Chinese Influence
Tea consumption spread throughout the Chinese culture reaching into every aspect of the society. In 800 A.D. Lu Yu wrote the first definitive book on tea. The vast definitive nature of his work projected him into near sainthood within his own lifetime. It was this form of tea service that Zen Buddhist missionaries would later introduce to imperial Japan.

Japanese Influence
The first tea seeds were brought to Japan by the returning Buddhist priest, who had seen the value of tea in China. As a result, he is known as the "Father of Tea" in Japan. Tea received almost instant imperial sponsorship and spread rapidly from the royal court and monasteries to the other sections of Japanese society.

Tea was elevated to an art form resulting in the creation of the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The best description of this complex art form was probably written by the Irish-Greek journalist-historian: "The Tea ceremony requires years of training and practice to graduate in art...yet the whole of this art, as to its detail, signifies no more than the making and serving of a cup of tea. The supremely important matter is that the act be performed in the most perfect, most polite, most graceful, most charming manner possible".

A special form of architecture (chaseki) developed for "tea houses", based on the duplication of the simplicity of a forest cottage. The artistic Japanese hostesses, the Geishi, began to specialize in the presentation of the tea ceremony. More and more people became involved in the excitement surrounding tea. The tea ceremony became corrupted, boisterous and highly embellished. "Tea Tournaments" were held among the wealthy where nobles competed among each other for rich prizes in naming various tea blends.