Session 17: Heian Japan: First arrival of tea

Topics

❖ The arrival of tea to Japan in the early 800s: Kukai, Saicho, Eichu, Emperor Saga (*I usually do not use diacriticals in this class for either Chinese or Japanese. It should be Kūkai, etc.)
◊ Brief comments on the exam including an example of how Part A (multiple choice) is run.

Thoughts—read before class, revisit for tests

Japan sent emissaries to Tang China to learn all types of things and tea happened to be one of the things they learned. This is considered the "first arrival" of tea to Japan for after the collapse of Tang China, Japan withdrew contact and distanced itself from Chinese cultural models. Tea drinking seems to have faded for this reason. Individuals important to this first arrival include Kukai, Saicho, Eichu, and Emperor Saga.

I might make some short comments about the test, and I will try to answer your questions. Come prepared with your questions in hand, however. We will only spend about 10 minutes on this.

Required—to be completed for today's session

✓ Read: Heian Japan [bSpace, PPT].

Multimedia notes

◊ None at this time. I will probably show a short clip of travel to China via boat.

Links

⇢ None.

Other

None.

Links to each session page

Sun, Sept 1, 2013: I am migrating this site to a new site. It takes time. During this transition, there are two ways to access a particular day's web page. You can start with the new EA109 Fall 2013 Course Guide page, our official top page. It will take you directly to the new pages and redirect to old pages when necessary. Or you can use the below chart. It will take you directly to the day's session page—the new one when it exists, the old one when it has yet to be migrated. Greenhighlight means the new page exists. Sorry for the dust and mess during construction!