Cleaning the tea bowl is a fundamental part of the tea ceremony, a required ritual before a tea gathering. In this article, we explore the Urasenke tradition’s method for cleaning tea bowls, delving into its cultural significance. Learning how to clean a tea bowl is vital in tea ceremony practice, symbolizing the pursuit of tranquility and aesthetics. It’s a way to show etiquette and enhance the tea bowl’s beauty. In the following sections, we’ll explain the basic steps and key points of this process.
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How to Purify Tea Bowls
Now let us learn how to do the purification of the tea bowl using the folded chakin.
- With your left hand, discard the hot water from tea bowl and bring the tea bowl in front of your body. With your right hand, pick up the chakin and place it inside the tea bowl while your left hand is still holding the tea bowl in the air.
- Bring the tea bowl to the left side of your body above your left knee and pick up the chakin’s tunnel like part with the right thumb and the right forefinger as if to pinch. Bring is up and unfold the chakin.
- Turn your right thumb to left and hang the chakin on the rim of the tea bowl right above where your left hand is holding the tea bowl.
- The tunnel like part should be outside of the tea bowl and the length of the chakin inside the tea bowl and outside the tea bowl should be about the same.
- Tilt the tea bowl so you can see the bottom of the tea bowl as if it reflects your face if there was a mirror inside.
- Grip the chakin with your right hand. Fingers are outside of the tea bowl and your thumb is inside.
- Start rotating the tea bowl counterclockwise thumb to thumb three times above your left knee as seen in the video, then bring the tea bowl in the center of your body as you make the last half turn to finish rotating.
- Your left hand should be holding the 9 o’clock position of the tea bowl and your right hand should be at its 3 o’clock position.
- Take the chakin out from the three o’clock position of the tea bowl and place it inside with your fingers touching the inner wall of the tea bowl away from you.
- Fold the top one third portion of the chakin towards you and twist your right wrist to grab the chakin where you just folded.
- Your right thumb touches the inner wall of the tea bowl as you grab the chakin with your right hand.
- Wipe the inner walls of the tea bowl first by moving the chakin on the left hand side close to the rim, and then right hand side close to the rim, as if you draw a Japanese Hiragana “い” (i).
- Then wipe the middle section of the tea bowl by drawing the Hiragana “り” (ri) with your chakin.
- Place the chakin inside the tea bowl in the original position.
- Then with your right hand, place the tea bowl down and take the chakin from the tea bowl.
This article is based on Urasenke Tea Procedure Guidebook 1. For more information, please see the following book.