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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What are these eras?

2. Why does Lu Wu prefer blue tea cups?

3. Have Asians in turn developed the same for this culture?

4. For what was tea praised?

5. Tea began as what and only gradually grew into a beverage?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the editor's opinion of Okakura?

2. Describe Okakura's education.

3. What is Zennism?

4. Did all Japanese accept modern, Western attitudes and behaviors? How do you know this?

5. What might a typical Westerner see in the tea ceremony?

6. Will the West ever truly understand the East? Why or why not? What stereotypes have formed? Are these stereotypes breaking down? Why or why not?

7. Who was Lu Wu? What were his beliefs about tea?

8. What are Taoist beliefs? How did this affect the feelings toward authority and laws?

9. What happened during the Mongol invasion of China?

10. What does the author say about Tao and Taoism?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are three eras of tea.

Part 1) What are the three main tea eras? Describe each of them and explain how each of them come to be? How are they connected?

Part 2) How does each era reflect the Japanese culture of the time? Does the tea era influence the culture or does the culture influence the tea era? Explain.

Part 3) How does art in America today reflect life? How has American art evolved to be what it is today?

Essay Topic 2

Tea began as a medicine and only gradually grew into a beverage.

Part 1) Describe the medicinal uses of tea. How did this gradually lead to tea being a beverage? How did this beverage then spread throughout the world?

Part 2) What are the three main tea eras? How did each begin? How is each era unique? What commonalities exist between these eras? What influenced how tea was made and how it was served? How important is the tea room in the tea service? How does the tea room reflect the tea master and the tea that is being served?

Part 3) How has the U.S. been affected by the spread of the popularity of tea? How is tea a part of our culture today? How does U.S. tea culture compare to the Japanese tea culture described in the book? Is one tea culture superior? If so, how? If not, why not?

Essay Topic 3

Man has a very long history with flowers.

Part 1) Describe man's long history with flowers. Why might flowers be important to man? How are flowers attractive to man?

Part 2) What is the Cult of Flowers? How does it reflect Japanese culture and philosophy? How is it connected to teaism?

Part 3) Describe the Western use of flowers. Do Westerners have respect for flowers? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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