is the traditional name carried by the head of the

Urasenke is one of the main schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with and , it is one of the three lines of the family descending from , which together are known as the - or the "three houses/families" (). The name , literally meaning "rear hous ...

family. Sen is the family name and Sōshitsu is the hereditary name assumed by the successor upon becoming ''

iemoto is a Japanese term used to refer to the founder or current Grand Master of a certain school of traditional Japanese art. It is used synonymously with the term when it refers to the family or house that the iemoto is head of and represents. Th ...

'' of Urasenke. The first person in this line of the Sen family to use the name Sōshitsu was the youngest son of

Sen no Sōtan (1578–1658), also known as Genpaku Sōtan 元伯宗旦, was the grandson of the famed figure in Japanese cultural history, Sen no Rikyū. He is remembered as Rikyū's third-generation successor in Kyoto through whose efforts and by whose very be ...

; in other words, a great-grandson of

Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on ''chanoyu,'' the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects ...

. He is generally known as Sensō Sōshitsu (仙叟宗室), without mention of the family name, and is counted as the fourth generation in the Urasenke family line. The current head of Urasenke is the sixteenth generation, Sen Sōshitsu XVI, who is distinguished by his cognomen, Zabōsai. The

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

character for ''sō'', 宗, in the hereditary name may be interpreted to mean "family core". Like the head of Urasenke, the heads of other

schools of Japanese tea ceremony "Schools of Japanese tea" refers to the various lines or "streams" of Japanese tea ceremony. The word "schools" here is an English rendering of the Japanese term . There are three historical households () dedicated to developing and teaching the ...

also have hereditary names beginning with this kanji character. For example, the head of the

Omotesenke Omotesenke (表千家) is one of the schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Urasenke and Mushakōjisenke, it is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together are known as the san-Senke or "three Sen ...

school traditionally carries the name Sōsa, written 宗左, and the head of the

Mushakōjisenke , sometimes referred to as ''Mushanokōjisenke'', is one of the schools of Japanese tea ceremony. Along with Urasenke and Omotesenke, the Mushakōjisenke is one of the three lines of the Sen family descending from Sen no Rikyū, which together are ...

school is Sōshu, 宗守.

References

External links

Urasenke official home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sen Soshitsu Chadō

References

Further reading

External links