Table of Contents

Curriculum

Ullrich (X 17) divided the 点前 into three levels:

  1. people 点前: focusing on the interaction between the host and the guest in the spirit of 侘び茶. These are basically 入門, 子習い, 茶箱 and 花月.
  2. 道具点前, which is basically the 四ヶ伝
  3. Buddha 点前, which are the 行之行台子 and 真の行台子. 行之行台子, he said (IV 19), is the pinnacle of 侘び茶.

入門

Variation relating to the order in which things are done, or using special 道具:

Variations relating to the placement of things or special rooms:

➡️ So with these variations, you could actually spend quite a long time practising before you even need to study 子習.

子習

点前 仕舞え 8
貴人点 former
貴人清次 former
茶筅荘 former
茶碗荘 former
茶入荘 former
茶杓荘 former
長緒茶入 former
重茶碗 former
包み latter
壺荘 - latter
炭所望 - latter
花所望 - latter
入子点 latter
盆香合 - latter
軸飾り(じく) - latter
大津袋 latter

茶箱

The six 茶箱 lie a bit in an odd spot ⸺ they are taught together with 子習, but include more complicated elements such as handling of the 茶碗's 仕覆, the refolding of the 茶巾 or the cleaning of the surface the tea container will land on (similarly to 盆点); and, more importantly, finish exactly as they started, giving them a more feeling.

In terms of order, 和敬 is probably the easiest, because it's always done without 拝見, directly followed by 卯の花, which is considered the 平点前 of the 茶箱. Then follows the set of , and ; and finally the courtly 色紙点.

七事式

四ヶ伝

These are the 割稽古 for 行之行:

点前 for Buddha

In CQ51 there's a brief footnote explaining that けんちゃ is offering tea at a Shinto shrine; while くちゃ at a Buddhist temple (both only done by the 家元, obviously).

Almanac

In the Almanac, you find a different division into 8 basics (also called 小習) and 8 advanced techniques:

Almanac 点前 level
盆香合 basic
壺飾 basic
軸飾 basic
茶筅飾 basic
長尾 basic
台だて possibly 貴人 basic
しくみ ? basic
くみあわせ possibly 重茶碗 basic
小習 advanced
茶通 advanced
唐物 advanced
大天目 advanced
盆点 advanced
行台子 advanced
真台子 advanced
十段 大円盆 advanced