I am usually game for most art adventures. I've not yet written anything on my claim to #AllThingsWedding although I am sort of a one stop shop wedding aficionado. I'll explain that in a future article. For now, I am thrilled to share with you my experiment with a Gaiwan Tea Set.
Now I just have to laugh at the literal translation of gaiwan: a hot-steeping vessel.
What else would you call a lidded dish without love handles used by a bride or groom to serve an infused elixir to adjoin the meshing of two families before the bride and groom's nuptial consummation? All puns and innuendos intended.
~One ThousandCups of Tea~
Gaiwan is a Chinese word, however from my research, most asian cultures have historically adopted some sort of tea ceremony for weddings and some for business practices. If you think about it practically, without all of the mooshie gooshiness, a marriage is a contractual agreement between two entities, similar to a business contract. I was in a business meeting a few weeks ago where a buddy of mine, an american business man with Korean heritage, had recently been traveling to East Asia and China for work. He had asked his asian colleague about what he needed to do to close a certain deal and why it was taking so long. The his asian business colleague simply said, "You need to drink one thousand cups of tea with them." My buddy had ascertained that Americans do business transactionally. Asians do business relationally. This profoundly applies to both marriage and business in that commitment and relationship are equally essential. One is no fun and not very fluid without the other. Who wants to eat dry toast? That is like a marriage commitment without any chemistry or romance. A business contract functions and serves it's purpose with a fair contract, but would be way more rewarding if it were with an entity that you sincerely enjoy and respect working with. Things have to make more than mere dollars and sense. *wink*
One of my best friends, Alex, whom also happens to be the illustrator of my up and coming children's book, is getting married to a Canadian Chinese man who's last name is Chin. Which means money. They may or may not be choosing to do a traditional tea ceremony to honor their parents, unless they pour a good strong German Stout for the bride's parents. Regardless, I was intrigued by the personal challenge of seeing if I could throw a gaiwan tea set myself.
~Breaking Tradition~
Now from what I've read, gaiwan tea sets for wedding ceremonies are meant to have red on them, but my bride loves green, which I found to be fitting as an american since her new last name is going to mean money. That happens to be the Chinese character for Chin that I stamped into the lid and saucer.
Here are some video tutorials if you are interested in how to serve tea from a gaiwan.
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Thank you for taking the time to have a coffee break with me.
Or an afternoon tea.
Or midnight snackage.
