Tea x Culture
A curious quest of tea cultural heritage in Malaysia and Japan
My parents are worried. They question my wandering. They think that I am lost as I am now on a voluntary career break following my continuous health scare.
I feel the contrary. More alive. Living this very moment in my unscheduled and unhurried time. Not lost but found myself discovering the creative and spiritual side that I have been wanting to explore.
I have gotten interested in tea. Or perhaps tea found me here in Kyoto.
From China to Japan and Malaysia
As I learn chado 茶道 or way of tea here in Kyoto, I begin to wonder about my ancestral roots as a 3rd generation Malaysian Chinese.
From China, tea was first introduced to Japan across multiple eras.
In the 8th century (Tang dynasty), tea brought to Japan was initially drunk as a medicinal beverage among priests and the upper class.
In the 12th century (Song dynasty), matcha 抹茶 and tea whisks were brought to Japan from monasteries in China by Zen monks to keep them awake during long periods of meditation.
Similarly in Malaysia, tea was first introduced from China as early as the 8th century. It was believed to be brought in by Buddhist monks or merchants from China en route to India and beyond.
Malaysia has an intimate bond with tea. As a Southeast Asian country, it is also a major tea producer in the region. Currently, black tea is predominantly consumed in Malaysia (about 80%), including our famous teh tarik (pulled milk tea) that is served anytime in the day especially at mamak Indian Muslim food stalls.
The art of teh tarik in Malaysia. See also video. Photo by me in 2023
Malaysia: My Fujian ancestral roots
More recently, Chinese tea culture was introduced to Malaysia in the 15th century (Ming dynasty) through the expedition voyage of Zheng He, a Chinese mariner and diplomat, to Malacca or currently known as Melaka city.
Oolong tea 烏龍茶 is a popular type of Chinese tea now consumed in Malaysia available in different variations, such as 鐵觀音, 水仙, 大紅袍, 肉桂. Oolong tea was brought in to Malaysia in the 19th century during the colonial era with an in-flux of Southern Chinese migrants, including from Fujian 福建 where my paternal grandparents were from.
Fujian is one of the oldest tea regions, famous for producing oolong tea. Unfortunate that I have only came to know recently that it is also the birthplace for white tea and red (commonly known as black) tea.
In a time when fast food culture is prevalent, how do we revive interest in age-old inheritance culture that has sustained many of our previous generations?
Growing up, I find tea merely a supplement to food in Malaysia - unlike what I am now learning through tea appreciation in Japan. For instance, bak kut teh 肉骨茶 is a herbal pork dish served with rice to be completed with a cup of tea, normally oolong. It is a comfort food now recognized as Malaysia’s national heritage dish by the national government.
While there are multiple stories to the origin of bak kut teh (e.g. as a poor man’s diet for rubber plantation workers often waking up in ungodly early morning hours), a known fact is that the dish originated from Fujian and was brought through Fujian migrants to Malaysia.
Japan: Way of tea
4 principles of Chanoyu coined by Sen no Rikyū: wa (harmony), kei (respect), sei (purity), jaku (tranquility). Picture by me from the book ‘Tea Life, Tea Mind’ by Soshitsu Sen XV
In Kyoto, heritage culture is vibrant and strong with over 3,000 cultural properties (about 20% of Japan’s national treasures, 15% of Japan’s important cultural properties), over 2,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.
Kyoto is the birthplace of various Japanese traditional arts and culture - including chado 茶道 or chanoyu 茶の湯.
Since the introduction from China, tea has evolved within Japan to become what it is now known as chado.
During the 1300s (Muromachi 室町 era), Sen no Rikyū, father of the way of tea, refined and evolved the ritualized practice of whisked powdered green tea in the form of matcha with Zen-inspired simplicity and spirituality. Tea culture then widely spread among the Samurai society.
During the 1800s Meiji 明治 period of modernization, wealthy businessmen became keen to chanoyu as a way of socializing.
In 1906, The Book of Tea, a classic work by Okakura Kakuzo, was published in the America to introduce Japanese culture through chado to overseas audience.
Silence in tearoom. Low whistling sound of boiling water. Only the wind through the pines. See also video. Photo by me.
What is chado?
As I begin to discover, chado 茶道 or way of tea is less about tea but more about its integral connection to spirituality, arts and culture - from ikebana flower arrangement, kaiseki cuisine, pottery and ceramics, architecture, kimono, to garden landscaping.
Chado is a gateway to the spirit of Japan - of Omotenashi mindful hospitality, realizing our inter-being with nature, going beneath the surface to intimately grasp the seasonal variations, and appreciation of this very moment that we have by leaning in to our 5 senses.
An inquiry into perhaps all that I’ll never know.