An atmosphere to appreciate tea utensils imported from China had already grown by the Muromachi period, however, chajin, namely men of tea, began to establish their own criterion of their forms and midokoro (characteristics) for ranking the tea utensils.
室町時代には喫茶の中で唐物に代表される道具を尊ぶ風潮が出来上がっていたが、さらに茶人は道具の「ナリ」（形態）や見所（特徴）に評価の基準を作り、道具に序列を付けるようになった。