The Way of Tea: A Symbolic Analysis

Author(s): Dorinne Kondo

Source: Man , Jun., 1985, New Series, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Jun., 1985), pp. 287-306
Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland

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 THE WAY OF TEA: A SYMBOLIC ANALYSIS

DORINNE KONDO

Harvard University

The Japanese tea ceremony can be understood as a precisely structured sequence in which
formal features are constitutive of meaning. Though culturally constructed meaning must inform
any understanding of the rite, this alone cannot account for the tea ceremony's symbolic power.
This internal reading focuses on key formal features: sequencing; the role of multiple media; and
patterning or redundancy. Analysis reveals that sequencing is symbolised through: i) a constant
contrast between the ritual and the mundane; 2) the use of boundaries to mark these differences; 3)
the sensible qualities of objects and substances used in the ceremony, and their transposition into
various sensory media; 4) the occurrence of homologous structures and sequences. The inter-
action of the sensory media effects a homology of code, constituting one source of redundancy.
Together with the repetition of sequences, this redundancy intensifies meaning and acts as
contrastive background for minute but significant changes that may occur. Through its orches-
tration of sequence and pattern, the tea ceremony articulates feeling and thought and creates a
distilled form of experience.

The tea ceremony presents a unique challenge to the anthropologist, for the
essence of tea and of Zen is said to elude logical, discursive analysis. Zen favours
experience and intuition over intellection, and although the tea ceremony has
given rise to a long tradition of scholarly exegesis, the Zen arts1 continue to
emphasise the primacy of transcendence through a-logical, non-verbal means.2
This dialectic of experience and native exegesis is at one level unassailable and
must play a key role in any attempt to understand the meaning and symbolism
of the ceremony.
Yet, culturally constructed mcaning cannot exhaustively account for the tea
ceremony's symbolic power. While remaining mindful of the Zen masters'
warnings, we will nonetheless attempt to analyse the tea ceremony as a
structured sequence directed toward a 'telic or performative outcome' (Tambiah
I973: I99). I assume that ritual is, among other things, a communicative and a
performative act. This focus on the 'inner frame' (a) complements studies of the
way of tea and of Zen aesthetics, which deal exclusively with culturally
constructed meaning (e.g., Ludwig I974; Sen I979; Okakura I964) and (b)
explores the application of linguistic/semiotic models to the analysis of se-
quence, the use of multiple media, and the role of patterning or redundancy in
ritual.3 Careful attention to the formal features of the tea ceremony will enable
us to delineate the movement of this complexly structured symbolic process,
aimed towards a change of state in the actor's thought and feeling.

Man (N.S.) 20, 287-306

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 288 DORINNE KONDO

I
Tea ceremonies may be held on a variety of occasions, depending on the season,
the time of day, the school of tea, etc. The principal schools are Omote and Ura
Senke, with Sekishui and Enshui as major variants; the differences among them
are generally minor, such as details of folding a tea napkin.4
One can participate in ceremonies in a number of ways. The first is tea as
okeiko, taking lessons. So natural and effortless when performed, the rite is in
fact minutely prescribed, from the smallest details of movement to the creation
of larger sequences. The tea student begins with basics such as how to walk and
how to wipe a tea bowl, and progresses to simple forms such as the informal bon
demae (tea ceremony where a tray is used) and the various forms of usucha, the
thin tea ceremony. Acquisition of skills is marked by certificates attesting to the
level of expertise attained in the ceremony. The more variants one masters, the
higher one's rank.5
Chakai, tea gatherings, are another context in which ceremonies are per-
formed. A tea organisation may rent out the grounds of a temple or a restaurant
and hold a day of ceremonies. A schedule is published, with several different
ceremonies taking place simultaneously. Participants-usually members of the
organisation-may attend the rites of their choice. The hosts are all selected in
advance, sometimes performing publicly in order to demonstrate the attain-
ment of a high rank. A recital or a concert would be a close analogue. I have also
participated in tea ceremonies held as part of some festival or celebration. For
example, during a 'Cultural Festival', my teacher's students were asked to
prepare and serve tea for any passersby who might want to act as guests. First
and foremost, however, the tea ceremony is a highly ritualised version of the
host/guest interaction, and a heightened expression of the emphasis on etiquette
inJapanese culture in general.6 It embodies the appreciation of formalised social
interaction the importance, for example, of learning tatemae, the graces neces-
sary to maintain harmonious social interaction.7 The theory is that mere good
intentions are insufficient; one must know the proper form in order to express
one's feelings of hospitality effectively.
The following description is of such a host-guest interaction, focusing on a
single variant of the many types of tea ceremony. The account is based primarily
on written sources-manuals of tea, if you will-and to a lesser extent on
informants' statements and my own experience as a student of tea. It is the
full-length, formal, midday rite (shogo chaji) lasting from three to five hours.
Because of its length, the years of expertise required to host such a gathering,
and the expense and preparation involved, it is not the most commonly
practised variant-forms of the usucha, or thin tea, ceremony are-but I have
selected this chaji for analysis because it is considered the 'standard chaji by which
all others are created' (Palmer I976: 7I). Moreover, training in tea is designed to
make the student capable of hosting such a ceremony.
Focusing on a single 'ideal typical' ceremony seemed desirable for two
reasons. First, since my concern is to explore the implications of an internal,
semantic analysis, this 'standard chaji' as described in tea manuals and as taught
to pupils, casts into relief the structure, form and sequence of the rite, providing

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 DORINNE KONDO 289

a text to penetrate from within. Secondly, although precise details of the

ceremony may vary according to type and to context, this form constitutes a
basic orchestral 'score', realised in slightly different ways in each performance.
In my experience as a student of tea and according to informants' statements,
both culturally constructed meaning (especially Zen aesthetics) and the sym-
bolic orchestration of the ceremony do appear to shape the attitudes of partici-
pants in highly significant ways. Accordingly, for the purposes of this article,
questions of indexical or pragmatic meaning (tea as conspicuous consumption, a
domestic art, etc.) are left in abeyance. An exhaustive analysis would of course
include these various levels of semantic and pragmatic meaning, both at a
particular point in time and as they change over time (see, e.g., Tambiah I 979).
The intent, then, is to focus on a single variant, as an illustrative object for the
methods used to deconstruct the ritual, and as a potential point of entry into
other such 'texts' (cf. e.g., Barthes I974). The particular version described is a
shogo chaji in the style of the Ura Senke school, performed with the ro, or sunken
hearth, used between November and April.8

II

Zenrei Guests are generally invited to the ceremony a week in advance, and
ideally the principal guest pays a call on the host (zenrei) to accept the invitation
(Sen I979: 62).

