Teaphilia

Teaphilia describes the love of tea and its usage. A Teaphile is a person who shares a deep love and regard for tea and its practices.

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Teaphilia branches from the original concept of Teaism. The modern notion of this regards the practices, the love, and the history of tea as a deep part of this world and humanity’s cultures within it. The practice of teaphilia and its own concept is often crafted with the user’s own terminology but is surrounded by the importance of both the drink and the authenticity of the practice that stems behind it. In addition, the concept holds a belief that seeks to reclaim the history and true practices of tea per each culture and their original significance within the drink. As such, it is a practice and belief system that strives to reclaim tea’s original intentions and integrity as each culture, each people, and each religion have brought to it.

Usage of Term

Each Teaphile understands and admits that each use of tea and its meaning differs by each culture, nation, and religion. Therefore, the usage of the term Teaphilia is not only used to describe the love of tea and its practice, but also its user’s intentions for both the protection of the practice and the goal to reclaim its tradition. Above all, Teaphilia is founded on the practice of Teaism.

Teaism is a faith founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, and the romanticism of the social order. It is essentially a worship of the imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.

The term combines the practice and the philosophy with the reminder to cultivate the true tradition of the art of tea.

Legendary Father of Tea

Teaphilia begins with its remembrance of the history of tea. The drink stems back to the father of Chinese Agriculture, Emperor Shennong, sometimes known as Emperor Shen Nung. In 2737 BC the Emperor was sitting near a wild bush, unknown to be a type of tea plant, and boiling water in order to purify it. Whilst the myth holds no official record the practice’s history is held in this story. The official record was not placed until three millennia later in the southwestern province in China, Yunnan. The substance was found to have more than taste, the properties soon becoming prominent in medicinal uses. Foremost the drink was used in China for these medicinal purposes over purely the pleasure of the drink. It would not be until the Tang Dynasty arose 3000 years later that tea began to become a staple as a popular drink. The imposition of tax placed its worth towards the public and it officially gained popularity in the Ming Dynasty. Within China, the steeped leaves of the plant provided a pleasurable brew, but the dried leaves did not preserve and the trade of the drink was prevented. This began the new process of roasting the leaves, and later oxidizing the leaves to create what they called red tea. As it traveled the tea became known as Black tea. However, the green tea persisted in being the at-home drink of choice by the Chinese, choosing to place their red tea leaves for trade to others. The history of tea is an important measure in the study of a Teaphile. The regard for its past and how it spread by way of trade and political reasoning establishes the necessary regard for the drink’s importance, as well as its effect on the nature of culture’s connections and relationships.

The Definitions and Pathways of Tea

The regard of tea history for the Teaphile is present in the aim to remember the true purpose of tea, as well as its importance in the various cultures it touched. With this goal Teaphilia follows the pathways of tea as China spread the leaves through increased commerce and trade. All throughout China the tea merchants began to become highly regarded as not only the prevailers of drink, medicine, and culture, but also in the wealth they acquired by the spread of the leaves and its practice. Despite the spread, the Chinese Empire controlled both the cultivation and the preparation of leaves, keeping many of the methods secret as well as holding the proper land and elements in order to grow the plants properly.

Tibet

By the 9th century the Chinese had brought tea into Tibet. Despite the lack of proper conditions for the Tibetans to grow the leaves themselves, the Tibetans began to rely on China for nearly two to three hundred yaks laden tea filled carts. Each Tibetan valued tea so highly that the drink began to become a part of their currency. Other stories of this regard how the drink traveled widely and furthered the popularity as well as interest for trade. And as the relationship between Japan and China increased, traveling priests brought the drink and its regard back home with them, beginning the first mention of the concept known as Teaism.

