Building a Humanistic Character through Tea Ceremony Class

Amanda Shigu explained the order of preparing the tea set to Tzu Chi Secondary School students on 16 September 2019.

What crosses your mind when you sip a cup of tea on a sunny afternoon? Drinking tea is good for your body since it boosts our health, and is also good to relax our mind. Ideally, a warm cup of tea will be more complete when enjoyed with some afternoon snacks.

In the first term of the academic year 2019/2020, through the humanistic culture (Ren Wen) class, Tzu Chi Secondary Grade 7 to Grade 12 students participated in the tea ceremony class under the tutelage of our shigu (a term to call Tzu Chi volunteers who are older).

“In this tea ceremony class, we don’t only teach our students how to brew tea or how to drink it. Every little thing we teach in class has its own philosophy, but overall is to teach students to act mindfully everyday with gan en (gratitude), zun zhong (respect), dan ai (love),” explained Dan Eng Lim Shigu.

Simple, yet meaningful, there are three important elements in brewing a good cup of tea: the amount of tea leaves, water temperature, and the length of brewing time. Likewise, in tea ceremony class, students are continuously being reminded to practice three important values in life: xīn fā hǎo yuàn (have good hearts), kǒu shuō hǎo huà (speak good words), and shēn xíng hǎo shì (do good deeds).

One of the ways to teach respect is to let students help each other when they wash their hands prior to starting the class. 

The tea ceremony class is hoped to allow students to not only learn about brewing or drinking tea but to also understand good manners, basic etiquette, and be mindful through the implementation of gratitude, love, and respect within their daily lives. How do we do this, then? Aside from providing them with general knowledge about tea itself, students were also asked to apply basic manners in class, such as helping their friends to wash their hands, sitting down properly, lining up neatly when going in and out of class, holding the tea cup properly, as well as the right steps of brewing tea.

In every meeting, every time before the class started, students are asked to close their eyes to meditate for about 3 minutes. The meditation was done to help students calm themselves down, so that they could be more focused when following the class’ activities. “I like the Ren Wen class since it makes me relaxed. The meditation helps me to turn my thoughts away from our busy days,” said Jason Kuasanto, 11 Grateful student.

Jason Kuasanto, 11 Grateful, during one of the activities in class to make and serve tea.  

Jason, who speaks Mandarin fluently, also said he was able to fully enjoy the class because of how kind and friendly the shigus are. “I like the shigus in class, they’re so friendly. I also like that I could learn about proper etiquette in class, and how to treat others in a good manner,” he added.

Someone’s way of serving tea could actually reflects a lot about that person’s behaviour. A person with a mindful heart will be able to serve tea beautifully. “Our tea ceremony tea sets are very fragile, this way, we are asked to be patient, and thorough when we are making and serving tea, to protect these tea sets from breaking,” said Michelle from 9 Respect.

Implementing the Philosophy behind Tea Ceremony in Daily Lives
In Tzu Chi School’s tea ceremony class for early childhood and primary school, students are taught more about history and knowledge about tea itself. Practice and activities of making tea are done a lot more in secondary. Jason, who’s been experiencing tea ceremony class since in primary, said he enjoyed the class more during his time in secondary. One of the activities in class is to set up a tea set accordingly to its designated place and function.

Dan Eng Lim Shigu guided a Tzu Chi Secondary School student to place each component of the tea set in accordant to its function and place.

In one tea set, there are ten items to make a complete tea set. Like a puzzle, every piece has to be put in its right place. When out of place, it will disrupt the harmony when making and serving tea. For example, the small tray designated to hold the lid for the teapot, has to be positioned near the right side of the teapot, to ease the person who serve tea to place them, and to avoid water dripping too far across the whole table.

The basic philosophy of this tea set is similar to us humans. “The cloth that covers the table is representing the earth, or the ground where we live. Each component in the teaset, represent each of us as a person living in the society,” said Mei Rong, one of shigu who also taught in class.

Ideally, just like this tea set, it would proper and beautiful when the right person stays at the right place. Dan Eng Lim shigu said, “Our students are often doing projects in group, every student must they have their own abilities. Student A, B, and C should utilise what they can do best to achieve a great group’s result. Likewise, each of the item that belongs in this tea set are complementing each other.”

One of the students was trying to unfold the cloth and spread them on the table in a certain order, to create a beautiful harmony.

This philosophy is not just applied in school, later in life, the ability to place ourselves right within our social life or our jobs, will affect others nicely. For example, in the culinary business, a great sous chef is like a great clutch for the head chef and the restaurant, to keep everything in place and complement the whole system. Without it, the head chef will become limp when doing his job. 

“This is the same like us students, we go to the right school and choose the right job. Unless we do so, it won’t bring good to us,” said Michelle, form 9 Respect.

Jing Si Aphorism by Master Cheng Yen
When we drink tea, aside from showing gratitude towards the person who made our tea, is there any other things for us to be thankful for? Of course, there is! Those tea leaves wouldn’t bloom without the shining sun, fertile ground, the pouring rain, and the hands of the people who take care of them. In order for us to notice these small things, we need to be mindful.

One of the ways to remind students to be mindful is through the reading of Jing Si Aphorism by Master Cheng Yen. In every meeting, students are hoped to not only read them out loud in class, but to also apply this in their daily lives. 

Master Cheng Yen said, “Make good use of time, cherish what we have. Treat one another with gratitude, respect, and love.” This is in line with Tzu Chi’s three pillars mentioned above: gratitude, respect, and love.

Another way to teach respect to students is to guide them how to serve tea and snacks to each other.

Both Jason and Michelle could feel the importance of gratitude and being mindful toward others. Jason said, “In the future when I work, being mindful is essential since we will be able to see how people perceive and treat us, when we are mindful, we’ll be able to be more patient and figure out ways to keep a harmonious relations with others.”

Michelle has similar thoughts on being mindful, however, she added that respect has to start from own self. “It is important to be mindful and respect others, but it is equally important to respect ourselves. When we respect ourselves, it will automatically affect the way we treat others better.”

The tea ceremony class is hoped to help students to later build a great character with patience and respect. For some people, tea ceremony class seems to be simple, but by practicing good manners and respect every week, one day people will be able to see the reflection from our good hearts toward others. This is in line with the Jing Si Aphorism that says, “To win the hearts of others and always be welcomed, we must be mindful of our own tone of voice and facial expression.”

Editor: Khusnul Khotimah