Arrival In classic tea gardens, the guests arrive at the gate, where the paving
stones have been sprinkled with water, a signal for them to enter. They proceed
to a room called the yoritsuki, in the outer garden, where they change clothes and
put on clean split-toed socks. From there they advance to the waiting room or
machiai, and await the rest of their number. Ifit has not already been determined,
they select a principal guest (shokyaku) who is first in order, and a final guest
(tsume) who brings up the rear. In each instance a special knowledge of the
ceremony is desirable. If there is an assistant to the host, the guests may be
served osayu, hot water to which a delicate flavouring may be added (Ishikawa
1976: 67). The guests view the scroll, flowers and implements displayed in the
machiai, waiting area, and then proceed to the koshikake machiai, or waiting
arbour. The host returns to the tea room, leaving the gate to the inner garden
slightly ajar, and the guests follow in single file, setting out on the garden path of
stones. This is glossed explicitly in some works as the path into enlightenment. 9
When the last guest reaches the inner roji, s/he shuts the middle gate. In the inner
garden, the guests advance to the stone basin, or tsukubai, to purify their mouths
and hands with water.

Seki-iri The next phase of the ceremony is called seki-iri, literally, entering into
one's seat. Leaving the sandals propped against the wall of the tea room, the
principal guest crawls through the nijiri-guchi (literally, the crawling-in en-
trance) with a crouch and slide motion. The extremely small size of the entrance
is said to inculcate humility.
The principal guest then proceeds to the tokonoma, or alcove, kneeling before

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 290 DORINNE KONDO

it to view the scroll hung there. This work of art and the tea flowers that appear
there later, set the mood for the occasion. The principal guest then proceeds to
his/her seat, as each guest examines the scroll. The last guest shuts the door of
the nijiri-guchi with a click, a signal for the host to appear.

Shozumi (Arranging of Charcoal)"0 The host, waits in the mizuya (small prep-
aration area adjacent to the tea room) until the guests are in place and then
appears at the host entrance to exchange formal greetings with the guests. The
host then returns to the mizuya and brings out charcoal, tongs, and incense
burner, and begins to smooth the ashes in the brazier into a pattern. After the fire
is started, the contents of the incense burner are emptied into the brazier. The
guests admire the fire, then the principal guest asks to see the incense holder,
which they all examine in sequence as the host retires to the service area. S/he
returns to retrieve the incense holder and to announce that 'a frugal meal' will be
served. "

Kaiseki is food for the tea ceremony. 12 Each guest is given a small individual tray
with a bowl of rice, one of soup, and perhaps a dish of vegetables and/or fish,
though other foods may be offered in addition. Sake is also served. Kaiseki
should be fresh, natural, and appropriate to the season, and portions should be
small. The host does not partake, but may stay to serve the guests sake. S/He
retires again to the mizuya until they finish eating. The guests eat, wipe their
bowls and chopsticks with small squares of paper they have brought along, and
when finished, sharply click their chopsticks on the tray, a signal for the host to
remove their utensils. Omogashi, moist sweets, are then carried out in lacquer
boxes, one sweet per box, and after the guests partake they retire to the waiting
arbour.

Nakadachi The interlude here is called nakadachi-'middle standing'-a chance

for the guests to stretch their legs. They may talk quietly and enjoy the beauty of
the garden. A gong calls them back to the tea hut, and they enter exactly as they
did before.

Koicha The next segment is the real height of the tea ceremony: the preparation
and drinking of koicha, thick tea. The scroll in the alcove has now been replaced
by a chabana (tea flower) arrangement. The guests admire the arrangement, take
their proper places, principal guest in the seat of honour near the alcove, 13 and sit
quietly as the host brings in separately: i) water jar (mizusashi); 2) tea bowl, tea
scoop, tea caddy; 3) receptacle for waste water (kensui), lid stand, and bamboo
dipper. The host purifies the caddy and scoop by wiping them with the tea
napkin, rinses and wipes the bowl, and prepares tea. These minutely prescribed
acts are performed with a graceful economy of motion. The guests watch in
complete silence. This is considered the climax of the ceremony.
The guests then partake of the thick tea, drinking in sequence from a single
bowl, the principal guest first, the tsume, or final guest, draining the bowl,
wiping it, and returning it to the host. The haiken or examination follows, a
question-answer session between the principal guest and the host, centring on

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 DORINNE KONDO 29I

the names and historical associations of the various tea implements. With the
completion of the haiken and the removal of the utensils, the koicha segment
concludes.

Gozumi At this point there may be a rebuilding of the charcoal fire, a process
called gozumi, paralleling the first lighting of the fire, shozumi. Replacing the
incense is a small tray or tabako-bon, bearing a piece of charcoal in a cup, and a
bamboo 'ashtray', as well as a pipe and a tiny amount of tobacco. 14

Usucha The usucha segment follows. The sequence of actions parallels that in the
koicha ceremony, with the following key differences: a) Usucha itself is a less
concentrated form of the same tea; it is thinner and lighter and can be whipped
into a froth, while koicha must be kneaded and then stirred. b) The specific tea
utensils for usucha are defined as more informal, though not necessarily less
replete with historical associations. c) Higashi-light, dry sweets eaten with the
fingers-are served, and one eats them while one's tea is being made. This
contrasts with the formal presentation of omogashi in lacquer boxes. Omogashi
are eaten with a special pick before partaking of koicha. d) More conversation is
allowed during usucha. e) Instead of sharing a single bowl of tea, each guest
drains the bowl and then examines it. If desired, the guest may request
additional servings of tea. In brief, usucha is more informal, lighter and freer in
tone.
When all guests have partaken, the principal guest asks the host to end the
ceremony. At this point the guests examine the tea container and the tea scoop,
as the host removes the other utensils in the reverse order from which they were
initially carried into the room. The examination completed, the host returns to
answer questions about the utensils. The ceremony closes with formal greetings
(aisatsu), with both sides expressing their appreciation. The guests leave the
room, principal guest last, and close the door of the niiri-guchi. They then turn
to face the tea house, as the host opens the nijiri-guchi and silent bows are
exchanged. This is the okurirei, or farewell. The host remains waiting until the
guests are no longer in sight, and then closes the door. On the following day the
chief guest should call informally upon the host to express the group's appreci-
ation (Palmer I976: 77).

