Korean Darye

Korean darye (the way of tea) traces its roots to the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), when Buddhist monks cultivated tea and used it in meditation and ceremonial offerings. Unlike the highly codified Japanese ceremony, darye maintains a flexible, naturalistic quality that reflects Korean aesthetic values — an appreciation for imperfection, seasonal change, and unhurried simplicity. The setting typically features unglazed or minimally glazed Korean ceramics, with buncheong or celadon wares prized for their subtle, earthy beauty. The ceremony emphasizes mindful preparation: warming the vessels with hot water, allowing the tea to cool to an appropriate temperature, pouring with unhurried grace, and savoring each cup in contemplative silence before conversation begins. Traditional Korean teas include jeoncha (pan-fired green tea from Hadong or Boseong), hwangcha (yellow tea), and various herbal preparations like bori-cha (barley tea) and oksusu-cha (corn tea), though purists reserve darye for true Camellia sinensis teas. The modern Korean tea revival, led by figures like the Venerable Hyodang and Ven. Cho-ui's influential 19th-century treatise Dongdasong, has restored interest in Korean tea traditions that were suppressed during the Japanese colonial period.