The cup of humanity: tenshin\'s views on art and nature in the book of tea

Author(s)

Narumi Ito

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2023-02-16

Examining board members

Neide Hissae Nagae; Elisa Massae Sasaki; Diogo César Porto da Silva; Leonam Lauro Nunes da Silva

• Advisor: Neide Hissae Nagae

Abstract

The Book of Tea (1906), by Kakuz Okakura (1863-1913), also known as Okakura Tenshin, was released for the first time in New York, with the English title The Book of Tea. The publication took place during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), at a time when the ports were opened for modernization to reach the whole country and, at the same time, it was a moment of intense exchange with the West. Near the end of this Era, the essay book debuted, awakening new visions from West to East. In a historical period in which the western product was valued, Tenshin was one of the first Japanese to dedicate himself to the dissemination of Japanese traditions. In this research, we had as a guiding question: how can we understand the concepts of art and nature in The Book of Tea. In this sense, in addition to the tea ceremony, we made brief incursions into the universe of other Japanese artistic manifestations such as painting and poetry, in which it is possible to observe the appreciation for nature in Japanese culture and detect how Tenshin incorporates them in his book, who prioritizes the art of tea to present it as a representative expression of his country\'s culture, revealing that he is an intellectual ahead of his time to confront the wave of Western modernization. We made use of critical readings of several theoretical studies in a way to make possible to develop an autonomous position, following the vision of Zanella (2013), and for that, we highlight as main theoretical references, Suzuki (1973; 2017), Sen (1998; 2008; 2017), Hisamatsu (1970; 1995) and Rocha (1996; 1998) (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 20/04146-3 - A study about art in reverencing nature in the work the book of tea, by Kakuzo Okakura
• Grantee: Narumi Ito
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master