III
The aesthetic sensibility informing the way of tea traces its roots through Zen
Buddhism, to Chinese Ch'an Buddhism and Taoism. Tea ceremony, like other
Zen arts, is a religious/aesthetic/philosophical 'way' (injapanese, michi or do; in
Chinese, tao). This di, an elusive concept to define, could be glossed as 'the inner
essence of reality' (Bellah I957: 6i). Accordingly, the 'way' of tea, like the other
Zen master arts, is more than mere artistic or technical proficiency: it is a path to
Enlightenment.
According to Zen doctrine, Enlightenment is mu-emptiness or nothingness.
Zen ideals include qualities such as mushin, selflessness or detachment, and

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 292 DORINNE KONDO

munen, muso, freedom from all i

discipline of tea or another Zen art constitute a process of self-realisation,
whereby one so thoroughly incorporates the form that it-or other worldly
concerns, such as the desire to perform well-no longer requires one's con-
scious attention. This is the state of 'emptiness'. Through tea or another Zen art,
a person may be said to attain the states of y-gen or kotan (yuigen no kyochi, kotan no
kyjchi o tassuru). Yugen is a term associated closely with No drama. It bespeaks
the evanescence and pathos of life, hinting at the eternal and infinite. It is subtle
elegance and profundity. Kotan is defined as seasoned simplicity, when every-
thing unnecessary (e.g., worldly thoughts and cares) has fallen away, leaving
only the essential core.
The pathway to this state lies in action and intuition; logic and elaborate verbal
exegesis are correspondingly downplayed. For example, in tea, as in all the
master arts, instruction has little in common with Western didactic methods;
instead, one learns through observation, imitation, illustration, and perform-
ance-that is, through non-verbal means. 15 This form of learning is thought to
be exceedingly difficult, a hardship, for unless one undergoes hardship (kuro)
one cannot become a mature practitioner of the art. Hardship polishes the soul as
well as one's technique. To attain the state of kotan therefore requires years of
practice, discipline, even mental and physical suffering. 16 Mastery may take an
entire lifetime but consciousness of technique and painstaking years of practice
dissolve in the pure action of creation. 17
But perhaps the Zen doctrine bearing most directly on the tea aesthetic is the
emphasis on the mundane as a sphere of action and a source of beauty. The
Buddha nature, hence the path to Enlightenment, is to be found in every sentient
being and in the most everyday activities. 18 Extending this exaltation of the
mundane to the aesthetic realm, Zen describes a fusion of opposites in which the
beautiful and the ordinary are no longer distinct. This leads to the aesthetic
appreciation of imperfection and poverty, of sabi and wabi. Inasmuch as the
qualities can be defined, sabi is the beauty of the imperfect, the old, the lonely,
while wabi is the beauty of simplicity and poverty (Hasumi I964: Si; Ludwig
I974: 47). So closely are these qualities associated with the tea ceremony that the
ceremony of the great master Sen no Rikyu was called wabi cha, or wabi tea. 19
Typically, bothJapanese and Western scholars analyze the tea ceremony as a
method of self-realisation (e.g., Suzuki I970; Herrigel I953) and/or in terms of
the Zen aesthetic (e.g., Suzuki I970; Okakura I964). These explanations are
compelling-even unassailable. Zen philosophy and aesthetics form the con-
sciously held attitudes of the tea adept, and enactment of the ceremony gives life
to these beliefs. Yet, there are key questions traditional philosophical and
aesthetic approaches do not explore. Are there 'rules' that would enable us to
account for the sequencing of the ceremony? Why is there a seemingly inordi-
nate amount of repetition? How do the various media-auditory, visual,
gestural, olfactory, gustatory-interact, and do they do so in some intelligible
way? What dictates the pre-eminence of koicha as the most formal segment of the
ceremony? A formal semantic analysis that addresses such questions must be
based on a thorough grounding in ethnographic detail, while going beyond
native exegesis to illuminate more precisely the structure and sequence of the

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 DORINNE KONDO 293

ritual and how these in turn act persuasively to generate a feeling of exceptional
experience.

IV
Like narrative, ritual is an unfolding, a sequence of movement with tensions,
climaxes and directionality. The ritual process must create a ritual domain, '. . .
by seducing participants into involvement with its form and . . . [by] propelling
the now-transformed participants out into life' (Peacock I969: I72).
I will argue that in the tea ceremony, the principal symbolic devices account-
ing for the movements of the rite are: i) a constant contrast between the ritual
and the mundane and degrees thereof; 2) the use of boundaries to maintain these
differences; 3) the sensible qualities of objects and substances used in the
ceremony and the transposition of these qualities into various sensory media; 4)
perhaps most important, the repetition of sequences and the occurrence of
homologous structures, objects, actions, as the principal means of signifying the
progression of the ritual.
A logical point of departure for analysis is the physical, spatial arrangement of
the tea garden and hut. The garden is an especially salient feature, for it is the first
apprehensible signal that one is entering the ritual world. Consequently, it must
prepare the participant, beginning to restructure his/her attitude appropriately.
A diagram of the garden follows. It should be noted that, like the many
variants of the tea ceremony itself, tea gardens also differ from one another. The
choice of a particular arrangement ultimately lies with the host.20 However,
though certain details may vary, the basic structure of the inner and outer roji
does not change; moreover, the impression imparted by each section of the
garden must differ, with the outer garden more normal and ordinary, the inner
more set apart from the everyday world.
First, the garden itself is demarcated from the outside world by the gate.
Upon entering, guests find the garden in turn is divided into the inner and outer
roji, or dewy path. The outer roji comprises two principal structures, the machiai
or waiting room, and the koshikake machiai, the waiting bench or waiting
arbour. The former is enclosed and floored with tatami mats, the latter is roofed
but open. Near the koshikake machiai is the privy or setchin, used primarily for
display; it may be inspected if the guests so desire, as it, too, has been purified
and prepared for the guests' aesthetic enjoyment. The path in the outer garden is
direct, generally a paved stone walkway, and is thus primarily functional or
utilitarian. The only real criterion for the outer roji is that it be scrupulously
clean. The garden is pleasant, with a free, light atmosphere, and flowering trees
may be allowed there (Allan Palmer, personal communication). The outer roji is
a preliminary step into ritual time.
As one moves into the inner garden, the atmosphere shifts to one of serene
tranquillity and harmony with nature. Everything in the inner garden reflects an
induction into the ritual domain. Guests may no longer speak loudly, nor may
they touch upon frivolous topics of conversation, for presumably they have left
their earthly concerns behind. The path is irregular and divided, to provoke
aesthetic interest and leisurely contemplation. Ferns, small plants and trees, and,

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 294 DORINNE KONDO

K
INNER ROJI

c~>c~c2 c? c-, co <:~PZ tc HD63 n <:Dc7c)

F E OUTER ROJI

0S~~

A Gate

B Entry

C Yoritsuki

D Machial (waiting room)

E Setchin (privy) D

F Koshikake machial (waiting arbour)

G Middle gate

H Stone lantern B

I Crouching basin

J Chiriana (dust hole) A

K Nijlrl-guchl (crawling-in entrance)

