A Study on the Spirit of Tea and ‘Dabeop’ of Jucheon Soonhyang Kim

Abstract

This paper researched the meaning of Haengda through Jucheon's tea culture activities and the tea spirit of her, who is actively continuing the tea tradition in Busan, the center of modern tea culture. Jucheon’s spirit of tea, which emphasized the sincerity of character in harmony, tried to find the true mind hidden deep in one's heart through doing Haengda so that one could learn and reflect on one's own accord. In addition, while drinking tea through Haengda, the miscellaneous delusions disappear and people find their true heart hidden deep in mind. The cultivation of the mind that concentrates all minds to eliminate miscellaneous thoughts, and is not led by other delusions, which is what we consider as ‘禪’(Zen) of our tea life. In other words, Jucheon's principle of the ‘Joosim Dabeop’ goes beyond the tea ceremony spirit and communicates with the compassionate mind that seeks the universal true entity. In addition, by actively participating in tea ceremony education at local universities and high schools, companies and organizations, as well as various tea culture events for the development of tea culture, Jucheon has came into the limelight as an important person in modern tea culture. She is taking the lead not only in tea culture activities but also in activating the national interest for the succession and development of Jogakbo as first traditional Jogakbo making successor in Korea, which has been somewhat neglected even in the traditional culture sector. As mentioned above, by examining the footsteps of Jucheon, who has been instrumental in transmitting Korean tradition so far, in the hopes of re-recognizing the value of our tea culture and spreading the excellence of traditional and Korean tea culture to the domestic and worldwide, it makes us think again about the role we have to go forward to transmit and develop of our traditional culture.