The tea play and the concept of Homo Ludens

For French philosopher Pascal (1623-1662), any entertainment is a distraction from the serious quest of eternal life for the soul through the faith in Jesus. In a Brave New World (1931), Aldous Huxley describes a future society where entertainment is used to control the people. Both thinkers share the view that such activities are superficial, aimed at immediate pleasure and that we would be better off, wiser, more cultured without them. Johan Huizinga (1872-1945), a Dutch historian and philosopher, makes a very different case in Homo Ludens in 1938. I have spoken about it in this recent tea class and would like to explore Huizinga's idea and its application to tea in greater detail and writing in this blog post:

 

Huizinga focuses on active playing, rather than the passive consumption of entertainment. (Pascal and Huxley also view playing as a distraction.) For Huizinga, playing games isn't a peripheral human activity that people use to kill time, but it's central to culture and society. For instance, he sees the judiciary system built on games between two contestants, a powerful referee who punishes the party that has broken the rules of the game (the law). Or a political debate between candidates is also inspired by games. Aired on TV, they follow rules about who speaks first/last, how long each candidate can speak and the result is measured by poll to determine who "won"!

One of Huizinga's key point is that playing is profoundly human and serious. While animals also play, humans use games and spirit to build culture, rites and institutions. Table manners and an elaborate culinary experience with the pairing of fine dishes and wine are obtained through playing with food. A dinner at a top restaurant can become a pinnacle of human achievement!

Having established the importance of playing games, let's now turn our attention to the attributes of a game.

1. First, a game has boundaries, in space, in time and in scope (the accessories used). For instance, a football (soccer) game takes place on a dedicated football field with strict dimensions. It lasts for two periods of 45 minutes with a pause of 15 minutes in between. The number of players on the field is 11 for each team and the goal is to land the ball behind the line of the goal cage by using the foot or the head.

2. A game isn't played out of necessity or for a purpose. A game is something we could do without, but that we do out of pleasure or love of the game. We understand that a game is separate from 'real life', that a game is an artificial construct. A game is the creation of a simpler, more harmonious world.

3. A game must have rules that the players willingly accept and respect. 

4. The boundaries and rules create freedom for the players. This allows them to make use of their skills, experience and intelligence. The ultimate goal is to win the game and/or receive recognition, honor, respect from others.

The ultimate proof that games are serious is watching kids playing chess or card games! They understand very well that everyone must follow the rules or the game is ruined.

Brewing tea isn't necessarily an activity that falls into the game category. If it's done in a careless way: tea bag in the mug, hot water in the mug, remove the bag after 2 minutes, then there's not much skill involved, because it lacks boundaries and rules.

The word Chaxi, on the other hand, is composed of Cha (tea) and Xi (which means 'play' in the sense of a theater play). But we should quickly note that a theater play is a kind of game. The theater is the place. The play starts at a certain time and rarely exceeds 3 hours. The cast are the players and they use their acting skill to recreate a story by following the rule of adhering to the text of the author of the play. Therefore, in the spirit of Huizinga, we could also translate Chaxi as tea play or tea game.

Indeed, whereas regular brewing happens in the kitchen or on the dinner table, a tea playing person usually has a dedicated place where he brews tea. This place becomes very special, because everybody understand that other rules apply. The Chaxi also refers to the tea session. One Xi means the brewing of one tea, from the preheating to the last brew of these leaves and their disposal. So, one game of tea is playing with the tea leaves from the moment they come out of their container, jar or pouch until they are exhausted and the tea vessel and accessories are cleaned. There's no precise time for how long one Xi should last, but in most cases the brewing takes place without interruption.

When we mention rules for tea, most of us will think of the strict rules of Chado, the Japanese way of whisking matcha. These rules are so precise that the Japanese have different schools that have taught them for centuries: Urasenke, Omotesenke and Mushanokoji-senke. 

Rules for the Chaxi are not so clearly stated, since the Chaxi method is rather new, even though it rests on China's long tea culture. A good place to start is Lu Yu's Cha Jing. It emphasizes the importance of good water, high quality tea, storage, the use of each accessory... Closer to us, we can find also lots of rules or guidance in the Chaozhou Gongfu Cha method. Part of the experience is to forge your own rules of what to do and not to do according to what works for you. The goal is to tend towards simplicity, harmony and flow. 

The goal of the Chaxi is maximize the experience from the tea for all senses and for the mind. But it shouldn't be too serious an activity. We shouldn't play the game of tea with a purpose in mind. It's not a drink to prevent cancer ; some pills with tea extracts can replace a Chaxi and save time. It's not a meditation therapy to cure stress ; meditation alone is probably more effective. Huizinga's work reminds us that the Chaxi is foremost a game we play for the pure joy tea gives us!