Re: Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony

Hi Steven aka icetea,

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

For those interested, the Wu Wo Tea Ceremony will be held this year in early November (I believe it's from 2-5 Nov) in Wuyi Shan city. This year's organiser will be China, last year was Singapore. I hoped you were in Singapore to feed the mosquitoes? Haha!

Here's my 2-cent worth to Sasha's query:

Isn't Wu Wo Cha Hui is more like Wu Wo Tea Society? And what meaning do > you imply in Wu Wo ("without myself" or in french "sans moi")? It looks on > your taiwanese site like an adoptation of some Japanese ceremoniality... > What is Wu Wo and how different is it from the basic Gong Fu? >
  1. I think you may call it a tea society, it is gaining a lot of popularity in Asia, and is spreading to farther shores. Every country has its own variation to the ceremony, but the basic steps are similar, and the philosophy is the same: Sans Moi.
  2. Without Me is the central philosophy to Wu Wo Cha Hui. The idea is based on Selflessness, to share tea with friends or strangers without restraint, without self-pride. Compared to Gong Fu Cha, it is leaned towards the social gathering to part take the tea, rather than the tea itself - there's no strict artform to observe, rather, one has to observe social grace and good manners during the Wu Wo Cha Hui.
  3. Interestingly, the Wu Wo Cha Hui is not based on any tea ceremonial structure, but the the easy simplicity of "traveller's tea kit", comprising usually of the these few simple items: a thermo flask to hold hot water, 4 cups, 1 pot, a towel to place the cups and pot, and a sitting mat. Several friends can prepare their own set, and bring along on an outing. When the time comes to sit and relax, the items are rolled out and each person will prepare the tea they have brought with them, then when it is ready, the tea is delivered to the next 4 persons on his or her left, in this manner, each person will have several cups of tea infront of them. The tea is drunk, the cups returned, and the process is repeated.
  4. The pictures that you see which looked like a seminar, is an exchange of tea art. People from all over the world will bring along their cultural tea artform, or an artform they created, and showcase it on the 2nd nite of the Wu Wo Cha Hui. It is interesting to see all kinds of artform under one roof, and some of them are very entertaining. I recalled one in Japan, where an old lady performed sencha chado. It was a short performance, but her moves entralled the audience that one could hear a pin drop.

Danny

Reply to
samarkand
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Hi Danny..this is really neat, I am interested in finding out more about this organization..do you have any contact info here in the US that I might be able to write to to get more information? I like it when I can take my tea out in the "world" and also share it with others...very cool!!

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

hi Melinda,

I'll contact the Taiwan head office for you, in the meantime, perhaps icetea may know?

Danny

Reply to
samarkand

Oops. Here it is:

In North America:

Contact: Mrs Eva Ohmson, phone: 01-719-531-3554, fax: 01-719-598-0749

Contact: Ms Jessie Tsai, phone: 01-724-443-0572, email: snipped-for-privacy@nauticom.net

In Canada:

Contact: Ms Susan Lai, 6975 Marlborough Ave., Burnaby, BC, V5J 4G6, Canada

This is the link to Wu-wo website, but it is in Chinese. The above info are found there as well as contact info for other countries:

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Danny

Reply to
samarkand

Thanks, Danny - I guess we will see in the future if this will fly... I am cautious.... Every time I see ceremonialism "invented" I keep my radars tuned... :)

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

Haha! Same here too!

Danny

Reply to
samarkand

I hear ya...I'm more interested in any kind of social group that has getting together and having tea and fun as more my focus then the actual ceremonialism of it. I'll have to investigate furthue to see if that's really what it's like!

Thanks very much for the info Danny, I'll look into it! :)

Melinda

Reply to
Melinda

Hello Mr Zanini,

Wuyi Wuwo Society has just mailed out their invitation. You should getting one soon. If not, let me know and I'll forward a copy to you.

Haha, besides being the only 'big nose', I think what everyone remembered you well by is your fluent command of mandarin.

Danny

Reply to
samarkand

Would that be "da bi zi"? I was alsways called "da hu zi" because of the beard...

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

"samarkand" ha scritto nel messaggio news:42e5bd54$ snipped-for-privacy@news.starhub.net.sg...

Bugandang! May I ask where you are from?

