This essay examines the ontological aesthetics and practical developments observed in contemporary Chinese tea ceremony. Traditional Chinese tea culture encompasses Zen teaism in Buddhism, Tao teaism in Taoism, and tea rituals in Confucianism. Together with the development of the art of tea in Taiwan during the second half of the last century, the art of tea in 20^(th) century Taiwan was one that integrated literati tea concepts with Zen teaism, Tao teaism, and Confucian tea rituals, which was presented on aesthetic platforms. In the 21^(st) century, to innovate contemporary Chinese tea ceremony requires further in-depth internalization of the three cultures of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism, with the ontology of appreciating beauty explored and presented. It needs to move beyond aesthetical experiences, external rituals or performances, with the ontology of aesthetic sensibility regarded as its goal for the realization of the aesthetics of life encompassed in contemporary tea ceremony. Therefore, the ontological hermeneutics in Zen teaism, Tao teaism, and tea rituals is related to ontological aesthetics. The Chinese aesthetic tradition formed by Li Zehou is a form of ontological aesthetic. Books on aesthetics written by Li are some of the most significant ontology-based studies on 20^(th) century 1980s Chinese aesthetics, including The Path of Beauty(1981), Four Essays on Aesthetics(1989), and The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition(1989). The following definition on ontological aesthetic is provided by Cheng Chung-ying, ＂The so-called ontological aesthetic is to experience, familiarize, discover, and create the values of beauty by returning to an internal and external foundation based on aesthetic intuition, aesthetic experience, and aesthetic judgment. Furthermore, they should be integrated into the awareness for life and also incorporated into everyday practices, leading to the realization that the formation of the fundamental energy and overall perception for life itself, spirit itself is essentially an innovative process.＂ This essay begins with the following four states of ontological aesthetics: State of Emotion: Literati Tea-making; State of Mind: Taste Zen in Tea; State of Vision: Life with Tea; and State of Tao: Tao, the Truth, Imitates Nature, with ontological hermeneutics conducted on contemporary Chinese tea ceremony. Furthermore, this essay also examines development strategies for contemporary tea ceremony. Lastly, the ethos and the objectives behind tea offering are explained, proposing tea offering ceremony as a practical platform for the ontological hermeneutics of contemporary Chinese tea ceremony.
