Pearl Among the Clouds

What would it mean to make ‘beauty’ a lived practice, and how could such an undertaking deepen life’s meaningfulness? Ueda Sōkei, the 16th Grandmaster of the Ueda Sōko Tradition of Japanese Tea Ceremony, explores these important contemporary themes through the timeless and transcendent teachings of one of the oldest extant lineages of tea in the world.

The Japanese Tea Ceremony emerged as a distinct cultural and aesthetic form over 400 years ago. It is the result of millennia of Zen, Daoist, Confucian and Asian tea culture. Deceptively simple, ”Pearl Among the Clouds” is actually a powerful distillate of centuries of transmitted knowledge, which can be applied by all people, not only those who pursue tea as a formal practice.

Presented in concise lessons that can be practiced immediately, Pearl Among the Clouds is the most accessible and practicable compilation of the teachings of the Japanese Tea Ceremony completed to date. As such, it will become a trusted companion for tea practitioners and non-practitioners alike, and an enduring ‘pearl’ of wisdom for all who seek to know the true power of beauty.

• Hardcover book

• 144 pages

• 13×20 cm (5×8 inches)

• Authored by Ueda Sōkei

• Illustrated by Mami Shimazu

• Translated into English by Adam Sōmu Wojciński

• English edition designed & edited by Sarah Hedden