The spatial arrangement o

especially, moss, are in evidence; no flowering plants are allowed. Everything

must be simple and artless, 'things such as grow wild in the hills' (Kuck I940:
I98-9). The feeling of the inner garden is one of wabi and sabi.
The principal feature of the inner garden is the water basin, or tsukubai. Water
is the purificatory agent par excellence inJapanese culture, and it is represented in
the inner garden by the water in the basin which the guests use to purify
themselves.21 Thus the presence of water, and the wetness of the garden and its
structures, is a metaphor for freshness, naturalness and purity.
Just before entering the tea room, the guests pass a hole in the earth, called
chiriana or 'dust hole'. This is filled with clippings of trees and plants, and
symbolises the 'receptacle for the dust of the world' (Ishikawa I976: 6i).
Clearly, the passage from the outer to the inner garden is ajourney through
physical and symbolic space, advancing from the mundane to the ritual.22

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 DORINNE KONDO 295

Boundaries and mediating structures contribute to the evocation of a 'world

apart'. Before the participants set foot on the roji, they must enter through the
gate and advance to the yoritsuki. Unlike everyday life, where one would
announce one's entrance into the foyer with an 'excuse me', during the tea
ceremony the gate is left open and water sprinkled on the paving stones signals
that the guests may enter. (Ishikawa I976: 56; Sen I979: io). This is recapitulated
at the middle gate and at the entrance to the tea room; in each case the door or
gate is left slightly open, again a signal to the guests that they may proceed into
the next part of the tea gardens. The middle gate is a boundary marker directly
mediating between outer and inner gardens. At the outset it is left half-closed, to
maintain a relation of contiguity between the outer and the inner gardens, to
symbolise that they share the same qualities. Yet, the gate cannot be flung wide
open, lest this leave the inner garden too vulnerable to the relative worldliness of
the outer. When the final guest passes through the gate, s/he shuts it firmly. This
symbolically closes off ritual space from the mundane.23 Again, once the final
guest enters the tea room, the door is firmly shut with a click, to seal off all
reminders of the outside.
Mediation also takes place on the level of the buildings of the garden. The
machiai and the tea room itself form a homologous pair; each is small, enclosed,
tatami-lined, and a scroll hangs in each. Again, meaning arises through contrast.
The machiai is informal, lighter and airier than the tea room. A smoking tray, a
sign of informality, is displayed there, whereas no smoking is allowed in the tea
room. In the tea hut, the symbolic connotations of tea served there contrast with
the purificatory but still comparatively mundane osayu, or hot water. Near the
gate, however, deep in the outer garden and almost in the inner one, is the
koshikake machiai (waiting arbour), another mediating structure. Physically, it is
placed almost between gardens, though it is considered part of the outer roji.
And unlike the machiai itself, it has no precise analogue in the ceremony. It is
open and thus differs from either the tea hut or the machiai, to allow the guests to
enjoy the beauties of nature. In the space between the machiai and the tea room,
the beauties of the garden must prepare the participant for entry into the ritual
world proper. The koshikake machiai is thus a midpoint in the symbolic
continuum from the mundane to the ritual: not quite a building, not quite the
garden, but something of both.
The following table summarises the differences between the various parts of
the garden:
Outside Mediator Outergarden Mediator Inner
World
Gate Waiting room Waiting arbor Tea room
Yoritsuki Hot water Gate Tea
Flowers Moss
Trees Ferns
Direct path Indirect
Fire Water
Utilitarian Aesthetic
Physical Spiritual
Mundane Ritual

Mundane Ritual

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 296 DORINNE KONDO

Thus, movement from the outside world into the tea garden is a step into the
ritual world; movement from one part of the garden to the other is a further
progression into the domain of ritual time and space. This both strips the guests
of their worldliness and envelops them in a ritual atmosphere of sabi/wabi.
The meaning of any single element is opaque when viewed in isolation, but
acquires significance when contrasted to its analogues in other parts of the
ceremony and to the mundane world outside. Relative formality/informality is
symbolised through the exploitation of differences and similarities among
features. The tea garden stands in contrast to the world outside; in the garden
itself, the outer garden was this-worldy and informal, the inner formal. The
same principles apply not only to the induction of the participant into ritual time
but in the easing of symbolic intensity and the return into the mundane world.
One example would be the building of the first fire (shozumi) and the building of
the second fire (gozumi). Shozumi is a prelude to the koicha segment, the formal
climax of the ceremony; thus there is a logical imperative to render this part of
the ceremony relatively formal. The mood is set with the slow patterning of the
ashes in the brazier and the burning of incense to fill the air with the fragrance of
spirituality. During the second building of the fire, no such careful patterning is
necessary; indeed the segment can be omitted altogether. The host may bring
out cushions to make the guests more comfortable and carries out the smoking
tray. One recalls that this was last seen in the machiai. Thus, though the guests
are forbidden to smoke in the tea room, the smoking tray signifies informality; it
represents the act of smoking, an informal activity, and it is metonymically
associated with the structures of the outer garden and the outer world. This
recapitulation of elements creates formality and a spiritual, contemplative mood
in shozumi, and an informal atmosphere in the gozumi, a quick descent from the
intensely formal symbolism of koicha. Accordingly, in juxtaposing the two
separated sequences of shozumi and gozumi, the significance of each, their
relative formality or informality, is clarified. Moreover, examining the rela-
tionship of segments occurring in sequence also enables us to illuminate their
respective meanings. The positioning ofgozumi after the solemn koicha segment
highlights the worldliness of the former and the formal mood of the latter. In
short, the entire ritual moves along the axis of relative this-worldliness or
other-worldliness, and systematically uses the devices of metaphor, metonym
and contrast to communicate those differences.

V
Now that certain basic symbolic mechanisms informing the tea ceremony have
been identified, what of the movement of the sequence as a whole? The
progression is encoded in a seemingly chaotic concatenation of modes. Rather
than focusing on all of them simultaneously, we will trace one thread through-
out the entire sequence: the auditory channel and the role of silence, signals, and
verbal v. non-verbal symbolism in conveying an impression of increasing and
then decreasing symbolic intensity. The auditory mode is one that immediately
presents itself for analysis, for two reasons. First, the pre-eminence of non-

