(1546 – October 10, 1614) was a Japanese

tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...

master, and is distinguished in Japanese cultural history as the second generation in the Sen family tradition of

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or lit. 'Hot water for tea') is a Culture of Japan, Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . The term "Japa ...

founded by his father-in-law,

Sen no Rikyū , also known simply as Rikyū, was a Japanese tea master considered the most important influence on the ''chanoyu'', the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of '' wabi-cha''. He was also the first to emphasize several key aspect ...

Early life

Shōan’s father was Miyaō Saburō, who was a resident of

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...

and was a master at playing the Japanese hand drum (''tsuzumi''). Circumstantial evidence indicates that Miyaō Saburō probably died around the year 1553. Shōan's mother, the wife of Miyaō Saburō, was known as Sōon. She became the second wife of

. Shōan was adopted into the Sen family and became the son-in-law of Rikyū when he married Rikyū's daughter Okame. The oldest boy born between Shōan and Okame was Sen Sōtan, the third generation in the Sen family tradition of Japanese tea ceremony.

Tea ceremony career

Shōan was the same age as Rikyū's oldest son, Sen Dōan, but his skill at

was much more highly reputed than was Dōan's. Rikyū left the Sen estate in Sakai for Dōan, and had Shōan and family set up a new Sen household in Kyoto. The exact year of the move is unknown, but it represented the origin of the so-called Kyoto Sen Family (Kyō-Senke), which evolved into the present san-Senke (lit., three Sen houses/families) (see Schools of Japanese tea ceremony). Following Rikyū's

seppuku , also known as , is a form of Japanese ritualistic suicide by disembowelment. It was originally reserved for samurai in their code of honor, but was also practiced by other Japanese people during the Shōwa era (particularly officers near ...

(ritual suicide) by order of

Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...

, the Kyoto property where Shōan and family resided was confiscated. Shōan went to Aizu Wakamatsu (present-day Fukushima Prefecture) where he lived under the protection of the warrior

Gamō Ujisato was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku and Azuchi–Momoyama periods. He was heir and son of Gamō Katahide, lord of Hino Castle in Ōmi Province, and next managed Ise Province as lord of Matsusaka Castle and finally 920,000 koku in ...

. Some years later, Hideyoshi pardoned the Sen family and arranged for the restoration of the Kyoto household. Sen Dōan in Sakai, similarly, was pardoned and allowed to reestablish the Sen household in Sakai, but that household eventually died out, as Dōan had no successor. When the Kyoto Sen household was reestablished, it was decided between Hideyoshi and Shōan that Sōtan, Rikyū's blood descendant who had been living as a young Buddhist trainee at

Daitoku-ji is a Rinzai school Zen Buddhist temple in the Murasakino neighborhood of Kita-ku in the city of Kyoto Japan. Its ('' sangō'') is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex is one of the largest Zen temples in Kyoto, covering more than . In addition to ...

temple during this period of family upheaval, should become acting head of the family. It is believed that Shōan therefore retired early and moved to a small cottage called Shōnantei at Saihōji temple (see Kokedera), in western Kyoto.Tsutsui Hiroichi, "Sen Sotan," in Chanoyu Quarterly no. 46 (1986)

References

Daijirin is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Fores ...

, 2nd 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 mi ...

, 5th Ed. 1546 births 1614 deaths 17th-century Japanese people {{Japan-bio-stub