The Japanese Tea Ceremony by A. L. Sadler

The Japanese Tea Ceremony by A. L. Sadler

Author:A. L. Sadler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing


HOSOKAWA YŪSAI

Hosokawa Hyōbu-Taiyū Fujitaka Yūsai was deeply versed in poetry and the tea philosophy.13 He possessed a number of very valuable tea vessels, among which the incense burner called “Chidori” was especially famous. One evening in mid-autumn during the era Bunroku (1592–96) when the full moon had emerged from the peaks of Higashiyama and was shining brightly, Gamō Ujisato said to Sen-no-Rikyū “This is a perfect evening: I wonder how we can make the most of it?” So the pair of them concluded that they could not do better than visit Fujitaka, and went off to his house. He was delighted to see them and did everything he could to entertain them. There was not a cloud in the sky or a shadow on the moon, and the heavens shone bright in serene purity and their enjoyment of its beauty grew more and more keen till suddenly it occurred to Ujisato to ask their host if he would show them the famous Chidori incense burner, for the occasion seemed to him just the right one. But when he made the request Fujitaka’s face at once clouded and he put him off by saying: “Tonight is not a suitable time; I will show it to you on some other occasion.” But Ujisato would take no refusal, urging that it would spoil a perfect evening if he did not accede. So Fujitaka reluctantly, and with a very displeased look, went and got incense burner, threw the ashes out of it, and gave it to them to examine without putting it in its proper place in the alcove as would usually be done. Ujisato took it and examined it carefully, pronouncing it to be indeed a masterpiece, but Fujitaka made no acknowledgement of his praise, but put it away again without a word. Ujisato could not understand his behavior at all, so when he met Satomura Shōba, a teacher of Japanese verse, he told him all about it and asked him what he thought could be the explanation, if any, of Fujitaka’s curious churlishness, so unlike his ordinary courteous behavior. Shōba looked blank at first, but after considering a while he suddenly smote his knee: “Ah, I have it,” he exclaimed, “indeed Yūsai is a true poet! You know the verse of the Retired Emperor Juntoku:

On Kiyomi beach,

Where the waves lap listlessly

‘Neath a cloudy sky;

See the flock of sea-birds14 cast

Their dark shadow on the moon.



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