ABSTRACT
The custom of drinking tea was originally introduced from China. It was employed in religious rituals and as medicine for aristocrats, and spread amongst samurai lords as a means of stately diversion or noble recreation. Rikyū and other tea masters emphasized a wabi sabi approach to chadō. This chapter first discusses how the custom of drinking tea evolved into the chadō art form it is today. It further examines how the image of chadō has changed in terms of the iemoto system, classes, and genders throughout the Edo (ad 1603–1868) and Meiji (ad 1868–1912) periods. It then proceeds to present the current structure of chadō organizations, the iemoto system, by introducing different schools of teaching. This section will share practitioners’ voices and their thoughts toward this system.