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 DORINNE KONDO 297

verbal over verbal expression is

this general emphasis is carried over into the realm of Zen doctrine and
aesthetics. 25
In this cultural context, it is not surprising that in the tea ceremony the
progressive induction into ritual time is reflected in an increasing emphasis on
non-verbal modes of communication. The climax of each segment-the pat-
terning of the ashes, the preparation of both koicha and usucha-is always
performed in utter silence. And the koicha segment, in its entirety the symbolic
apex of the ceremony, is the most silent and solemn of all the major sequences.
But the situation is more complex than a simple equation between silence and
the ritual world, noise and the mundane, might indicate.
Beginning from a sharp demarcation from the mundane (a non-verbal
signal-the open door-at the entrance to the house) which signifies entry into
an 'exceptional' domain, emphasis shifts from verbal channels to increasingly
non-verbal modes. The initial emphasis is on human interaction; e.g., conver-
sation is permitted, and bows (albeit silent ones) are exchanged at the middle
gate. This is reversed when the guests actually enter the tea room. They first
bow, not to the person of the host, but to objects: the scroll, the brazier and so
on. In Japan, objects in general are not considered atomistic entities, but
extensions of people (cf. Bachnik I978; Kondo I982). These objects are sym-
bolic extensions of the host, but that acknowledgement is first transmitted
indirectly, heightening this connexion between person and object.
This reversal is perpetuated, moreover, in other specific contexts throughout
the ceremony. The host is always signalled through 'percussion' as opposed to
speech. 26 The noise of the tea room door as it shuts tells him/her that the guests
have completed their entry. The click of the chopsticks on the tray indicates that
the guests have finished their meal. After the interval the guests are summoned
back to the tea room by a gong, and not by a personal greeting from the host.27
Here, an initially social, and hence more informal interaction between persons
contrasts with the entry into the ritual domain of non-verbal sounds, and
especially, silence.
It is interesting to note that ritualised verbalisations-primarily questions and
polite formulae-are uttered at certain junctures, generally to admire and
comment upon the art objects used during the ceremony. This creates within
each major segment (shozumi, koicha, usucha, etc.) small increments in symbolic
tension, climaxes and denouements. The first involves a combination of verbal
exchanges and non-verbal acts; the climax occurs entirely in silence, with the
sequence eventually shifting back to the verbal, and thus more informal, mode
in the denouement. For example, after the intensely solemn preparation and
drinking of koicha, the verbalisations involving the presentation of the tea bowl,
the questions surrounding the tea utensils, in fact symbolically mark a winding-
down of the ritual. From the climax of koicha preparation to a less formal, more
social question-and-answer session that is less bound and fixed, one moves to
the even more informal usucha preparation and the still more informal questions
and answers following that. Accordingly, the progression of the ceremony
forms a steady decompression from the periods of heightened symbolic inten-
sity. At this point, then, we can summarise the functions of auditory signs in

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 298 DORINNE KONDO

the tea ceremony:percussive-signalling; verbal-social, relatively informal;

silence-symbolic intensity, the height of ritual time.
The contrast between verbal and non-verbal modes as one pivot of the
syntactic structure of the ritual begins to articulate the process of movement, but
in order to understand more precisely the sequencing of the ceremony, one must
focus upon the central opposition of ritual v. mundane, and its metaphorical
representation in the sensible qualities of the substances and the objects used in
the tea ceremony.

VI
In examining the role of substances in the ceremony, three features are high-
lighted: i) setting apart the ritual from the mundane; 2) the similarities and
differences in consecutively occurring sequences; 3) creating significant con-
trasts between similar but discontinuous parts of the ritual (first and second fires,
osayu-kaiseki-koicha-usucha). This is a movement from the metaphorically
mundane to the metaphorically ritual and back again.
First, many of the substances used are particular to the ceremony itself and are
only infrequently found in other contexts. For example, among the foods,
kaiseki is by definition a tea ceremony meal. This type of refined cuisine can also
be found in restaurants that specialise in such elegant delicacies, but its primary
association is with the way of tea. Ceremonial sweets form another specialised
category. Both omogashi and higashi are ritual terms, and both are beautiful
aesthetic creations, smaller and more elegant than the usual everyday confec-
tions. One could conceivably use regular sweets in the place of proper omogashi
or higashi (when I was a student of tea, we did this to economise, as tea ceremony
sweets, being specialities, are expensive); equally, one could buy tea ceremony
sweets to eat at home. Yet the chief function of omogashi and higashi is
ceremonial.
Similar arguments could be advanced for the non-food substances. The tea
itself is associated chiefly with the ceremony, symbolised in the special ritual
terms koicha and usucha. Both are forms of matcha, powdered green tea. Usucha,
thin tea, might be served to guests informally, but to my knowledge, koicha-a
thick, concentrated form of matcha-is rarely, perhaps never, encountered
outside the context of the ceremony. Of the other non-food substances, both are
in some way special. Osayu, hot water, is not commonly consumed in everyday
life. Sake is one of the typical Shinto offerings to the gods and is found in many
Shinto rituals; thus it has sacral connotations. Accordingly, both food and
non-food substances create a symbolic cleavage between the ritual and the
mundane.
Substances also symbolise the movement of the ceremony. On entering the
tea room, for example, the sequence begins with fire, air and incense (rendered
special by the connotations of incense as a substance) and moves toward
increasing intensity with the eating of the fresh foods, drinking of the strong,
alcoholic sake, eating the moist sweets, and performing another ablution with
cool, fresh water. 28 The entire first half of the rite is a slow, elaborate preparation
for the climax of koicha; it is thought that to drink this thick tea without proper

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 DORINNE KONDO 299

fortification might be dangerous. After the climax, the ceremony moves again
to the element of fire and of tobacco smoke, not incense, signalling a much more
informal mood, and then to the eating of dry sweets (informal because they can
be picked up and eaten with the hands) and the drinking of weak or thin tea.
Several points are important to note: i) Purification with cold water always
precedes entry into the tea room, and in each case presages a significant
heightening of the ritual atmosphere. 2) The core of the ceremony could be said
to correspond to metaphorical spirituality, and the cultural significance of the
substances used: sake, moist sweets made especially for the tea ceremony, the
purificatory cold water ablution, and then the thick tea. All these occur in
sequence, together, and thus form a 'bundle of relations' with considerable
symbolic impact. 3) The pre-eminence of koicha can be explained in terms of the
metaphorical qualities of the substance itself. 29 Tea symbolises the introspective
qualities associated with Zen: an awakening of the senses and a contemplative
atmosphere (Watts I957: I90; Suzuki I970: 298).
Though not perfectly symmetrical, it is as though the ritual begins from the
core and works outward, so that the sequences on either side of the climactic
episodes recapitulate one another. There is a reversal from one half to the other,
as the sequence itself builds to a high point, bringing together elements in a
certain order. In the process of re-entry into the mundane, the opposite sequence
is followed. Not only is this demonstrated at the general level of major
sequences, it occurs within each segment; e. g., when the host takes utensils out
of the room in the reverse order from which they were first brought in.
The ritual also makes full use of similar segments occurring in discontinuous
parts of the sequence. Take, for example, the partaking of food and drink during
the ceremony. Here, the similarities provide a contrastive ground for the salient
differences among these segments. The relative formality of these sequences
(osayu, kaiseki and sake, omogashi and koicha, higashi and usucha) is highlighted in
juxtaposition, symbolising the progressive induction and release of the partici-
pant. In osayu, no foods are served, and the drink itself is nothing but hot water,
though some delicate flavouring agent can be added. This, then, is a 'weak'30
drink-different from everyday Japanese beverages and hence signalling an
entry into ritual time, but not concentrated, hence not symbolically powerful.
Sake, which follows, is powerful and strong, and thus symbolically more
intense than osayu. It holds dual associations, with social, hence more mun-
dane, activity on the one hand, and as a common feature in the Shinto (not Zen)
religion.31 Koicha singifies its strength even in its heavy texture. It is a thick
distillate of a natural product, powdered tea leaves, and thus is imbued with
these qualities in highly concentrated form. It is a substance peculiar to the
ceremony itself. Usucha partakes of these same qualities, but in less intense
fashion. It is slightly less special, as it is a less concentrated form of the same tea.
And, though it is not the most common beverage served to guests, one could do
so-or prepare a bowl for one's own consumption; thus, it is less purely
ceremonial in its connotations. Again, the basic movements of the rite, from the
more ordinary to the more extraordinary and back again, are encoded even in
the sensible properties of the substances used in the various segments of the
ritual. Schematically represented, the ritual is divisible as follows:

