Wabi Sabi

This fusion of art, nature and everyday life is a key aspect of what  Japanese people refer to as wabi sabi. Within these two words are  a multitude of ideas and philosophies that even Japanese people themselves  have trouble explaining, especially outside of their native tongue. The  origins of wabi sabi lie in the principles of simplicity and  naturalness of Zen Buddhism as a backlash against the opulence and grandeur of  the time which was particularly influential in the elite avocation of the tea  ceremony.

Shukou Murata, a Zen monk (1423-1502) was one of the first tea masters and  opposed the use of highly ornate foreign tea utensils popular at this time in  favour of more local, earthy items. Thus wabi sabi, the tea  aesthetic began, at its core the importance of transcending ways of looking  and thinking about things/existence.

  All things are impermanent
 
  All things are imperfect
 
  All things are incomplete

Wabi sabi in tea was then brought to its eminence by  Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) who as tea-master assisted the ruler Toyotomi  Hideyoshi by explaining the complicated etiquette of tea and its utensils.  Rikyu went totally against his employers taste and upon noticing the austere  beauty of a roof tile, asked the tile maker to produce some pieces for the  tea ceremony using the same materials and firing technique. The result was  pottery with a great freedom of form, sublime colours, and a simplicity that  seemed to embody the essence of Zen. He also designed a simple,  separate building to house the tea ceremony based on a typical Japanese  farmers rustic hut. Rikyu further formalized the tea ceremonys rules of  behaviour and identified the spirit of chanoyu (tea ceremony)  with four basic Buddhist principles of harmony, respect, purity, and  tranquillity. These guiding principles signify the highest ideals of the tea  ceremony. His simple tastes and modest values were to be his downfall as  Hideyoshi, thinking he was being mocked with these crude, ugly folk-crafts  (amongst other indiscretions) and jealous of Rikyus popularity ordered him  to commit suicide. The way of tea Cha-do, as it became known after  Rikyus death lost much of its former spirituality and became more of a set  of rules, governing what is said and where things are to be placed.

Wabi Sabi is sometimes referred to as a  style of art, but it may be more accurate to say that Wabi Sabi is a style of  perceiving it
 
  It is the beauty of things modest and humble.
 
  It is the beauty of things unconventional.

The Wabi Sabi style that has  remained almost unchanged for over 500 years. There is no simple way to  translate the concept of Wabi Sabi into English but the poem by Fuji Sadaie  (1162-1241) is said to capture its feeling

As I look afar
I see neither cherry trees
Nor tinted leaves
Just a modest hut on the coast
In the dusk of Autumn nightfall