earticle

영어

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.