Japan

A Buddhist Monk by the name of Dengyo Daishi is known to have brought the first tea seeds to Japan after a visit to China. Various Buddhist priests had begun to travel to China in search of education. Due to this first experience, the practice of tea within Japan has always held a prominent religious association, a heavy part of the Zen Buddhist practice. This connection of the drink to the religious spirituality of Zen Buddhism brought the first recesses of Teaism to the forefront. In particular, by the use of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Originally, the preferred tea of Japan was founded on a potent green tea known as Matcha. The drink was created by whisking water into the green powdered substance, creating a vibrant taste. The powder is essentially a rich blend of the green tea leaves. The brewed method would not become popular until later years when a method was found to be able to halt the fermentation process, therefore keeping some of the essential and rich flavour the green tea had to offer in the form of powder.

Dutch/Europe

China continued to import their tea and soon expanded into Europe. The Dutch were introduced to tea in the early 17th century, originally making its way through the upper classes as a medicine more so than a common drink. As demand and popularity increased, so did the culture that surrounded the art of tea. As such, the Dutch began their own tea plantations in Java and Sumatra. In addition to this, the treatment of the natives and the overall exploitation the Dutch company instilled upon the peoples cannot be ignored in conjunction to the history and importance of tea. The Dutch East India Company would hold monopolies based on colonialism of such peoples as the Banda Islands, the Khoikhoi, and several others as they expanded their monopolies amidst the slave trade. Such systems would be exploited and furthered to the American Colonies, as the European system wished to control the majority of the tea’s profits and the monopoly on the drink's overall capitol.

Russia

Around this same period, Russia was given a gift from China to Tsar Alexis of Russia. The drink gained in popularity amidst the various classes and soon a camel was distributed to trek across the vast terrain to bring the drink across the country. The camel system grew until the creation of the Trans-Siberian railway. This method expanded the reach of tea throughout the nation, as well as a variety of brews.

Britain

The role of tea within Britain began by the Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza. Her routine included having a cup of tea and soon brought the drink as a part of her retinue and chests to share with her new aristocratic court. Her parties and hosted tea gatherings began to spread not only in popularity but in focus on this new drink. As this was considered a luxury item the drink was placed as a status symbol of one’s class and wealth. However, the necessity of the drink soon spread, alongside Britain’s already present globalization goals. The British Royal Family’s creation of the East India Company sought to take control of trade in Asia and East Africa. Their claim of territories brought a claim of tea and soon the drink became their number one trading good. Despite the security of a new global economy due partly to the spread of tea, the methods of colonization brought a loss of not only control by the nations such as Ceylon, Formosa, and East Africa but also a loss of the nation’s own unique differences in the creation and significance of tea.

Birth of Teaism

Teaphilia stretches from the birth of Teaism. However, the Teaphilia term is not by definition an extension of this spiritual and religious practice, it seeks to learn its lessons and provide respect for the tradition of tea by both acquiring knowledge and spreading awareness. Teaism was and remains one of the most prominent cultural studies of the importance of tea as a drink and as a spiritual practice. The element of this text holds a view of tea in this regard both for its culture and for the necessity to reclaim it as such.

The writer, Kakuzo Okakura, of The Book of Tea placed the importance of Teaism in the practice and spirit the art of tea held. In regards to the Teaphile, Okakura sought to reclaim the tradition within the practice. “Each preparation of the leaves has its individuality, its special affinity with water and heat, its hereditary memories to recall, its own method of telling a story.” For tea to reclaim its beauty the Teaphile places the view of the drink’s history, the appreciation for its practice, as well as the individuality of the practice per its culture within their preparation and love of the drink.

The book also pinpoints a vital element of the aim of the Teaphile- to reclaim the art of tea per its culture’s preparation. They reclaim the art of tea as a culmination of a movement, as “more than an idealization of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life.”Thus, they describe the importance of the Japanese tea ceremony, the tea room, and its placement within the drink’s culture. His reclamation of the drink constitutes the goal of the Teaphile to remember in themselves and others the importance of the liquid as not to its status and aesthetic, but its place as a marker in the period of various nation’s expansion, loss, and tradition.

