View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Queensland University of Technology ePrints Archive This is the author’s version of a work that was submitted/accepted for pub- lication in the following source: Kumarasuriyar, Anoma C (2011) Tea ceremony and Sukiya : negating so- cial hierarchy. In Sharing Cultures 2011, 2nd International Conference on Intangible Heritage, 3 - 6 July, 2011., Tomar, Portugal. This file was downloaded from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/43857/ c Copyright 2011 (please consult the author). Notice: Changes introduced as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing and formatting may not be reflected in this document. For a definitive version of this work, please refer to the published source: Tea Ceremony and Sukiya: negating social hierarchy Anoma Kumarasuriyar Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia ABSTRACT: There is a widely held view that architecture is very strongly and even primari- ly determined by the society and culture rather than geographical, technical, economic or cli- matic factors. This is especially evident in societies where rituals, customs and tradition play a significant role in the design of built forms. One such society was that of Feudal Japan under the rule of samurai warriors. The strictly controlled hierarchical society of Feudal Japan, isolated from the rest of the world for over 250 years, was able to develop the art and architecture borrowed from neighboring older cultures of China and Korea into what is now considered uniquely Japanese. One such architecture is the Sukiya style tea houses where the ritual of tea ceremony took place. This ritual was developed by the tea masters who were Zen monks or the merchants who belonged to the lowest class in the hierarchical feudal society. The Sukiya style developed from 14th to 16th century and be- came an architectural space that negated all the rules imposed on commoners by the samurai ru- lers. The tea culture had a major influence on Japanese architecture, the concept of space and aes- thetics. It extended into the design of Japanese gardens, clothes, presentation of food, and their manners in day to day life. The focus of this paper is the Japanese ritual of tea ceremony, the ar- chitecture of the tea house it inspired, the society responsible for its creation and the culture that promoted its popularity and its continuation into the 21st century. 1 INTRODUCTION Built form in most societies is strongly determined by their traditions and culture. They are the tangible representation of the intangible culture which could be defined as a “whole way of life, material, intellectual, and spiritual” of a distinct people (Williams, 1961, p.16). Culture is a complex term that has been defined and re-defined over the years. Most of this complexity comes from the interdisciplinary nature of the term itself since each discipline has its own inter- pretation of culture. According to King (1980, p.1), “……buildings, indeed, the entire built en- vironment are essentially social and cultural products” that embraces the social and cultural val- ues prevailing at a given period or era. This paper focuses on the intangible aspects of the society and culture of feudal Japan; the tangible and intangible aspects of the ritual of tea cere- mony; and the tangible architecture of the teahouse where the tea ritual took place. It will be shown how a ‘classless’ society was created within the teahouse through its architecture and the ritual in absolute contrast to the hierarchical social structure of feudal Japan. 2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Military rule, by Samurai (warriors), in Japan dates back to the 12th century, when a feudal system of military government was set up in Kamakura in 1185. During this initial stage of rule by the military lords, the imperial family and court nobles had a sham government, in Kyoto, while real political power centered round the shogun (a general or commander in chief). This dual role of the emperor and shogun generated dual cultural values and interests. The members of the imperial court focused on literary and artistic pursuits. The Shogun and his samurai, on the other hand followed a rigorous routine of physical and mental training just like the medieval knights of Europe. The Zen monks’ strict physical and mental discipline, as well as the simple and austere lifestyle, appealed to the samurai. They looked up to the Zen monks’ disciplined lifestyle to improve their strength of character. However, from early 17th century, Confucianism began to dominate the moral code of the military (Reischauer, 1964, 1977). Both of these influ- ences came from the older civilization of China. The power of the samurai grew rapidly during the 14th and 15th centuries resulting in powerful clans with their own feudal lords (Reischauer, 1964). Around this time the finances of the im- perial court began to decline as they gradually lost their land to the rising