One way of thinking of what is a tea house, is thinking that it simply contains, holds or surrounds the tea ceremony which is its primary focus. Another way to think about it is that the house is the embodiment of the tea ceremony’s principles. Thus an approach in designing a tea house is to understand the tea ceremony (as I will state below).
The Tea Ceremony is as Fosco Maraini states is
“A ritualized sequence of movements, a formal dance of significant gestures, designed to purge the mind of irrelevancies, of petty or personal things.”
This statement is the basic summary when describing the “way of tea” (Cha-do) is composed of four tenants, Harmony, Respect, Purity and Tranquility.
Harmony is best described as the relationship between people and the relationship between the person and nature. It is trying to state that everything chosen within the tea house is chosen for a reason, the host is try to create harmony between all elements, objects, persons, and the surroundings.
Respect, is easier to understand. The people that attend the tea ceremony together must have upmost respect for each other. It is characterized by the participants’ sincere reverence, care, and restraint extended to each other. Within the ceremony, the all are equal.
Purity is the purity of the heart. The participant is expected to leave all of their worldly desires and cares behind and accepts the host’s hospitality with an open and clear heart.
Tranquility is the summation of the first three. Unlike the first three which are goals to achieve, tranquility happens as a natural effect as harmony, respect and purity are achieved.
"Ideally, ceremonial tea is served to provide the atmosphere in which to meditate on the reality of unreality, achieve the state of mind necessary to fulfill oneself”
That description generates a strong Zen Buddhism connotation. It is as if the entire ceremony is designed to help symbolizes Zen’s philosophy of living fully in the present. To a greater extent the ceremony represents Zen itself. One of the great Zen teachers said "Zen and Tea are one and the same and too an extent tea ceremony is derived from Zen"
The tea ceremony (Cha-no-yu ) has four essential concepts to it, wabi, sabi, shibui, fura. There is no English equivalent to these words.
D.T. Suzuki can describe them much more neatly then I can,
“Wabi in the narrow sense indicates a life of poverty and avoidance of luxury, remote from falsity and intrigue. Whoever lives according to wabi is content with simple things, has understood the wisdom of rocks and grasshoppers, serenely accepts poverty as an enrichment of the spirit of life.”
“Sabi has a not dissimilar meaning but refers rather to things and places; it brings to mind a certain 'unpretentious rusticity, an archaic imperfection' which put people and matter into a relationship of loving intimacy. This implies somewhere in the background a solitary, a hermit, actively putting all this into practice. “
“Shibui literally means astringent, broadly means good taste. It implies sobriety, absence of ostentation, simplicity, impeccable taste.”
“Fura indicates a way of life prescribed by Zen principles. It is a chaste enjoyment of life...identification of the self with the creative spirit, the spirit of the beauty of nature. Men and women of fura find their friends among flowers and animals, in rocks and water, in showers and the moon.”
And to quote Julia V. Nakamura from her book “The Japanese Tea Ceremony” whom neatly states their roles,
"Upon these four precepts, then, the Chanoyu is predicated, and in practice they are ambivalent. Shibui, while implying restraint and simplicity results in a kimono that is softly hued, simply designed, but costly and elegant. Fura, the spirit of beauty in nature, results in a garden of great charm but contrived naturalness. Wabi by definition 'a life of poverty and avoidance of luxury' produces a tea house which is austerely simple in appearance, but made of wood that is carefully chosen for beauty of grain and meticulously fashioned by a cabinet-maker who is a master craftsman. The tea house is more costly than the residence and often more than a temple. Sabi, an archaic imperfection, results in the expression of ultimate poetic beauty. It symbolizes the Zen Principle of Becoming as the viewer is brought into active participation with the artistic moment. The essence of this idea is incompleteness. A complete, obviously balanced painting, poem, flower arrangement, lacks dynamics, challenge or inspiration.
Further readings and sources which most likely can describe the tea ceremony better than my summary can.
Psychological Aspects of the Way of Tea by Sheila Fling :
Tea Life: Zen and Tea Thoughts on a lecture by Tea Master Genshitsu Sen:
Zen-Taoist Aspects of the Japanese Tea Ceremony:
Zen Philosophy:
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