The nature of aesthetics is that it is constantly changing and adapting to fit the current status of what people find beautiful. Therefore the nature of aesthetic terminological analysis must also be flexible enough to conform to these changes. This can cause problems when one is trying to definitively describe an aesthetic concept. In addition to these potential problems, one must also be aware of the history and graduated change that concepts are subject to as they develop. Also, the process of creation is important because many times the experts making the definitions don’t always agree on the definitions and applications of those definitions; especially in art and other aesthetic fields. By exploring some period Japanese texts it will become apparent that the aesthetic concept wabi is best represented by the ancient ritual known as Chado or Sado–the Tea Ceremony/Ritual of Tea. This will be accomplished by first defining conclusively wabi, yugen, suki, sabi and any unclear terms inherent in those definitions. And then by outlining the history and development of the tea ceremony and describing the different components of the tea ceremony and their importance in regards to wabi. By coming to understand the terms, history, and ritual of the ceremony, it will be shown that the tea ceremony is the Japanese aesthetic art form most representative of wabi because the two–tea ceremony and wabi–were developed dependent of one another. Sado and wabi–as we know them today–could not exist as they do without the reflexivity between them.
    The term wabi as an aesthetic concept was developed centuries ago. It can be translated directly as meaning many different things including “apology” and “miserable;” but the meaning as it related to Japanese aesthetics at the time of its first inception was “to transform material insufficiency so that one discovers in it a world of spiritual freedom unbounded by material things.” This disconnection from the corporeal is important in Japanese culture because of the consanguine connection between Japanese people and Buddhism with its tenet that all things are constantly in flux and therefore one should not strive to make a lasting connection with something because its very nature is to change. Because of this belief there is a strong link between denying unnecessary material things and spirituality. It is a kind of spirituality  embedded with deep and relaxing thought for most Japanese.
    Current definitions of wabi break the term into three distinct sections of the beauty contained therein. These three sections are the simple and unpretentious, imperfect and irregular, and austere and stark beauties and they each shed light on a different part of wabi as an aesthetic concept. The first partition–simple and unpretentious beauty–is an appreciation for things that are simple and basic without additions, modifications or an extravagant outward show. It is not an appreciation for things that are  complicated, unnecessary, or demanding of a position of distinction or merit–especially when that merit is unjustified. The idea is to use the bare minimum of essential and useful items to get to the desired end.
    The second part of the definition is the imperfect and irregular beauty of wabi. This area of wabi describes its affiliation with things that are inexact, incomplete and even flawed in appearance. Here also is an  appreciation for things not straight, uniform, or symmetrical. This is important to wabi because “the beauty of wabi is imperfect and irregular...but...it is an irregular beauty which subsumes within itself the beauty of perfect regularity.” This is true of representational wabi items because they contain in the spaces of their imperfections a “limitless vista created in the imagination [that] far surpasses anything one can see more clearly.” This imperfection of beauty in wabi is supposed to be filled with the awareness of beauty of the person interacting with the object(s) containing wabi. Thus the more imperfect an object is the more wabi it contains provided that the person seeing the wabi object is cognizant of the potential hidden significance.
    The final portion in the definition of wabi is the aesthetic of stark and austere beauty, meaning a beauty identified by being bare and having no adornment or ornamentation. This is different from simplicity because the bareness is often somber, harsh, and can appear worn by age. By not using a meretricious style those who claimed to create works containing wabi hoped to convey more honesty by making them direct and plain (at least on the surface level).
    The aged quality of austerity inherent in wabi is connected with another Japanese term–yugen. Yugen has been defined as the deep, dark, and even difficult-to-discern universal truth hidden within things. The nature of yugen is that it can only be understood through age and experience “which can only be attained through a master’s accomplishments.” This aged, honorable wisdom is a part also of sabi; or the aesthetic appreciation of things aged, old, withered, or even lonely. It is through this common quality of age that wabi, yugen, and sabi are connected. In addition to sabi and yugen, wabi has been closely tied with suki. Suki is an aesthetic taste that contains some eccentricity and imperfection. The parts of a suki collection, although carefully chosen, usually are mismatched and abnormal in appearance which coincide with wabis taste for imperfection..
