Fabrics
Fabrics (Kireji) are used in Chanoyu for mounting scrolls, making
shifuku
(cloth pouches for tea utensils) as well as for making
fukusa.
They serve to cover and protect utensils like clothing and are selected to match the utensils they cover.
Chajin (Tea practitioners) select fabrics as decorative accessories for their utensils that act as wordless expressions of beauty for guests who can appreciate them. The choice of fabrics can express certain intentions or feelings on the part the chajin. If he or she wishes to highlight, for example, a feeling of splendor, humility, or artistic sentiment, there is a wide variety of fabrics from which to choose, including kinran, ginran, donsu, kanto, nishiki, moru, sarasa, kaiki and velvet.
Meibutsu-gire
In the world of Chanoyu, most people believe that only meibutsu-gire are used in Chanoyu.
While there is a close relationship between Tea and meibutsu-gire, not all fabrics
used in Tea are meibutsu-gire.
To be considered as meibutsu-gire, fabrics have to meet certain criteria. They are generally fabrics that were made in China during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties or fabrics made in South Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries. They became famous either by their association with meibutsu tea utensils or because they were favored by famous chajin.
There are three categories of meibutsu tea utensils: oo-meibutsu (utensils which had been recognized as meibutsu before Rikyu's time), meibutsu (utensils recognized by Rikyu as meibutsu), and chuko-meibutsu (utensils either recognized as meibutsu by Kobori Enshu or created by Kobori Enshu).
Oo-meibutsu are objects that were selected by Noami, a famous connoisseur and painter, during the shogunate of Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Noami selected the best paintings and porcelain pieces among the shogun's Chinese masterpieces, and these group of masterpieces came to be called the Higashiyama-gyobutsu. Later on they became known as oo-meibutsu.
In the Momoyama period, three tea masters, Sen Rikyu, Tsuda Sokyu and Yamanoueno Soji selected their favorite utensils and called them "meibutsu." This list of meibutsu is found in the work "Chaki Meibutsu-shu" by Yamanoueno Soji.
Chuko-meibutsu are objects that were selected by Kobori Enshu in the Edo period. Enshu selected outstanding tea utensils other than those already known as oo-meibutsu and meibutsu and called them "chuko-meibutsu."
There are about 400 fabrics that are considered as meibutsu-gire. However, the main
ones we see today are Kinran, Donsu and Kanto.