Form of ash

From this month, a brazier is used in the tea lessons instead of a sunken hearth.  It’s the common style for summer.

The charcoals are placed on ash inside of the brazier.  The tea people even care about the form of the ash.  You paddle the ash to create a beautiful figure like a landscape using spatulas before the guests come.  There are different styles of the form.  I have not learned about it yet.  I can imagine that it will take time to create it neatly.  You put your mind and effort to the thing that doesn’t last; the flower arrangement in the tea room as well.  You pursue the short-lived beauty and that’s why the tea gathering becomes so precious.  It may be one of the secrets that the tea ceremony attracts people.

My teacher prepared the ash before the class started.  She said that she was not satisfied with her ash work that day.  Well, Sado, The Way of Tea is so profound and I still have many things to learn. 

Images of 灰形 or ash form on Google