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Korean Tea and the tea ceremony - Chanoyu
Tea etiquette "Day Tea Rite" or "Special Tea Rite" has been practiced among Koreans over two thousand years with the Chanoyu. Recently revived for harmonious relaxation, the tea ceremony is alive and well within the busy and fast-paced Korean lifestyle.
The setting is formal yet natural. Originally practiced in reverence of the living and ancestors alike.
The first record of the Korean tea ceremony is from 661AD, when tea was given as an offering to the spirit of King Suro. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the royal Yi family and aristocracy used tea for simple rites.- TeaInfusion.com
Unlike the the Japanese codified Tea Ceremony, Koreans prefer to be more relaxed while enjoying tea. Although a step-by-step ceremony is involved in a Korean tea ceremony, it is soon followed by a relaxed enjoyment of the prepared tea.
" In Korea, the tea revival initiated by the Venerable Hyo Dang has had a great impact. The Venerable Hyo Dang, Ch'oi Pom-sul, might be considered to be "the Ch'o Ui of the 20th century," for he wrote the first full length study of tea to be published in modern Korea and taught many people about the various aspects of tea. He was a remarkable man: active in the Independence Movement, he founded several schools and a university after 1945, as well as being the teacher of virtually all the leading figures in the modern Korean tea revival. There are now tea rooms in most cities and even quite small towns, there are innumerable tea study groups and research centres, several reviews exist consecrated entirely to the various aspects of tea culture and the Way of Tea." - EasternTea.com
The Panyaro Institute for the Promotion of the Way of Tea
"The Panyaro Institute for the Promotion of the Way of Tea was founded to perpetuate the lifelong work of the celebrated Korean Tea Master, the Venerable Hyodang, who devoted some sixty years of his life to a study of the teachings of the great Korean spiritual master Wonhyo and to the elaboration of methods of using tea in meditation.
The Venerable Hyodang contributed to the culture of tea in three major ways: First, he published the first Korean book consecrated to the Way of Tea, "The Korean Way of Tea", a work that continues to inspire readers interested in our tea culture. In that book, Master Hyodang expressed the fruit of a whole lifetime's research and experience. Second, he transmitted the particular method of making the green tea known as Panyaro. Third, he founded the first association of Koreans interested in the study of tea, the "Korean Association for the Way of Tea". That association was not destined to outlive him, but it performed a vital role in the launching of the present day association which pursues similar goals.
The Venerable Hyodang was also the first to give ordinary readers an awareness of the significance of the life of the Venerable Ch'o-ui, the early 19th century tea master, through a series of articles published in a popular newspaper. It may not be too much to say that, just as the Venerable Ch'o-ui led the revival of interest in tea in his time, so the Venerable Hyodang led the modern revival. Thanks to the fruition of a favorable karma, Chae Won-hwa was enabled to assist the Venerable Hyodang in all these undertakings.
The Venerable Hyodang departed from this world on July 10, 1979 and after a few years spent immersed in other activities, in 1981 Chae Won-hwa was able to launch a study-association devoted to the "Panyaro Way of Tea" with a small number of like-minded associates. On July 2, 1983, she founded the Panyaro Institute for the Promotion of the Way of Tea and since then she has had the privilege of meeting and instructing several hundred persons in this Way. The Venerable Hyodang always used to insist that tea was to be drunk quite naturally, in the course of daily life, and should not be made the subject of unnecessary constraints. Many people simply came and went in the course of the years, but in November 1995 Chae Won-hwa established a formal graduation ceremony for those who had completed the full course of study. Such ceremonies are now held each year.
It is her hope that each one can discover that the Way is not some remote idea, but a reality hidden very close by, in the midst of the activities of ordinary life." Adapted from: http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/EngPanyaro.htm
The Korean Tea Ceremony
