HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

(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 being, as the blood-descendant of Rikyū, the ideals and style of Japanese
tea ceremony An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transl ...
proposed by Rikyū were able to be passed forward by the family.


Biography

He was the son of
Sen Shōan (1546 – October 10, 1614) was a Japanese tea ceremony master, and is distinguished in Japanese cultural history as the second generation in the Sen family tradition of Japanese tea ceremony founded by his father-in-law, Sen no Rikyū. His fathe ...
and Okame, a daughter of Rikyū, and is counted as the third generation in the three lines of the Sen family known together as the ''san-Senke'' (see
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 th ...
). He helped to popularize tea in Japan. It was in the generation of his children, Sōsa, Sōshitsu and Sōshu, that the three lines of the family—the Omotesenke, Urasenke and Mushakōjisenke—were established, with these three sons, respectively, as their heads of house. They are counted as the fourth generation in the respective lines. He had the original tea house constructed on the north side of the Sen residence and named it name ''Konnichi-an'' (今日庵 , "Hut of This Day"). At around the age of ten, he was sent to live at Daitoku-ji temple, through the wish of his grandfather, Rikyū. He lived at the sub-temple Sangen'in, under the supervision of the priest Shunoku Sōen. During the years following Rikyū's death, when the Sen family was disbanded and Sōtan's father found shelter with the ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominall ...
'' Gamō Ujisato in distant
Aizu Wakamatsu is a city in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 118,159 in 50,365 households, and a population density of 310 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Geography Aizuwakamatsu is located in the west ...
, Sōtan was able to stay safely at Daitoku-ji temple. When his father was at last permitted to return to Kyoto and reestablish the Kyoto Sen family, Sōtan left the priesthood and returned to his family. His father soon left the headship of the family to Sōtan, and moved out. Sōtan had two sons by his first wife, and after her death, two more sons by his second wife. He had a falling out with his oldest son, and consequently there are only very scanty records concerning that son. Sōtan arranged for his second son, Ichiō Sōshu, to be adopted into the family of a lacquer ware artisan at a young age. Sōshu, however, later on chose to carry on the tea tradition of his forefather, Rikyū, and built a tea house where he was living at on Mushakōji street, to dedicate himself to that pursuit. He gave up the lacquer business to the lacquer ware artisan Nakamura Sōtetsu. This represents the birth of the Nakamura Sōtetsu line of lacquer ware artisans who have been responsible for much of the lacquer ware of the Sen families, as well as the birth of the Mushakōjisenke (Mushakōji Sen house/family) line of the Sen family. Meanwhile, Sōtan had his third son, Kōshin Sōsa, become heir to the Sen house, which eventually came to be referred to as the Omotesenke (front Sen house/family), while he set up his retirement quarters on adjacent property. Sōtan had his fourth and youngest son, Sensō Sōshitsu, adopted into the family of a doctor, but after a few years the doctor died and so Sōshitsu returned to live with Sōtan. Eventually, he became heir to the retirement quarters, and the family there came to be known as the Urasenke (rear Sen house/family). Also, among Sōtan's chanoyu followers, there were four who were especially close and active in the world of chanoyu. They are referred to as Sōtan's "Four Heavenly Kings" (四天王, Shitennō). They were Fujimura Yōken (1613–99), Sugiki Fusai (1628–1706), Yamada Sōhen (1627–1708), and Kusumi Soan (1636–1728). Some listings, however, consider that rather than Kusumi Soan, the fourth was either Miyake Bōyō (1580–1649) or Matsuo Sōji (1579–1658).''Genshoku Chadō Daijiten'' Japanese chadō encyclopedia, entry for "Sōtan Shitennō"


References

* Daijirin, 2nd Ed. *
Daijisen The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students. History Shogakukan intended fo ...
, 1st. Ed. *
Kōjien is a single-volume Japanese dictionary first published by Iwanami Shoten in 1955. It is widely regarded as the most authoritative dictionary of Japanese, and newspaper editorials frequently cite its definitions. As of 2007, it had sold 11 m ...
, 5th Ed. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen Sotan 1578 births 1658 deaths Japanese tea masters