one after another: a few pieces of grilled eel for each person, a small dish of pickled radish, several glutinous rice balls, a few sheets of nori seaweed, and a bowl of miso soup. These foods added up to only half a meal's worth for Li Xiao, but after drinking so much bitter tea water, these pastries tasted exceptionally delicious in the eyes of Takeda Shōryū and his guests.

  It's only when the tea is finished that everyone can finally chat and gossip freely.