Tea culture has been seriously marginalized as coffee has been inundating the beverage market. But the effectiveness and value of tea is far more practical than any other beverage drink. Its spiritual aspect is especially superb since Korean tea culture implies Eastern thought and spiritual culture. It is an invaluable heritage that we have honed through generations. But, nonetheless, a trend of disregarding tea culture while highly rating coffee culture is prevalent. This can be seen as disregarding and neglecting traditional culture and seriously needs to be redirected towards reviving our tea culture. The Middle Way, encompassing rationality, universality, practicality and the Korean tea culture contains the means of accomplishing this, tea culture being an invaluable asset of Korean spiritual culture. In this paper, which deals with Korean spiritual culture as a whole, I will try to promote three values. Firstly, I suggest that the Middle Way, one of the essences of Easter thought and universal truth, serves as an alternative solution to the spiritual crisis of the modern age. Secondly, I try to accent the practicality of the Middle Way by stressing the spirit and value of its philosophy and its presence in Korean tea culture. Thirdly, I suggested a spiritual culture in harmony with the Korean tea culture that society in the future must seek after The mental health of contemporary humanity has passed the danger level. It can only be resolved when the dynamic Western culture accepts the contemplative Eastern culture as the solution. And reviving tea culture can be a means for accomplishing this. Korean tea culture that is based on practicality, with a pure and undefiled heart as its center, can play the role of being the harbinger of this future society. This study must be regarded in a new light as it has suggested a futuristic alternative that will lead the world’s spiritual culture. It must also be noted that this study has focused on the Korean tea culture in detail which upgraded the dignity of tea and its spiritual value through the examples of the following in dividuals : Beop-jeong, a Buddhist monk, Eui-je, a traditional artist, and Da-san, a scholar of the Realistic School of Confucianism in 18th century Korea.
동북아시아문화학회 [The Association of North-east Asian Cultures]
설립연도
2000
분야
복합학>학제간연구
소개
동북아시아 문화의 다양성과 정체성을 연구 토론하고, 지역내 문화 교류의 다양한 모습을 연구하고 문화변동의 큰 틀을 집적함으로써 우리 민족 문화 및 상대 민족의 문화적 터전을 이해하여 문화공동체적 특성을 계발하고 상호 관련성의 강화를 유도하는 학술활동을 통해 동북아시아의 문화발전에 이바지함.