Colonialism and India

A part of this loss is the tradition of British tea, steeped in the colonialism that spread alongside the expansion of the East India Company. The impact of the tea plantations on the Darjeeling Himalayas would bring economic and social change that affects the nation to this day. This would include extensive deforestation to make room for the plantations, impact on the local Indian Indigenous tribes, immigration of Nepali peoples that led to a diminishment of resources due to competition, and an eventual decline of the Native tribal economy. The negative factors of the tea plantations and their history are as much a vital factor of tea history and understanding in a Teaphile’s study as the appreciation of the practice and drink.

Class Differences

A portion of the Teaphile’s study deals with the degree of differences in tea practice based on the class and structure of society. Britain, in particular, placed a significant distinction on class, based on the variety of tea one was able to purchase as well as how they chose to take it. The practice of tea differed as the drink gained in popularity and the various classes became more accustomed. Whilst the tradition of high and afternoon tea remained in the aristocracy and upper class within England, the lower classes brought their own customs. The middle and upper classes continued to drink tea daily, the lower classes saw the drink as a luxury due to the price. Higher quality teas were only able to be purchased by the upper and middle classes. The lower class dealt with a coarser, recycled version of tea. Many times the leftover leaves from the upper and middle class households could be dried, cut, and possessed additives that would create bitter taste. This is why the lower classes would add more milk and sugar to their tea and could more likely afford Black tea, over the lighter and more variety based teas of the higher classes.

20th Century Teaphile

The importance of tea in the Teaphile’s life is measured by the evolution it produces in both its personal philosophy to the drinker as well as to the one who practices it. For the 20th century, the Teaphile became a part of the measure of the drink’s importance socially and culturally. The act of the drink was something that brought soldiers together amidst wartime. It expanded the social act of having tea in the form of tea parties, though this regarded more so the aesthetic of tea rather than the actual significance behind the drink.

Amidst the 20th century, Okakura Kakuzō brought a little known book at the time called The Book of Tea that quickly spread in popularity and readership. The book placed the practice of Teaism at the forefront of its focus. The text incited the importance of the term and its significance within Japanese culture. It culminated the drink in regards to the meaning of what it held for the mind as well as for the body. The book also reminded the drinkers of tea that the beverage was more than just a production of art and aesthetic, it was a symbolism of culture, of the mind, and of the spirit. Such practices brought the authentic practice of tea back into the foreground of its audience. In this way the tea ceremony became more than mere entertainment for the Western culture, it became an example of the history and dedication the forefather of this drink held within its significance for its people and their culture.

Modern Teaphile

The modern Teaphile is similar in definition to the Bibliophile. It is one who loves to drink, collect, learn, and understand the culture, practice, and history of tea. There is also a necessity to facilitate further authentic and more importantly sustainable as well as ethical practices in regards to tea production and commerce. Tea companies today are striving to uphold this philosophy as well, as most companies are cutting out the middle man and working directly with farmers and their workers to produce not only better quality, but ethically sound tea. One example is found in The Ethical Tea Partnership, “a global, not for profit organization committed to improving the lives and environment of tea workers throughout the world.” The organization seeks to target the tea production areas of the world, aiding both the workers as well as the communities as a whole. This degree of action spans the largest portion of the Teaphile philosophy, improving and sustaining the true quality of the drink, as well as ensuring the production and all that goes into it meets sustainable and ethical standards neglected before.

Alongside the revival of tea practices such as the making of Matcha, there is a revival of the intention and authenticity behind the practices. The Teaphile often surrounds themselves within these studies and holds the intention to revive the authentic practice as well as its history as a large portion of their love for the drink is held behind its customs. In addition to this, the Teaphile supports the necessity of understanding the versatility of tea and its differences per culture and nation as it regards the country’s contexts and past relationships.

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This article "Teaphilia" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Teaphilia. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

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