Front cover of “Korean Tea Classics”

Seems like it’s been ages since I’ve posted any book reviews here on the blog.  But last month I scored a passel of books from Seoul Selection Online Bookshop for a bit of light reading over winter vacation.   Not to get to promotional here (and no, I’m not getting paid for this), but if you’re looking for books about Korea, Seoul Selection is a great resource.   They have a knack for carrying a lot of books that simply are not available on Amazon or whatthebook.com, not to mention they self-publish a lot of titles which sell for very reasonable prices.  So without further adieu, here are a few books that might help you while away your time in front of the space heater this winter:

“Korean Tea Classics” by Hanjae Yi Mok and the Venerable Cho-ui:  Ever since my friend and local tea aficionado, Don Baumhart, published his two-part introduction to the Way of Tea in Korea here on this blog, I’ve made a point of exploring more of Korean and East-Asian tea culture.  Turns out this year Seoul Selection has made the timely decision to publish English translations three classic Korean tomes on tea and tea culture:  “Rhapsody to Tea” by Hanjae Yi Mok (1471 – 1498) and “A Chronicle of the Spirit of Tea” and “Hymn in Praise of Korean Tea” both by the Venerable Cho-ui (1786 – 1866).  In fact it was Ven. Cho-ui who earned himself the nick-name Dasan or “Tea Mountain” was responsible of the revival and restoration of the tea ceremony in Korea.  Translated by Brother Anthony of Taize (author of “The Korean Way of Tea” ) among others, this book is not simply a dry, academic  translation of obscure historical texts.  Rather it is an object de art itself, with impeccable design and choke full of beautiful color pictures of tea, ceramics, temples and ancient paintings.   Plus, for students of classical Chinese, the original “Hanja” is printed alongside the English.   Not merely an obtuse historical artifact, this book would be of interest to anyone with a love for Asian tea culture, and of course it’s a lovely accompaniment to a lazy afternoon sipping tea. read more »