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300 DORINNE KONDO

Informal Formal Formal Informal

Osayu Sake Koicha Usucha

weak strong thick (strong) thin (weak)
no food kaiseki omogashi higashi

Thus the repetition, with variation, of similar sequences is a major mode of

symbolising the progression of the ritual. The similarities act as background for
the differences in meaning among these segments.
In sum, in the tea ceremony one finds many symbolic devices: i) metaphor
(wetness as a metaphor for freshness and purity, tea as a metaphor for the
ceremony itself); 2) metonym, part standing for whole, or relations of conti-
guity and proximity to (outer garden and outer world); 3) repetition of sequences
in different parts of the ceremony, compelling the mind to explore the simi-
larities and differences between these sequences; 4) position of elements in the
sequence, e.g., when the kaiseki-sake-omogashi-koicha segment takes on height-
ened symbolic intensity because these elements occur in combination. Any
taken alone would not have the same meaning; 5) an element of reversal, in
which the return to the mundane is symbolised by reversing the original
sequence; 6) contrast among segments and between ritual and non-ritual food
and drink, serving as markers of entry into the ritual domain.32
An internal analysis of ritual should not rest at a simple tripartite structuring
of a sequence or constructing a matrix of binary oppositions. Rather, one can
attempt to recapture with some precision the movements of the rite. Yet even
this is far from complete. In what other ways might the participants be
compelled to feel serenely at peace?

VII
Redundancy of message among the sensory modes and the repetition of
sequences is a key rhetorical/symbolic device in the ceremony. Let us begin with
the interaction of the graphic, gestural, gustatory, tactile and verbal sensory
channels and the process of objectification, or the transposition of intangible
qualities into various sensory modes.
The performative creation of the ritual domain begins in the yoritsuki where
the guests put on fresh tabi, brush the dust off their clothes and change their
attire. Here, in leaving behind their everyday clothing, they physically divest
themselves of reminders of the everyday world. This progressive shedding of
worldly concerns continues during their procession in the garden and is
powerfully symbolised in the passing of the chiriana (dust hole) near the tea
room. Here is one's final opportunity to brush away the pollutions and
contingencies of everyday life before entering the tea room. One last reminder
of this entry into a ritual domain is the act of removing one's sandals and
standing them up outside the hut.33 This transmutation of qualities-in this
case, pollution or this-worldliness-into physical objects and tangible proper-
ties, is one of the most compelling of performative acts. It gives ritual a
literalness that verbal communication rarely achieves. After ridding themselves

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 DORINNE KONDO 30I

of mundane objects and hence 'mundaneness' in general, the participants are

ready to absorb 'ritualness' in its many forms.
Beginning with the purity, freshness and naturalness of the garden, the
transfer of symbolic qualities intensifies. For example, the ritual ablution with
water not only washes away the 'dust of the world', it also metonymically
transfers the qualities of water-freshness and purity-to the persons of the
guests themselves. The crouching actions at the basin and at the entrance to the
tea room signify humility. Once again it is important to note the representation
of a mental state by an action, and the performative aspect involved: performing
these actions is as good as having the right attitude, for it should induce the right
attitude.
In the tea room the ritual atmosphere heightens. For example, incense is
burned in the tea room, an act with religious connotations inJapanese culture.34
The tone it sets is immediately sacral and contemplative. The scrolls and the
flower arrangement set the mood and the theme for the particular ceremony,
and by viewing these art objects, the sentiments expressed through the visual
and graphic media are, ideally at least, transferred to the viewer in order to
structure his/her mental attitude. Just as a Zen painting may leave an empty
expanse of white, so the mind of the participant should achieve the same
emptiness, mushin.
The drinking of tea itself is preceded by the climactic moments of its
preparation, where the bounded movements, the graceful yet logical progres-
sion of actions, express the essence of peace and calm. In drinking the aesthetic
infusion, one partakes not only of the tea and of the qualities it embodies, but of
the care, the grace and the selflessness that went into its preparation. The
viewing of the tea bowl, its asymmetry and coarseness to the touch, its
imperfections, the tea implements and their associations, all contribute further
to the symbolic intensity of the ceremony. Like the notes of a baroque score,
different symbols in different modes occur in profusion, yet move smoothly
forward in an intelligible sequence.
The interaction of various sensory media creates a multiple layering of
meanings that 'all add up to one message' (Leach I976: 41). Though there may
be qualitative and significant differences among the various sensory modes
-and I believe there are, as Jakobson (I960), Langer (I942) and Levi-Strauss
(I969) have pointed out-the gathering of these elements into a single ceremony
tends to highlight the similarities among them. Moreover, though the referents
of a single symbol may be myriad, the location of the symbol in the nexus of the
tea ceremony narrows its meaning or accents a certain meaning to the partial
exclusion of others. This homology of code among the sensory modes is one of
the major sources of the tea ceremony's symbolic efficacy and power.
What, then, of the constant repetition of actions and sequences? I would argue
that it provides a contrastive background for the subtle changes that take place
from one segment of the ritual to another. The basic similarity in the sequence
renders any changes all the more striking. In this case, redundancy is not
'superfluity'.35 Rather, through the subtle variations in the message and in the
media into which it is transposed, persuasive symbolic power is inevitably
intensified. 36 In short, in the tea ceremony, redundancy creates an intensification

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 302 DORINNE KONDO

of meaning in and of itself, and it is a vehicle of meaning for the minute but
significant changes that may occur in the repetition of a sequence.