Reply to
Livio Zanini

this is icetea/steven i just got back to USA we are going to do a small wu-wo tea ceremony this month i will post pics. this will be a first timer wu-wo tea ceremony for los angeles just a local group. i dont know all the details myself, i have been busy doing other things, hello Livio Zanini, whats up i think we know each other, (well at least my email, hahha). some one said "sounds like a society (instead of ceremony), i have heard before in another group said "they are skeptical of new ceremonies popping up". i agree to both. the problem with the ceremony/society/gathering/association, is translation and tradition. meaning words when translated, are translated literally or figuratively. sometimes a big headache! . Wu-Wo, (無我) is a style of Tea Ceremony, (茶會). it is more formal than a gathering or party. """Grand Master Tsai, Rong Tsang is diretcor of “Lu-Yu Tea The Fine Arts of Tea Culture Institute” and the founder of the “Wu-Wo Tea Ceremony” he has been a crucial part in the growth of this once small group from Taiwan (twenty-some years ago)""". “Wu”, and “Wo”, are Chinese words, philosophical meaning. samarkand said, wuwo meant selflessnes, i like that, it is simple but it is correct. some people say noself but it is hard to understand the meaning of no-self if one has no clue to begin with. some people forget that tea has its roots in china. the first ritualized drinking of tea lies in china, . while the drinking of tea was considered to be a common feature in the lives of chinese buddhist monks, chinese tea is considered to be primarily a secular ritual that confirmed the feeling of community important, but the chinese ritual can be said to represent the preliminary stage in the total evolution of the japanese tea ceremony. the reason today we dont see the ancient chinese tea ceremonies now, are for two big reasons, colonialism, cultural revolution. but in taiwan today, they are seeking their roots, and reinventing some of the past, and seeking cultural identity. we are in the process of writing/translation the wu-wo tea ceremony book, it will be in english. i am going to wuyishan also, here is a summery on the wu-wo tea ceremony.

----- The Wu Wo tea ceremony

This is a style of tea ceremony where drinkers bring their own tea sets and sit in a circle. When the ceremony starts, everyone makes tea using the tea leaves he has brought.. If 4 cups of tea are required, three of the cups will be served to the three poeple on your left and the last cup will be reserved for yourself . when the tea has been drunk, a second infusion will follow. After completing the required number of infusions, gather your own cups and pack up your tea sets. It has come to an end.

This is a ceremony where everyone makes serves and drinks tea. as seating is decided by a random draw. no one knows beforehand who he will serve tea to or whose tea he will be served. This tea ceremony has

7 principles.

  1. here is no distinction of social rank

  2. There are no expectations of a reward

  1. Keep an open mind

  2. Adopt a postiive attitude, striving constantly to improve

  1. Abide by the rules and the arranged scehdule.

  2. Cultivate cooperation

  1. There is no differences in sect or region. Late arrivals are strictly not tolerated. Wu Wo literally translated means Without self. it is a Buddhist concept, where one who reaches nirvana will not exist in the physical plane anymore.

Reply to
icetea

alex you talked about "gong fu", from ming dynasty and still done today, this means to make good tea, leaf tea brewed, not to boil or cook the tea but to infuse. here is 2 links.

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here are some more pics from my folder.

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icetea

Reply to
icetea

The only ritual is no ritual. Too many sounds of the audience giving a standing ovation with only one hand clapping. I like the British approach more socialization less ceremony. They do have a problem with the time of day and the munchies. I survived a week in the South with only teabags. Somehow my traveling tea set got left behind. I forgot iced tea is offered sweetened or unsweetened. I couldn't even find bubble tea at the truck stops. The Clinton library has a magnificent Samovar from Yeltsin. Some interesting posts while I was absent. Maybe I should go visit more often. I have a parcel from China Post. Wonder what that could be.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

Reply to
Space Cowboy

I do not understand what are you referring to. Where did I say "boil" or "cook"?

Sasha.

Reply to
Alex Chaihorsky

opps... i know the way i said it, that it sounded like you were saying boiled or cooked. i just meant that gong-fu was a precise way of making tea usually with small clay pots, and by controlling the time of infusion and temperature of water. also at that time period and after "ming dynasty", the way of making tea was to brew/infuse and then separate the tea leaves this was a big improvement on control of taste, and control of bitterness. tang/song dynasty still didnt separate the leaves so the taste was not as "adjustable".

Reply to
icetea

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