Rituals and a Thread Through Time

In Korea, there's a practice called charye (茶禮). During holidays, families gather to honor their ancestors with the finest foods and drinks arranged on a ceremonial table. But here's what many don't realize: the word cha (茶) in charye means tea, not alcohol. Korea was once a nation that offered tea, not liquor, to the ancestors. As times changed, this fact faded from collective memory. Yet this forgetting itself reveals something profound—tea was so deeply woven into Korean life that it became invisible, like breathing.

Tea first appears in Korean records during the 7th century Silla Dynasty. A diplomatic envoy named Daeryeom returned from Tang China with tea seeds, which were planted in Jirisan Mountain by royal decree. In Buddhist practice, drinking tea was meditation itself. Korea's tea culture rose and fell with Buddhism's fortunes, flourishing when Buddhism thrived, retreating when it was suppressed. The Japanese colonial period nearly severed this thread entirely. But after liberation, quiet dedication kept the tradition alive. Today, a new generation of distinctive tea houses is emerging, making tea accessible and inviting for young people once again.

Photos in this section are sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRy-lktk05I