military rulers. This meant that the imperial court no longer could hold on to their position as cultural leaders. The feudal rulers then became the cultural leaders as well. They depended on the Zen monks to play a significant role in the propagation and nurturing cultural activities. The arts that flourished during this period, although now considered typically Japanese, were Chinese in origin. These include, flower arrangement, landscape design and the tea ceremony. These were introduced to Japan by Zen monks (Reischauer 1964). Although Japan was making steady progress in the arts and literature during this period the political stability in the country was threatened by factional fighting between the feudal lords to attain political supremacy (Frederic, 1973). During periods of escalated fighting the ordinary Japanese people turned to Zen Buddhism for spiritual guidance to achieve ‘inner peace’ through meditation. The samurai too turned to Zen Buddhism to escape the traumas associated with war- fare and their regimented lifestyle. Thus Zen Buddhism provided a spiritual foundation for all classes of society. The factional fighting came to an end in 1603 when the feudal lord Tokugawa Ieyasu suc- ceeded as the shogun of Japan. He was able to unify the country under his leadership and the military dynasty he founded, The Tokuwgawa or Edo Era, continued until 1868. Japan was at peace and was able to further develop the arts they borrowed from the older civilisations of Chi- na and Korea. The social anthropologist Nakane Chie (1990 p.213) states that, “The Tokugawa period provides the foundation of present day Japan in the sense that many elements now consi- dered characteristic of Japanese society originated then.” 3. SOCIETY DURING THE FEUDAL PERIOD To maintain political stability the Tokugawa rulers introduced two policies that were very ef- fective in controlling any cultural or social changes for most part of their 250 year rule. The first was isolation of Japan from the rest of the world. Japanese were not permitted to leave the country during this period. Foreigners, except the Dutch and Chinese, who were allowed to trade with Japan, were not permitted to enter Japan. The second policy was that of enforcing a strict hierarchical class system according to Confucian ideology (Frampton & Kudo 1997). Apart from the emperor, court nobles, priests and the outcasts, the society was stratified into four hierarchical classes based on their usefulness to society. This class structure had, samurai at the top, farmers at second level, followed by artisans and merchants at the very bottom. According to (Reischauer (1964) this class structure categorized everyone below the samurai class as commoners. Furthermore, the class structure extended beyond ideology to material cul- ture as well (Frampton & Kudo 1997). The most important feature of this stratified society was the complete segregation of the classes by designating where each class could live, what they could wear, eat and the type of houses they could build (Reischauer, 1964; Frampton & Kudo 1997). 3.1 The Samurai Leading the social hierarchy was the samurai who lived in castle towns. They amounted to only two million of the estimated population of thirty million which remained relatively stable throughout the Tokugawa Period (Reischauer 1964; Dunn 1969; Livingston et. al. 1973). Yet they were able to control the rest of the population through severe regulations and laws. The po- sition and authority of the samurai was symbolized by the two swords, one short and the other long, that they carried at all times. A hierarchical structure existed within the samurai class with shogun at the top and foot soldiers at the bottom of the scale. Those the highest level lived in shoin style palaces that reflected their position in the class structure. These palaces (fig. 1) were lavishly decorated, inside and outside, with gold and brilliant colours, coffered and painted ceil- ings, intricately carved timber panels and tiled roofs. 3.2 The farmers The farmers came next in social hierarchy because they produced the rice which was the main source of income for the samurai. They formed 80% of the population, paid heavy taxes, were extremely poor and lived in villages (Nakane 1990). Their houses were built of timber or bam- boo frames, plastered with mud and had thatched roofs (Fig.2). The architecture of these farm houses continued through the Tokugawa Period without any significant development (Engel 1964, Nishihara 1967). Their houses were devoid of any decorations and strict restrictions were enforced on their size and form (Hearn 1905) 3.3 The artisans This class included the different craftsmen and the carpenters who were builders during this period. They came next to the farmers because they produced goods and constructed buildings and were therefore, considered as useful to society. They, together with the merchants lived on the periphery of castle towns and were not allowed to own agricultural land.