宗慕
Sobo
Mulan Sun
Tea master and Senior Lecturer of Urasenke Tea School
I grew up in a Zen Buddhist temple residence in China, where my early life was shaped by the rhythms of temple life and Chinese tea culture. During my Bachelor’s studies in 2000 at Tianjin University, I was deeply inspired by the tea house at Nankai University—a present from Hōunsai Soshitsu XV—which marked my first encounter with Japanese tea ceremony. In 2005, I moved to Switzerland to pursue my Master’s studies in Architecture at the ETH Zürich. Since 2015, I have been learning the Tea Ceremony with Prof. Soyu Mukai and in 2024 I was honored with the title of Tea Master and the position of Sennin Kōshi (Senior lecturer) by the Urasenke Tea School. Since 2025, I have been serving on the board of the Urasenke Tankokai Zürich Association. Tea and Zen are deeply intertwined in my life, and I regularly practice Zazen at Zendo Inneres Lind under Kathrin Stotz Sensei. As an architect, I am devoted to creating tea-related spaces. As a tea master, I investigate how the tea ceremony discloses the essence of space through behaviourology, a field where architecture, tea, and Zen converge as one lived experience.
向心庵 Kōshin-an
- Privat okeiko (Beginner, Konarai, Shikaden): Thursday and Friday in Winterthur
- Group okeiko (Kagetsu): Sunday in Zurich
- Introductory course: Upon request
- Tea ceremony performance: Upon request
Contact: ms@tankokaizurich.com
茶會 TeA-Events
Coming events:
14.3.2026: Tea ceremony for Sinokultur at Teehaus Liu, Bad Ragaz, Registration
31.3 / 4.4.2026 Tee ceremomy with Nico Colic in Vitra Design Museum
14.4.2026: Tea ceremony and lecture at Zen Forum, Zürich (fully booked)
Past events:
7.11.2025: Tea ceremony at Suetsugu Haus, Zurich
7.2025: Tea ceremony and curator guided tour at the exhibition “TWO LAKES – Lake Lucerne und Lake Biwa: A Comparative Study on the Culture of Water”, ZAZ Bellerive, Zürich
6.2025: Tea ceremony in Pathumbah Park, Prof. Maria Conen, ETH Zürich
5.2025: Chado workshop in Sekundarschule Büelwiesen, Winterthur
11.2024: Lecture “Way of Tea and Ritual” and Tea ceremony, Prof. Sascha Roesler, Academy of Architecture, Mendrisio
6.2023: Lecture “Water, Tea and Architecture” and Tea ceremony, ETH Circle, ETH Zürich
5.2021: Lecture “Die Form des Tees - Teekultur und Architektur in China und Japan”, Historisches und Völkerkunde Museum St.Gallen
Video copyright ETH Circle 2023