Until recently, Occidental cultures felt superior to the Oriental cultures, but the west is now discovering inspiration in their centuries old wisdoms, art and architecture. Early travelers and missionaries wanted to impact the Occidental world, not to learn from it. If you were to pick up this book to learn about the types of tea leaves, you may be disappointed. The Book of Tea is a short treatise on the value of appreciating the simple things in life and influenced by “the way of tea”. The book provides insights into the arts, architecture and the philosophy of life in general.
The Book of Tea is a small book of only 100 pages. It could be read in a few short hours or it could be picked up on occasions when one is inspired to ruminate over just a few paragraphs of wisdom . Okakura’s book was published over 100 years ago and originally written in English as it was intended for western audience.