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Created page with "*''Born: 1522'' *''Died: 1591/2/28'' *''Japanese'': 千利休 ''(Sen no Rikyuu)'' Sen no Rikyû is considered the founder of tea ceremony as we know it today, and..."
*''Born: [[1522]]''
*''Died: [[1591]]/2/28''
*''Japanese'': 千利休 ''(Sen no Rikyuu)''
Sen no Rikyû is considered the founder of [[tea ceremony]] as we know it today, and perhaps the chief contributor to the development of tearoom architecture, ceramics appreciation, and of the ''[[wabi]]-[[sabi]]'' aesthetic. All three major schools of tea ceremony today, the [[Urasenke]], [[Omotesenke]], and [[Mushanokoji senke|Mushanokôji senke]] schools, all claim lineage (through disciples) back to Rikyû, and claim to be continuing the tradition of his style of tea.
A student of ''wabi-cha'' under [[Takeno Joo|Takeno Jôô]], Rikyû later became the top tea advisor to [[Oda Nobunaga]] (in [[1574]]) and, following Nobunaga's death, to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]. He participated in Hideyoshi's [[Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony]] in [[1587]], and served tea at numerous political meetings, including traveling with Hideyoshi down to Kyushu when the [[Korean Invasions|invasions of Korea]] were being planned. Beyond simply serving tea and serving as a cultural advisor, Rikyû quickly became one of Hideyoshi's top political advisors more broadly.
However, in [[1591]], he was ordered by Hideyoshi to commit [[seppuku|suicide]]. The standard explanation most often featured in the legend of Sen no Rikyû has it that Rikyû commissioned a wooden statue of himself to stand above a gate to [[Daitoku-ji]], the construction of which he had sponsored; Hideyoshi was then terribly offended by this, at the idea that (the statue of) Rikyû should stand above him whenever he entered through that gate, or even worse that it suggested Hideyoshi walking beneath Rikyû's dirty sandals. However, some scholars suggest Hideyoshi would not end his most trusted advisor so rashly over such a petty thing. Rather, they suggest, Hideyoshi may have come to suspect Rikyû of being a ''maisu'' (売僧), a priest or monk who is really in it simply for the money. Though Rikyû's ''wabi-sabi'' aesthetics demanded an appreciation for the plainest and simplest of objects, including even those which were flawed or even broken, those objects which came to be appreciated in this way - especially those personally approved by Rikyû - became, inevitably, extremely demanded, and thus expensive. Thus, perhaps it was in connection with some belief that Rikyû was using him to gain (and maintain) prestige and power, and using tea simply in order to get wealthy, that Hideyoshi had him killed.<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 124-125.</ref>
Rikyû was buried at [[Juko-in|Jukô-in]] in Kyoto. Among his disciples, seven are recognized as the most significant. They include [[Araki Murashige]], [[Oda Uraku]], and [[Hosokawa Tadaoki]] (Sansai).
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==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]
[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]
*''Died: [[1591]]/2/28''
*''Japanese'': 千利休 ''(Sen no Rikyuu)''
Sen no Rikyû is considered the founder of [[tea ceremony]] as we know it today, and perhaps the chief contributor to the development of tearoom architecture, ceramics appreciation, and of the ''[[wabi]]-[[sabi]]'' aesthetic. All three major schools of tea ceremony today, the [[Urasenke]], [[Omotesenke]], and [[Mushanokoji senke|Mushanokôji senke]] schools, all claim lineage (through disciples) back to Rikyû, and claim to be continuing the tradition of his style of tea.
A student of ''wabi-cha'' under [[Takeno Joo|Takeno Jôô]], Rikyû later became the top tea advisor to [[Oda Nobunaga]] (in [[1574]]) and, following Nobunaga's death, to [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]]. He participated in Hideyoshi's [[Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony]] in [[1587]], and served tea at numerous political meetings, including traveling with Hideyoshi down to Kyushu when the [[Korean Invasions|invasions of Korea]] were being planned. Beyond simply serving tea and serving as a cultural advisor, Rikyû quickly became one of Hideyoshi's top political advisors more broadly.
However, in [[1591]], he was ordered by Hideyoshi to commit [[seppuku|suicide]]. The standard explanation most often featured in the legend of Sen no Rikyû has it that Rikyû commissioned a wooden statue of himself to stand above a gate to [[Daitoku-ji]], the construction of which he had sponsored; Hideyoshi was then terribly offended by this, at the idea that (the statue of) Rikyû should stand above him whenever he entered through that gate, or even worse that it suggested Hideyoshi walking beneath Rikyû's dirty sandals. However, some scholars suggest Hideyoshi would not end his most trusted advisor so rashly over such a petty thing. Rather, they suggest, Hideyoshi may have come to suspect Rikyû of being a ''maisu'' (売僧), a priest or monk who is really in it simply for the money. Though Rikyû's ''wabi-sabi'' aesthetics demanded an appreciation for the plainest and simplest of objects, including even those which were flawed or even broken, those objects which came to be appreciated in this way - especially those personally approved by Rikyû - became, inevitably, extremely demanded, and thus expensive. Thus, perhaps it was in connection with some belief that Rikyû was using him to gain (and maintain) prestige and power, and using tea simply in order to get wealthy, that Hideyoshi had him killed.<ref>[[Eiko Ikegami]], ''Bonds of Civility'', Cambridge University Press (2005), 124-125.</ref>
Rikyû was buried at [[Juko-in|Jukô-in]] in Kyoto. Among his disciples, seven are recognized as the most significant. They include [[Araki Murashige]], [[Oda Uraku]], and [[Hosokawa Tadaoki]] (Sansai).
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]
[[Category:Artists and Artisans]]