    Having dissected wabi into its inclusive partitions of beauty and defined those partitions as well as defined the main Japanese aesthetic terms related to wabi, one now has the prerequisite understanding to see how wabis very nature is analogous to the different parts–and the respective meanings–contained in the tea ceremony. In order to understand these connections fully one must first understand the tea ceremony and its importance in Japan’s history.
    The drinking of tea was first introduced to Japan in the 9th century by a Buddhist monk from China; where it had already been consumed for many years. Because of this origin tea in Japan was greatly influenced, especially at first, by China. One such influence was Chinese author, Lu Yu. Yu wrote the Ch'a Ching, a tractate on tea whose focus was on its cultivation and preparation. Because Lu Yu's life had been dominated by the tenets of Zen, his part in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony carried with it a lot of implicit comparisons with Buddhist beliefs.
    Later in the 12th century green matcha tea was introduced, first in religious rituals in Buddhist monasteries. It quickly gained popularity over black tea, and by the 13th century the samurai warrior class had begun preparing and drinking matcha. Although it was not until the 16th century that tea drinking pervaded all levels of Japanese society. From a simple start was laid the foundation for what was to become the modern Japanese tea ceremony.
    It was during the 16th century that Sen no Rikyu–one of the most respected figures in tea ceremony history–introduced the concept of ichi-go ichi-e. This was a belief that each meeting for tea should be treasured as a singular event that can never be exactly reproduced. His teachings led the tea ceremony from a fairly domestic event to something containing great amounts of depth and meaning for those involved. Rikyu has been said to have “self-consciously defined wabi as the aesthetic ideal of chanoyu.” In doing so Rikyu set in stone the connection between Chado and wabi.
    The ceremony itself, which started in the somber halls of Buddhist monasteries, evolved into a way for Japanese people to separate themselves from day-to-day thoughts and troubles by surrounding themselves with a meaningful simplicity and calm. Rikyu was integral in shaping the tea ceremony into what it is today by his influences in the many different aspects of the tea ceremony. Aspects related to the tea ceremony and tea room such as architecture–including the design of the exterior and interior, the alcove, and entrances. Other aspects like flower arrangement, the use of ceramics, calligraphy, painting, waka (poetry) in wall hangings. As well as the selection of the tea utensils. But to understand these aspects and their connection to wabi, a more detailed explanation of each aspect is needed.
    The first thing one notices when approaching a tea room is the architecture. Japanese tea rooms are built in traditional style with a heavy roof and large overhanging eaves covering a simple building that is often separate from the main house and connected by a stone path. The tea room itself typically will have an air of simplicity around it. A good tea building should have little or no adornments or decoration. The choices of color for the interior and exterior usually are of a somber earth tone in order to maintain a simple and non-distracting appearance. This is important so that one can concentrate on introspection rather than on one’s surroundings.
    The entrance to a tea room is typically much smaller than a normal doorway, thus requiring all members of the tea ceremony to bow low upon entering the room. This is done purposefully as a way to set everyone in the tea room at an equal social status. This is another way of gently reminding the participants to put out of their mind any thoughts of the world outside the tea room. Truly a metaphor for introspection, this also serves as a means to remove any pretenses one might have outside the tea room and its ceremony.
    Once inside the tea room, members are encouraged to take in their surroundings in order to admire the aesthetic merit and understanding of wabi of the tea master who designed the space. One of the first sensations in the tea room is the slight smell of incense. The choice of incense is dependent on the season mostly but there is room for adjustment of scent by the tea master for specific ends. Even the simplest parts of the ceremony, such as the incense, are substantial to the atmosphere of the room. This is true because the individual parts must be recognized for their own worth while also their connections to one another must also be considered in order to fully understand the underlying meanings therein. Therefore the parts and their connections are equally important to the overall mood created by their synthesis.
    Typical tea rooms have very low ceilings that are very representative of wabi’s principle of simplicity by only utilizing a necessary amount of space. The room is usually small and bare, with only a small cupboard for the utensils, a hanging scroll or painting on one wall in the alcove, with a simple selection of flowers placed on a mantle near the painting. In the center of the room burns either a hearth fire or brazier, depending on the season and want of heat in the room. A small cauldron of hot water sits above the brazier/fire, bubbling calmly. Each of these parts are important in their own respect to the ceremony, and when they are each understood only then can the true strength of meaning of their amalgamation also be understood.
