Who is this course for
To honor the 2025 Taiwan Bowl Tea Festival, we created this free mini-course on the history of bowl tea. In the first lecture, Wu De discusses his perspective on modern tea culture and why bowl tea is not as popular as other brewing methods. In the second lecture, we explore the prehistory and dynastic history of bowl tea. Then, in the final lecture, we cover the modern history of bowl tea culture in Taiwan. There is also a small bonus video on bowl tea and Buddhism from the festival itself. We hope this course inspires you to start a bowl tea practice or helps you contextualize your practice in the roots of where it came from should you find yourself already sipping from bowls.
Watch all the videos at your own pace, in your own home.
There is no schedule: pause and take notes, pick up later, learning in your own way!
Meet your teacher
For more than twenty-five years Wu De has dedicated himself to the study of Cha Dao and Zen in all their forms. Aaron Fisher was born in a very small town in Ohio and grew up practicing martial arts, which first introduced him to Eastern practices. In college, he studied anthropology and Asian philosophy. At that time, he also began a meditation practice, which ultimately led him to India upon graduation. After a few years in India, he traveled Asia, eventually settling in Japan and then Taiwan, where he has continued his studies of meditation and tea ceremony to this day. “Wu Wei Hai” is his dharma name, representing a commitment to Zen practice. “Wu De” is a shortened form of that.