Wabi-Sabi: the art of life.

Wabi-sabi is the most striking of what we can define the traditional Japanese culture, and is the most remarkable philosophy that embrace every aspect of Japanese cultural identity. Most people may not even heard of this word, but you must have experience it somehow in your life. The Japanese architecture, industrial design, visual design, zen gardens, pottery, or even life style, are all deeply affected by this philosophy. The importance of Wabi-sabi for Japan, is as the Perfectionism to ancient Greek and Europe. To be general, Wabi-sabi is a form of lifestyle, but to be specific, it is a special kind of aesthetic concept.

Wabi-sabi characterize the beauty of imperfection, transience, incompletion, simplicity, and unconventionality. In fact, in Japan, there are also few people who can explain the meaning of Wabi-sabi. This is because Japanese never put this philosophy with theoretical concepts into the formal education and lectures. Some Japanese experts claim that Wabi-sabi should retain its mysterious characteristic, since this will make it more fascinated. The word Wabi-sabi is the combination of two Chinese characters "侘寂", however, the direct explanation of these two words cannot explain the true meaning of Wabi-sabi at all.

"Wabi" refers to a taste for quiet, vague suggestion, and simplicity, and incorporates rustic beauty, such as patterns found in straw, bamboo, clay, or stone into it. For example, when a traveller explore the wild, at dusk, he needs a shelter to spend the night, so he uses the straws on the ground to make a shelter for his temporary stay. On the next morning, he untie the straws and the shelter vanished. The straws he used return to the original position as it was, undistinguished, as a whole. However, if you look into the details, the crease and bend on the straws suggest the existence of the shelter last night. 

"Sabi" refers to the patina of age, the concept that changes due to use may make an object more beautiful and valuable. This incorporates an appreciation of the cycles of life and careful, artful mending of damage, such as the aged leather bag and the damaged tea cups.

The spiritual value of Wabi-Sabi comes from the continuous observation and confrontation with mother nature. For Japanese, they have tried all their best to fight the nature–the long rainy season, earthquake, flood, tsunami, fire, etc, but they have failed just like all of us did. Therefore, this creates the fundamental, core message of the Wabi-sabi, which are transience, imperfection, and incompletion.

Transience

They learned that life is short and transient, so everything, including those that are hard, rigid, inert, are not eternal. Therefore, everything’s life is short and will come to the end someday.

Imperfection

Everything has defects, especially when we pay close attention to small details. If we use microscope to look into the shaver blade, you will find that the blade is not a smooth surface but has many depression and defects. The end of perfection is imperfection.

Incompletion

Everything is changing and moving, but we always subjectively some time to be "completed". When is the completion of a flower? when they blossom? or when they bear fruits? or even when they withered? In wabi-sabi, there is no theoretical base for completion.

One of the interesting point is how wabi-sabi defines beauty and ugly. 

Wabi-sabi claim that beauty is an ongoing event among you and others at any one time, that is to say, beauty may suddenly appear. If the time, situation, objective condition, subjective condition, etc are correct, something that is regarded ugly in the past may become beautiful now. For example, for some wealthy businessmen to enjoy the tea ceremony, the Wabi-sabi style teahouse should looks like a medieval farmhouse that is without pretension, and boring. However, in an appropriate environment and appropriate condition, the cottages might become extremely stylish.

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The Stories of Oolong Tea. Where the Black Dragon taking over your teacups.

"Oolong" tea is one of the most famous tea type in the world. It contains two chinese characters: "Oo" is for "烏", which means "Black", and "long" is for "龍", which means "Dragon". Therefore, some people also call oolong tea as black dragon tea.

There are a lot of different stories of how it got this name of "oolong". Some claim that it was named after a hunter lived in Fujian Province, Su long, whose nickname is oolong because of his dark skin. One day, Su Long went to the mountain to pick up some tea leaves. During his way to the mountain, he discovered a roe deer and decide to hunt it for feast. He chased after it and put up a huge effort to catch it. He took the deer home for a feast with his family and totally forgot the tea leaves he picked. On the next day when they try to process the tea leaves, they found out that those leaves had turned red and distribute a differently mild scent. Therefore, they named this new tea "Oolong".

Another story is about the shape and presentation of the oolong tea itself. After all the complicated processing of oolong tea, it becomes a dark and long narrow strip, shaping like a fish. In ancient Chinese legend, a fish (especially a carp) who has the strength and courage to swim up the waterfalls (dragon gate) will turn into a dragon. And when the tea leaves soak in the boiled water it strengthen up and curved like a black dragon. Therefore, this kind of tea is called "Oolong" tea. This story is also connected to the tribute tea (貢茶, which means tea that is cultivated and processed for the sole consumption of the emperor's family) system in ancient China. In 975A.D, the Northern Song Dynasty conquered the South Tang Dynasty and recovered the famous tea making location Beiyuan (北苑) in Fujian Province. In order to to distinguish the royal drink with general public, the emperor ordered Beiyuan to start making a special kind of tea cake named Dragon-Phenix Tea Cake (龍鳳團茶). This famous tea cake had been highly praised because of its delicate technique and difficulty to acquire. Many generals and government officials always claimed that it is more difficult to acquire a Dragon-Phenix Tea Cake than gold. This special tea cake has been the center of the tribute tea in Song Dynasty but gradually lost popularity by the war chaos in the end of the Song Dynasty and the following Yuan dynasty. Until 1391A.D, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty ordered to abolish the manufacturing of tea cake and embrace the loose leaf. It is believed that the Beiyuan Dragon-Phenix Tea Cake is the ancestor of oolong tea in the following Qing Dynasty.

