Tea and Religion

Beverages appear on the altars of faiths around the world at all junctures in history, often as offerings. Tea is no exception. Find out more about how tea became part of different religious traditions.

Several religions use tea in their ceremonies. China was the first to use tea in a religious role. The Japanese adopted the practice and took it to the extreme. Today most Asian countries have some sort of religious or cultural ceremony related to tea.

The tea ceremony of China no longer has significant religious meaning. Instead, it is all about honoring the tea including the flavor, scent and visual beauty. There is a specific way to make tea for a Chinese tea ceremony. Pour hot water into a teapot to warm it and pour it back out. Add tea leaves and pour hot water half full into the tea pot pouring it out almost immediately leaving the tea leaves in the pot. Fill the teapot with water this time but be careful not to let bubbles form. The tea must be smooth and perfect. Steep the tea less than one minute, and then pour carefully into small cups while moving the teapot in a circular motion over the cups filling all at the same time. Use the pot five times with the same tea leaves and the whole object of the ceremony is to make the first pot taste exactly like the last one. Tea ceremonies occur any time and weddings seem to be a popular time to perform one. Other tea ceremonies occur in teahouses and serve as a tool for socialization.

The Japanese tea ritual is part of the Buddhist religion. Tea came to Japan from China by a monk during the 9th century and monks created the procedure for the ceremony. Tea preparation, or tench, begins with a type of green powdered tea called macha that goes in the bottom of a bowl. Hot water is poured ceremoniously over top and whipped swiftly with a bamboo brush. There is much more to it than just making tea both physically and spiritually. Each movement has meaning. The placement of the utensils used is important. The placement of macha in the bowl, the sound of the water as it flows over top and the beauty of the foam made by whipping the the macha is very important and relevant to the ritual. Each component is transformative and designed to take away thoughts of self in order to become enlightened.

In Korea, the tea ceremony is more for socialization, but has some religious attributes. The ritual came from the ancient Chinese and actually precedes the ritual of the Japanese. Tea is an offering in temples and the spirits of important monks whereas in the past a God or King received it. Ritual is not elaborate but designed to be simple using natural bamboo or bark bowls. Koreans enjoy Pu’er tea or chrysanthemum or persimmon tea.

All Asian tea rituals may look the same, but are vastly different. The Japanese have the most religious value, but others have some part in religion even if it is in the somewhat forgotten past.

Steve Green writes for Unity Teapots - a specialty Asian teaware store, selling cast iron teapots online.