    The room is broken into sections, usually of uneven area, with a decorative post–typically off-center–to help break up the space even more. This post is usually a piece of unmilled timber that holds no structural importance, but rather is used solely for its aesthetic value. The choice of wood is another way for the tea master to comment on the season as well as show the strength of his understanding.
    Alongside one of the walls of a tea room there is generally an alcove wherein rests the scroll or painting as well as the arranged flowers. The scroll or painting in a tea room are derived from the calligraphy scrolls hung in Buddhist monasteries. The scroll/painting is dependant, as are many things in the ceremony, on the season. The scroll will conventionally be a short poem or famous section of poetry that also comments on the season. The paintings are created with the same techniques as those that hung in the monasteries and therefore have the same traditions of that style. Such traditions as a focus on simplicity and obfuscation of meaning but also of minimizing what is involved to its core necessities. Most Buddhist paintings capture a frozen moment in time, which serves to remind devout Buddhists of the impermanence and transience of existence. Since Buddhism was the most prevalent religion in Japan during the long conception of the tea ceremony, tea masters drew on Buddhist images to evoke feelings of spirituality since Buddhism and spirituality were bound together for most Japanese.
    Near the scroll one will always find an arrangement of flowers–although the modern understanding of the term does not exactly fit with Japanese flower arrangement for the tea ceremony. Flower arrangements made for the tea ceremony by a tea master look for a minimalist representation of nature that contains the greatest amount of subjective symbolization. A tea master considers the season and his own desire for meaning in the ceremony, and then chooses only flowers that are essentially representative of his intentions. Tea masters have historically had a huge amount of respect for the flowers they choose to sacrifice for their aesthetic goals, and it has been reported that some went as far as to gently bury the flowers after the ceremony had been concluded. The tea master’s respect for the objects of his attentions comes only through an understanding of wabi which can only be cultivated by age and experience. Because a tea master who understands wabi will try to represent wabi in all the things he does in preparation for and during a tea ceremony. This understanding comes only through exhaustive study which can only be accomplished by years of concerted effort by the aspiring tea master.
    Two other indispensable parts of the tea ceremony are the selections of both the tea utensils and the ceramics involved–such as the tea bowl itself. The choice of each individual utensil is important to the tea ceremony because only a minimum, necessary amount of utensils are used. The tea utensils are chosen based on their necessity but also with a sense of irregular suki taste which is a component of wabi.
    The tea bowls themselves are incredibly important for the same reasons. Tea bowls are not only chosen but crafted with Sado in mind and therefore are created imperfect by design. Many tea bowls have become incredibly famous and valuable because of their appearance of wabi. In addition to the look, a Chado tea bowl will be made to be held meaning that it is created  with not only imperfect appearance but also imperfect texture so that that may be appreciated by the holder participating in a tea ceremony. Because the creators of these utensils and ceramic objects have the tea ceremony in mind, they are made in a way that is most representative of the ideals of wabi.
    After having exhaustively defined the many aspects of wabi and succinctly looked at how those definitions were developed alongside Sado, one can conclude that the two are by design essential to one another. Without the tea ceremony and its great masters the aesthetic quality that is wabi would never have fully developed as it did. The same can also be said for the opposite. That is, without wabi and its underlying significance, the Japanese Tea Ceremony never could have developed into the aesthetic art form it is today without people such as Sen no Rikyu to guide the development of both tea and wabi. Perhaps without the awareness of wabi the Japanese people would view drinking tea much like the British, simply as a tasty diversion solely for the temporal enjoyment of the drinker. But gladly the two developed and evolved interdependently, and because of this dependence the depth of the tea ceremony is the depth contained in the definition of wabi.

WORKS CITED:

Koshiro, Haga; The Wabi Aesthetic Through the Ages; Japanese Aesthetics and Culture : A Reader (State University of New York Press, c1995)

 Kamo No Cho-mei; Japanese Aesthetics and Culture : A Reader (State University of New York Press, c1995)