Kinds of Tea Ceremonies
Buddhist monks incorporated tea ceremonies into votive offerings. However, the Goryeo nobility and later the Confucian yangban scholars formalized the rituals into things of beauty.
There are at least 15 major tea ceremonies that are performed, and they include, they are listed according to age and fame:
- Day Tea Rite - Joseon dynasty daily palace tea ceremony
- Special Tea Rite - Joseon dynasty ceremony welcoming visiting foreigners, trade and tribute missions, and at royal weddings
- Queen Tea Ceremony - a special tea ceremony shown upon occasion in royal Korean soap operas: only for women friends, family and servants of the Queen, but often including the Crown Prince.
Matcha, or powdered green tea, has also enjoyed limited popularity in Korea. Tea leaves ground into very fine powder are traditionally associated with the Japanese Tea Ceremony, but in Korea this form of tea has regained a certain amount of regard, especially with Buddhists. Myeong-san cha, or meditation tea is a form of meditation in and of itself. It is said to have been popular among monks practicing meditation for many days without sleep. Malcha contains more nutritional value than even regular ip-cha, or leaf tea. All of the tea leaf is consumed and it contains higher amounts of vitamin C, tannins and polyphenols.
With the advent of Christianity in Korea, this kind of meditation tea is viewed as Buddhist and is largely ignored by many, based solely on religious beliefs. True da-in, or tea people relish the physical and cerebral benefits of malcha.
Read more about this topic: Korean Tea Ceremony
Famous quotes containing the words kinds of, kinds, tea and/or ceremonies:
“...you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth.”
—Bible: New Testament, Matthew 23:27.
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“I’d take the bus downtown with my mother, and the big thing was to sit at the counter and get an orange drink and a tuna sandwich on toast. I thought I was living large!... When I was at the Ritz with the publisher a few months ago, I did think, “Oh my God, I’m in the Ritz tearoom.” ... The person who was so happy to sit at the Woolworths counter is now sitting at the Ritz, listening to the harp, and wondering what tea to order.... [ellipsis in source] Am I awake?”
—Connie Porter (b. 1959)
“Despite compelling evidence that she will be working at 35, by choice or necessity, today’s 21-year-old woman has difficulty looking beyond the ceremonies of her marriage and her babies’ christenings.”
—Marilyn Bender (b. 1925)