page_title: Japanese tea ceremony
section_title: Hanging scroll
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese tea ceremony / Essential elements / Hanging scroll
caption_attribution_description: English: Shofuso tea room with traditional summer chabana arrangement by the Sōgetsu-ryū school of ikebana.
context_page_description: Japanese tea ceremony is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea, the art of which is called temae.
  Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the Japanese tea ceremony. Much less commonly, Japanese tea practice uses leaf tea, primarily sencha, a practice known as senchadō in Japanese, as opposed to chanoyu or chadō.
  Tea gatherings are classified as either an informal tea gathering or a formal tea gathering. A chakai is a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes confections, thin tea, and perhaps a light meal. A chaji is a much more formal gathering, usually including a full-course kaiseki meal followed by confections, thick tea, and thin tea. A chaji can last up to four hours.
  Chadō is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement, along with kōdō for incense appreciation, and kadō for flower arrangement.
context_section_description: Calligraphy, mainly in the form of hanging scrolls, plays a central role in tea. Scrolls, often written by famous calligraphers or Buddhist monks, are hung in the tokonoma (scroll alcove) of the tea room. They are selected for their appropriateness for the occasion, including the season and the theme of the particular get-together. Calligraphic scrolls may feature well-known sayings, particularly those associated with Buddhism, poems, descriptions of famous places, or words or phrases associated with tea. Historian and author Haga Kōshirō points out that it is clear from the teachings of Sen no Rikyū recorded in the Nanpō roku that the suitability of any particular scroll for a tea gathering depends not only on the subject of the writing itself but also on the virtue of the writer. Further, Haga points out that Rikyū preferred to hang bokuseki (lit., "ink traces"), the calligraphy of Zen Buddhist priests, in the tea room. A typical example of a hanging scroll in a tea room might have the kanji 和敬清寂 (wa-kei-sei-jaku, lit. "harmony", "respect", "purity", and "tranquility"), expressing the four key principles of the Way of Tea. Some contain only a single character; in summer, 風 (kaze, lit. "wind") would be appropriate. Hanging scrolls that feature a painting instead of calligraphy, or a combination of both, are also used. Scrolls are sometimes placed in the waiting room as well.
caption: A tokonoma alcove with a kakemono hanging scroll, in front of it a small chabana flower arrangement
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