VIII
Finally, this allows something more general to be said about the nature of ritual
itself. Should ritual be a mere communicative device designed to impart a
simple, discursive message, there would be little apparent rationale for the
existence of the ritual form. Ritual 'messages' can be repetitive, prodigally so,
freely drawing upon all the sensory modes and all manner of symbolic devices.
Folk belief may also encourage a view of ritual as rigid, convention-bound and
inimical to real, spontaneous feeling. Why, say these pragmatists, make such a
fuss over drinking a cup of tea?
Perhaps the answer to these riddles lies with the Zen masters. For at least in the
tea ceremony, and perhaps in other rituals as well, it is by becoming one with the
rules that the possibility of transcendence lies.37 The formality of ritual also
enables the participant to forget the contingencies of everyday life and frees the
mind for 'greater' thoughts.38 Ritual, then, need not be an ossified form
interfering with 'true' feeling and spontaneity. In fact, form separates the ritual
from the everyday and distinguishes the casual partaking of a cup of tea from
chanoyu, the way of tea. By its precise orchestration of sequence and the
interrelations among symbols in different sensory modes, the tea ceremony
articulates feeling and thought, creating a distilled form of experience set apart
from the mundane world.

NOTES

Several people have read this manuscript in draft form. I should particularly like to thank S. J.
Tambiah, John C. Pelzel, Matthews Hamabata and Vincent Crapanzano for their perceptive
comments. Of course, final responsibility lies solely with the author.
1 Among themgado (the way of poetry), kyuido (the way of archery), kendo (the way of the sword)
and Bushido (the way of the warrior).
2 Scholars have long been sensitive to the differences and similarities among various sensory
modes (e.g., Jakobson's visual and auditory signs, Langer's discursive and presentational symbols).
As a method of representation and symbolisation, discursive language, like any mode of com-
munication-the plastic arts, music, gesture and so on-excels at certain tasks and is less suited for
others.
Roland Barthes, the structuralist literary critic, dares to imply that an art closely related to
tea-haiku-is refractory to Western schemes of analysis: 'il nous resiste, perd finalement les adjectifs
qu'un moment plus t6t on lui decernait et entre dans cette suspension du sens, qui nous est la chose la
plus etrange puisqu'elle rend impossible l'exercice le plus courant de notre parole, qui est le
commentaire . . .' (Barthes I970: IIO).
' See Tambiah (I979) for a comprehensive review ofthe treatment ofthese issues in the literature.
4 While in Japan, I studied with a teacher of the Ura Senke school for two years, and after
returning to the United States continued lessons with another Ura Senke teacher for about six
months.
5 This is a practice common in forms of the traditional arts; inju-do, for instance, one rises through
the different kyu, or grades, and receives certificates and other external symbols of rank, such as the
colour of the belt. Like all the arts, however, true mastery is an unattainable goal; merely to approach
it takes a lifetime.

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 DORINNE KONDO 303

6 As such, tea tends to be studied and prac

sufficient leisure and economic means to enjoy it; i.e., those of at least middle-class status. Regional
variations also exist, at least in folk ideology. Residents of certain areas, known for their appreciation
of high culture (e.g., Kanazawa) are said to be more familiar with the ceremony than the average
Japanese citizen and to frequently serve matcha, the powdered tea used during the ceremony, to their
guests, instead of the usual fare of brewed tea.
7 Another highly ritualised expression of this emphasis on formality is the schools of etiquette,
such as the Ogasawara-ryu. This is most likely an upper/upper-middle class phenomenon.
8 During my years as a pupil of tea, I attended such a ceremony once, at my teacher's home. The
actual experience did confirm the formal rules learned through lessons and books on tea.
9 When the guests enter the tea garden, they wear their host's footgear, not their own. The roji
(tea garden), it is said, is not to be trodden by shoes 'defiled by the soil of the outside world'
(Okakura I964: 34).
10 During thefuro demae (the tea ceremony performed between May and October with a portable
brazier rather than the sunken hearth, or ro) this segment follows the kaiseki meal.
11 The practice of ritual modesty is a common part ofJapanese etiquette. Here, unlike the polite
understatement of everyday life, kaiseki is in fact a frugal meal, at least in terms of the amount of food
served-though often the dishes are expensive seasonal delicacies.
12 Its initial meaning was 'warming stone', for Zen monks would place a warm stone near their
stomachs during long hours of meditation in order to ward off hunger (Palmer I976C: 32).
13 Seating arrangements, both during the ceremony and in the wider society, are indices of status.
The seat for the person of highest status is called the kamiza, high or upper seat, and it is usually in
front of the alcove and away from the door.
14 'Regardless of the fact that the tabako-bon is not actually used for smoking, it is the sign of a
relaxed atmosphere' (Palmer I976: 65).
15 For example, those who enter the Ura Senke school as disciples and students of tea undergo a
long apprenticeship, where their only instruction is to watch the teacher teaching other students.
They themselves are not allowed even to touch a tea implement until the day when they are
suddenly, without warning, told to perform the ceremony in front of the teacher.
16 See Kondo (I982) for a lengthier exposition of the concept of kuri.
17 Suzuki (I970: 3 i) relates a classic admonition about Zen ink painting, but the principle applies
to all the Zen arts: 'Draw bamboos for ten years, become a bamboo, then forget all about bamboos
when you are drawing'.
18 Ludwig cites a famous Taoist aphorism to that effect: 'In bearing water and chopping wood,
there lies the wonderful Tao' (Ludwig I974: 39). In the tea ceremony, then, Enlightenment lies in the
preparing and drinking of a cup of tea.
19 The tea room itself, for example, embodies pure sabi-wabi: 'The tea hut is extremely bare and
almost devoid of colour. If a flower is arranged in a vase, it is usually a single, small blossom of some
quiet hue or white. The tea utensils are not of exquisite porcelain but of coarse pottery, often a dull
brown or black and imperfectly formed. The kettle may be a little rusty. Yet from these objects we
receive an impression not of gloominess or shabbiness but one of quiet harmony and peace .
(Tsunoda et al. i958: 28I).
The aesthetic of sabi and wabi is central to an understanding of the ceremony, not only for the sense
of what constitutes 'tea style' in the performance of the ceremony (grace, calm, silence, economy of
movement), but in its related arts; flower arranging, pottery, scrolls, cooking, gardens and so on.
Briefly, the same values of simplicity, asymmetry, age, roughness, austerity and monochrome
colour are observed in the ancillary arts. The tea garden is, like allJapanese gardens, simple, peaceful
and tranquil, but it should have these qualities to a heightened degree, imparting an impression of
being shut away from the outside world. Tea gardens are usually bare of flowers, using instead less
showy plants to create a harmonious aesthetic quality. The tea room is small, bare and dimly lit. Tea
style in flowers is known for its simplicity and naturalness. Usually a chabana arrangement consists
of a single flower and a few leaves. Its distinctiveness is reflected in the verb used to describe the
process of arranging: whereas for most other styles of flower arranging one applies the term ikeru (to
arrange), with chabana one must ireru-put or place into. 'Chabana is a delightful anomaly in the
sphere of ikebana. It has no rules; its charm lies in its exquisite simplicity. It cannot be taught, it can
only be felt' (Davidson I970: I0-I ).

