Yamanoue Sōji

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Yamanoue Sōji (山上 宗 二; * 1544 in Sakai ; † 1590 in Odawara ) was an important Japanese tea master , developer and representative of the Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no-yu, 茶 の 湯).

Life

Yamanoue came from Sakai , where he originally worked as a merchant. This city was the residence of the tea master Sen no Rikyu , whose most prominent disciple was to become Yamanoue. Other well-known students of Rikyu were Furuta Oribe and Takayama Ukon .

Yamanoue wrote the script " Yamanoue Sōji ki " (山上 宗 二 記), which explained the tea path ( chad ō ,茶道) Rikyu and his teachings.

Yamanoue is also credited with developing the idea of ichi-go ichi-e (一 期 一 会) . This principle, which is based on the Buddhist philosophy of Zen and the tea path postulated by Rikyu, emphasizes the uniqueness of every moment, its non-repeatability and, as a result, the requirement to devote all attention and concentration to this moment.

While Yamanoues master Rikyu in the service of Toyotomi Hideyoshi entered (Taiko) Yamanoue was in the service of one of the last counterparties Hideyoshi, the powerful H ō j ō - Clans on Castle Odawara , obliged.

However, Yamanoue previously worked for Oda Nobunaga . After Oda's violent death in Kyoto in 1582, Hideyoshi gained the power of his former employer and sponsor and probably also took Yamanoue into his entourage for a while. There, Yamanoue, described in the tradition as a strong and independent personality, soon aroused the displeasure of the taiko and went on a journey through several provinces until he was finally able to take a permanent position with the Hōjō.

With the surrender of Odawara in 1590, the famous tea master fell into the hands of Hideyoshi, who seldom forgot an offense he had suffered and dealt with the renegade tea master delivered to him in a cruel manner: the victorious prince ordered the tea master's nose and ears cut off and then beheaded him.

Cinematic reception

In the 1989 film The Death of a Tea Master by Kei Kumai , which is based on the book The Death of the Tea Master by Yasushi Inoue , Yamanoue's death is staged in a dramatic way: while the tea master for the victors of the siege of Odawara, Hideyoshi and his generals, Having to hold a tea ceremony, Yamanoue, portrayed as an indomitable free spirit with anarchist features, openly opposes by performing a new style of ritual he has developed, thereby snubbing the mighty Taiko.

When confronted by him, the powerless tea master mocks his enemy by attesting to his small-mindedness and narrowness.

Yamanoue replies to the angry prince, who criticizes the deviation from Rikyu's ritual: "... the master proves himself especially in free handwriting! You, my lord, must of course be completely incomprehensible!" The furious Hideyoshi then orders the mutilation of the tea master. Yamanoue is able to evade this order through a hasty and improvised seppuku .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Yamanoue, Sōji
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese tea master of the Sengoku period
DATE OF BIRTH 1544
PLACE OF BIRTH Sakai , Osaka Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH 1590
Place of death Odawara Castle