In the tea ceremony, the word “me-ri” can mean either the identification of utensils or the discovery of new values. The latter was most valued during Rikyu’s transition to the Wabi-tea ceremony, and the word “me-ri” is considered an essential requirement for tea ceremony masters, as seen in “Yamakami Soji-ki” and other ancient tea ceremony books.
With the formalization of the tea ceremony and the commercialization of utensils in later periods, the word “mairi” became exclusively used to differentiate between utensils, and the classification of utensils and promises became a kind of secret tradition, and so-called “mairi shoso” were written between tea masters and utensil merchants.
The so-called “Meri-sho,” or “Secret Meri-sho,” was a kind of secret book written between tea masters and tea utensil merchants.