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 304 DORINNE KONDO

The tea bowls are of rough pottery, oft

(e.g., Raku, Oribe) tend to be black, dullish red, dull brown, or a combination of black and dark
green. These are purest sabi-wabi. The scrolls or paintings hung in the alcove are usually of Zen
origin; a scroll might be a laconic Zen epigram, or an ink painting. In either case, it is generally
simple black on white.
20 The wealthy might be able to afford a tea room or tea garden in their residences; otherwise, one
would use the grounds of, for example, a temple, or an elegantJapanese restaurant.
21 It is also represented indexically through the presence of moss, which requires a moist
environment in order to survive. Moreover, one recalls that the name of the garden itself, the Dewy
Path, restates this association with wetness, purity, and freshness, and that the path itself is in fact
sprinkled with waterjust prior to the arrival of the guests.
22 Architect Fumihiko Maki argues that the concept of oku, the depths, characterises Japanese
architecture (e. g., shrines, streets, arrangement of rooms in a house). The division of the garden into
inner and outer roji, for instance, is also characteristic of shrine precincts where the outer path is
relatively straight, while the inner path indirect and winding. This 'create(s) a sense of drama and
ritual in the process of approaching' the oku (Maki I979: 59). Here the dimensions of space and time
are both implied.
23 The same is true, but on a heightened level of purity and symbolic intensity, at the nijiri-guchi.
24 There are countless examples, but I shall cite only a few. Perhaps the ideal form of
communication in Japan is ishin denshin, a highly developed empathy in which mutual sensitivity
obviates the need for words. Lebra (I976: I i 5) describes this as follows: 'Words are paltry against the
significance of reading subtle signs and signals and the intuitive grasp of each other's feelings'.
Studies of childhood socialisation practices inJapan and the United States consistently point to the
greater emphasis inJapan on non-verbal interaction between mother and infant. (See, for example,
Caudill & Weinstein I969.) An ideal for masculine behaviour (indeed, for anyone) isfugenjikko,
silent action. That is, one should prove one's worth through action, not through empty words.
25 The term ma-interval, pause, space, room-is crucial here, for it is used both in everyday
social interaction and as an aesthetic concept. Ma exists in Zen paintings and in flower arrangements,
where the brush strokes or lines of the flowers and branches describe a space. It corresponds, in this
context, to the emptiness of mu in Zen doctrine. But ma is not simply spatial; it can also signify a
pause, a silence. A conversation should have ma, appropriate spacing or intervals, to punctuate the
rhythms of speech. One is not obligated to fill the silence with words. The spacing in this case
contributes to a sense of repose. Ku, emptiness-as in the empty space of air-is an important
related concept.
26 Cf. Rodney Needham (I967).
27 Cf. Evon Vogt I977, on the role of percussion in Zinacanteco ritual.
28 The five elements (wood, water, fire, earth, metal) from Chineses cosmology, undoubtedly
play a part here, and to some extent feature in exegeses of the symbolism of tea. Indeed, one could
say that preparing and drinking tea unites the five elements: wood (charcoal); water (for tea); fire;
earth (tea bowl); metal (brazier).
29 Tea embodies the naturalness of sabi and wabi: a powder made of ground-up leaves, it unites
these natural elements with the natural element of water, to create a representation, in palpable form,
of the Japanese aesthetic. And finally, its thick texture and concentrated state are metaphorical
expressions of the intensity of the ritual experience, here distilled into its very essence, a single bowl
of tea. The tea is, in a sense, the ritual experience itself. In Fernandez's (I977) terms, the tea is a
metaphor that is particularly 'apt'; it embodies the ideas informing the ceremony, as well as making
logical sense in terms of the progression of the sequence.
30 'Weak' and 'strong', or rather, 'thick', and 'thin', are salient cultural categories. In fact, 'koi'
and 'usui' ('thick' and 'thin') are used in the words koicha and usucha.
31 On first glance, sake might logically be considered the climax of the ceremony; it, too, is a
strong, powerful liquid with religious connotations, and it is undoubtedly no coincidence that these
occur in close proximity to one another as part of the height of the ceremony. However, when one
recalls the connotations of each, based on ethnographic evidence and native exegesis, it is clear that
sake on the one hand is more social and informal, and on the other is associated with religion-but
with Shinto, not with Zen.
In this form, it is known as Omiki, the gods' sake. It is used in the Shinto wedding ceremony and a

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 DORINNE KONDO 305

special variety of sake is drunk during the New Year holidays. In this sense, it could be said to be part
of the long, purificatory process which takes place before the partaking of the tea itself. Thus, sake is
both social and 'sacred' or special. The manuals on tea emphasise the social connotations of sake,
saying that it is offered in order to foster a friendly spirit among the participants. Indeed, Edwards
argues for a strong relationship between 'sake and solidarity', which appears in ritual contexts as part
of a symbolic means of creating 'bonds between men [sic.], or between men and gods.
(Edwards I982: 703).
32 Another way of analysing the tea ceremony would be to compare it to other rituals involving
the use of stimulants, from other areas of the world. Though this exceeds the bounds of this
particular article, such a comparison might prove highly illuminating.
3 The opposition between inside and outside is a salient one inJapanese culture. One never wears
outside shoes inside the house; instead these are left at the foyer which is at a lower level than the rest
of the house. Only slippers, tabi, stockings-inside footwear-can be worn within the home. To do
otherwise would be a fundamental breach of etiquette; in fact it would be unthinkable, un-Japanese.
Inside/outside also signifies a 'mode' of behaviour-uchi (cf. Uchi Roji) is the intimate in-group; soto
is the outside, public world (cf. Kondo I982).
3 It is what one offers to the ancestors, and is sometimes thought to have curative powers; it is
also closely associated with Buddhism.
35 Leach (I976) argues that patterning or redundancy helps the receiver understand the message
being communicated.
36 Through capitalising on the qualities of the particular modes involved (e.g., the discursive
nature of language, the simultaneity of visual stimuli, the palpability of objects).
37 This is a profound theme in Japanese culture, underlying pedagogy, definitions of person,
maturity, role fulfilment, etc. See e.g., Kondo I982.
38 Lest the reader fear that I am spinning webs of fantasy, it does seem that this feeling of
tranquillity and of losing oneself in the rules is in fact conveyed to the participants, however
implicitly or imperfectly. One informant told me of her experience. Taking tea solely as a wifely art,
she kept a diary of her feelings about the ceremony. Even at a young age, she felt that, once learned,
the rules allowed her to think of greater things. In daily life minor matters and small decisions absorb
one's conscious attention and energy. Ritual liberates one from the necessity of diverting energy to
these trivialities, to learn the rules so completely that one's actions no longer occupy one's attention.
Thus the powers of thought and feeling can be directed toward that which is truly meaningful.

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