The making of the oolong tea is a combination of green tea and black tea and it contains the advantages of both green tea and black tea. It has the bold and thick flavor of black tea, and at the same time owns the fragrant and freshness of green tea, therefore is very popular among tea lovers.

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Learn More About Your Everyday Drink--Tea.

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world, just after water. A cup of finely brewed tea can sooth your mind, and provide you a reason to stop and think. Although slightly bitter and astringent, tea is still very popular among every generation and countries. Some tea (especially green tea) is also beneficial to human’s health and longevity since it provides significant antioxidant, flavanols, flavonoids, and polyphenols content.

From green tea to Oolong, from black tea to Pu-Erh, there are a lot of different kinds of tea in the world. During the processing of tea, one key factor to determine and classify the types of tea is using the degree of fermentation that tea leaves are allowed to sustain. Fermentation is an enzyme oxidation process that allowing the fresh-picked tea leaves to dry. This process can be stop by either pan-frying or steaming the leaves before they are completely dried out.

There are four classifications of tea according to the degree of fermentation, rolling, baking, and tealeaf maturity:

a)     Non-Fermented Tea: In this classification, tealeaf retains part of their original taste. The most well-known and popular green tea is part of this classification. Manufacturer use either pan-frying or steaming process to stop the fermentation. There are:

1.     a.Pan-Fried: Dragon Well (龍井), Xingyang Maojian (信陽毛尖), Biluochun (碧蘿春)

1.     b.Steamed:  Japanese Green Tea (Sencha)

b)     Semi-Fermented Tea: According to the oxidation degree of polyphenolic substances, tea which undergo 8%~60% fermentation falls into this class, including:

1.     a.Pouchong Tea (包種茶)
2.     b.Oolong (烏龍茶)
3.     c.Tung-Ting Oolong (凍頂烏龍茶)
4.     d.Ti-Kuan Yin (鐵觀音)
5.     e.Oriental Beauty Tea (東方美人茶)
6.     f .Herbal Tea
7.  

c)      Fully-Fermented Tea: All kinds of black tea are fully fermented, including Keemun Black Tea (祁門紅茶), Yunnan Black Tea (滇紅). 

d)     Post-Fermented: The famous Pu-Erh (普洱茶)is part of the post-fermented tea. It is fermented, stopped the ferment process, and then later fermented again.

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Classic Snow Pellets Cast Iron Teapot (Drum Shape)

The same elegant pattern design as the Classic Snow Pellets cast iron teapot, but present in a more stylish and unique drum shape.

Comes with a stainless steel mesh infuser and as usual, customizable in all kinds of colors and surface treatments as you wish.

Brewing tea will be so enjoyable and stylish!

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The Soaring Crane Cast Iron Teapot

For thousands of years the Japanese culture has treasured the crane as a symbol of honor and loyalty. The crane symbol is used on many Japanese works of art, and so does this The Soaring Crane cast iron teapot.

The crane is a majestic bird which mates for life and is extremely loyal to its partner. The crane is strong, graceful and beautiful, just like the teapot itself.

It is the perfect choice as a gift, and so does as your very own house decoration.

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Introducing Dragonfly Cast Iron Teapot

The ancient name for dragonfly in Japanese was "kachimushi".

"Kachi" means "victory" and "mushi" means "insect". Therefore the ancient Japanese samurai used to like to use the motif of the dragonfly as a symbol of victory.

Therefore, this exceptional designed cast iron teapot will grand you good fortune in your life and also give you a wonderful  experience.

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Cast Iron Teapot Introduction

1. Cube of Zen (Original)

The squared design of this "Cube of Zen" cast iron teapot is unique and elegant. The shape symbolize integrity and the strong personality. And the courage to keep them all along.This teapot has only one size available (750ml) and comes with a stainless steel mesh infuser for those loose leaf lovers. Of course, the squared design does not compromise its strong ability to transfer hear and preserve heat. It is also easy to clean and care just like the others.


2. Cube of Zen (Pine, Bamboo, and Plum Blossom)
The same squared design as the cube of zen but with extra pattern design of the classic Chinese symbol "The Three Friends of Winter", that is, the pine, the bamboo, and the plum blossom. These three kinds of unique plants are strong in the harsh winter time, therefore, it means that friends are faithful to each other during difficult time.


3. The Basket of Glee (Original)


The special design of the basket shape cast iron teapot collects all the happiness in your life and brings those joy to you every time when you brew tea with it. It is also the perfect gift for friends who are in need of something special in their house. Furthermore, it can be customized into all kinds of color selection to make your own colorful world!







4. The Basket of Glee (Butterfly)


The same conceptual design of the basket of glee but different in multipul way to make it another great gift. It is larger in capacity and taller in shape. Also, it has a lovely butterfly design on both side, which brings this teapot to life! 

5. Ancient Fresco
This extraordinary Ancient Fresco cast iron teapot is an antique of itself. It not only looks aged, its pattern and shape give it the sensation of an antique. The symbols on the teapot beautifully close up this ancient masterpiece.  

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