Never forget, she told us. The world began with a dream. Our lives are the same. Keep dreaming, my daughters. The world is greater than you know.” In my herbalist certification class, we were told to "sip tea as if it were life itself." And I have ever since. It's similar to the yogic thought process use what you've learned on the mat and live it off the mat, extending it out onto the rest of your life. Same, same but different. Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal CC0 1.0 https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode External Ultimately, even if you’re not interested in drinking tea, you’ll find here a spirited and challenging piece of writing which captures a turning moment in history when globalisation was about to peak its head over the horizon, bringing with it far-flung new fancies which have enlightened the West to new possibilities and a way of life. Addendum: Tea & I Tea! In 1906 in turn-of-the-century Boston, a small, esoteric book about tea was written with the intention of being read aloud in the famous salon of Isabella Gardner, Boston's most notorious socialite. It was authored by Okakura Kakuzo, a Japanese philosopher, art expert, and curator. Little known at the time, Kakuzo would emerge as one of the great thinkers of the early 20th century, a genius who was insightful, witty—and greatly responsible for bridging Western and Eastern cultures. Okakura had been taught at a young age to speak English and was more than capable of expressing to Westerners the nuances of tea and the Japanese Tea Ceremony.

First of all, this cover is devastatingly stunning, just as much if not more than the first book. That's probably my favorite thing about this series, which might seem trivial, but I truly enjoy how gorgeous these books look together. I remember giving the last book five stars, but not remembering everything that happened in it. Unfortunately, this book didn't completely live up to the high expectations I had for it, but I think it was still a nice story.Great as has been the influence of the tea-masters in the field of art, it is as nothing compared to that which they have exerted on the conduct of life. Not only in the usages of polite society, but also in the arrangement of all our domestic details, do we feel the presence of the tea-masters … They have given emphasis to our natural love of simplicity, and shown us the beauty of humility. In fact, through their teachings tea has entered the life of the people. Tea is simple to make, but many don’t understand the intricate nature of it, a state of affairs which irritated Okakura, too:

As he explained in chapter II, Teaism is Taoism in disguise. This explains why those in the East took (and still take) it all so seriously – tea is another arm of Buddhism, their way of life, which assists them with finding moments of relaxation. Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others. Okakura Kakuzō (岡倉覚三), also known as Okakura Tenshin (岡倉 天心), was a Japanese scholar who contributed the development of arts in Japan. Outside Japan, he is chiefly remembered today as the author of The Book of Tea.

Non ho molto da dire, ritengo che il libro abbia mantenuto le aspettative del primo e sia stata una conclusione più che degna alla dilogia The Americans, having been so influential during the Industrial Revolution, were technologically far in advance and the Japanese knew it. When the Americans returned a year later to hear the reaction to the ultimatum, there was unity and Japan made the bold step towards modernisation.