茶道為日本文化的精髓，其文化的基礎源於中國的飲茶文化，在漫長的歷史中平安(794-1192)時代為茶道文化的「蘊釀期」。平安時期的茶風可分兩階段，前一階段為嵯峨天皇時代的弘仁時期，是日本引入大唐茶文化的開始，由於深富文人氣質的嵯峨天皇與留學僧侶最澄、空海、永忠等的推波助瀾，此時所表現的茶風深具文人性格，表現出以茶詩做為銜接大唐茶文化的媒介。弘仁茶詩正是弘仁茶文化的具體呈現，茶文化之內涵源於《茶經》，呈現濃厚源自道家之精神體驗與美感追求的特質，文化的形式則表現對大唐飲茶文化實踐方式的模仿，包含飲茶文化的實踐者、飲茶方式、茶器、茶會等，均見大唐文人茶風的影響。此一茶風為「唐風文化」的一環，但由於此時日本藉茶詩轉知《茶經》茶文化，以及「以茶助詩」的限制，使得弘仁茶文化在嵯峨朝燦爛一時，卻又因「國風文化」而歸沉寂，但這些來自《茶經》的茶文化內涵，和受佛教「茶禮」影響之茶文化內涵有異，卻已奠定日本茶道文化多樣融合的基礎。

The essence of Japanese culture can be summed up in Chado (茶道), the tea culture, whichoriginates from the tea-drinking culture in China. In the Japanese history, the Heian (平安) period (794-1192) can be regarded as the "preparatory period" of the tea culture. The tea fashion in the Heian (平安) period can be divided into two phases, of which the first phase, the Konin (弘仁) era ofEmperor Saga (嵯峨天皇), marks the beginning of the introduction of the Tang tea culture into Japan. With the support of the Emperor Saga, who himself emanates the literati sensibility, and the promotionby the scholar-monks such as Saicho (最澄), Kukai (空海), and Eichu (永忠), the tea fashion of thisperiod is imbued with a literati character and adopts tea poetry as a medium to connect to the tea cultureof the Tang dynasty. In their spiritual quest, the tea culture seeks the aspiration for spiritual elevationand aesthetics. The way of tea drinking also imitates that of the Tang dynasty. Thus the influence of theliterati tea fashion in Tang dynasty can be traced in the practician of tea culture, the ways of drinkingtea, the equipment adopted in tea-drinking and the manner of chakai (茶器), or tea feast (茶會). Thesecultural elements establish a solid base for the cultural diversity in Japanese tea culture.