The country of Korea lies between tea giants China and Japan and it’s believed that Korea’s early introduction to tea was made by Buddhist monks returning from the two countries after studying there. |
By the beginning of the Koryo dy- nasty (918-1392) Korea’s tea cul- ture was already well underway, with gifts of tea (called uh cha) given by the king to members of the military, Buddhist priests and monks, and as gifts to families grieving the loss of a family member or suffering from illness. Called New Woun Cha, meaning “mind origin tea” for a clear mind, or Dae Cha, meaning “great tea,” there were even established customs for placing boxes of tea with the deceased during funeral rites.Buddhism played an integral part in Korean tea drinking, with Buddhist monks teaching the virtues of tea, that it be viewed as a contemplative bever- age that was important for developing mental discipline. |
It was during the Koryo dynasty that tea was first used as an offer- ing to nature spirits, such as mountains and rivers, and also to an- cestral spirits at ceremonies of the New Year and full harvest moon known as Ch’a-rye.Unlike Japan and China who reserved tea drinking for the special This radical shift to a variant of Chinese But the new government retaliated, angry By the end of the 16th century there were few tea Japan devastated what traditions of Japan that grew and flourished were at the expense Chong Yak-yong in turn introduced the second man, Ch’o Ui (1786- But Korea was dealt yet another blow to its tea drinking culture when it was once again taken The Korean War (1950-1953) once again cast Korea into chaos, but this |
He began in 1973 by composing the first modern day study of tea called The Korean Way of Tea. Secondly he codified the “natural” and “open heart” methods of brewing green tea, becoming known as Panyaro. And finally he founded the first alliance and resource center for tea historians and those interested in reviving the culture of tea in Korea, called the Korean Association for the Way of Tea.After his death in 1979 the Venerable Hyo Dang’s work in revitalizing Korea’s tea industry was succeeded by the great tea master, Chae Won Hwa, a female tea master who studied under Hyo Dang for over ten years, and today continues to promote the Way of Tea to graduate students in tea culture at the Panyaro Institute for the Way of Tea in Seoul, South Korea. Enjoy. |