The Deep Integration of Tea and Zen: A Focus on the Character of Tea

Tea and Zen are rooted in the deep integration of tea and Zen, and the two are closely aligned because of their suitability. For Zen, it is the practicality, secularism and Sinicism, distinguishing from the original Buddhism, that make it more compatible with tea. For tea, among the many cultural mediums of Zen, tea character stands out. The purpose of this paper is to explain how tea and Zen are closely related, using tea character as an example. Focusing on the relationship between tea character and Zen, this paper provides unique points of view, which rid of the traditional philosophical analyse on Tea-Zen concepts but pay attention to pragmatic nature of tea, decoding “tea” in four dimensions such as the herbal use, the ritual use, the echo with Zen, and its propagation bond with Zen’s growth. In conclusion, tea shares a genuine cultural symbiosis with Zen, and tea character is the main fuel of Zen’s popularisation. Tea helps to build the bridge between Zen theories and the reality world.