From: hiraga@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Yuzuru Hiraga)
Subject: Re: Movie "Rikyu"
Organization: Stanford University CSLI
Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 10:15:26 GMT


In article <1e92niINNojp@male.EBay.Sun.COM> tooka@train.EBay.Sun.COM writes:
>Two years ago I saw the last half of a historical
>drama titled "Rikyu". ...
> ...
>I really miss this film. Would anyone be helpful
>enough to give me an accurate explanation of the
>historical background of Rikyu's Japan--who was/were
>the ruler or rulers of the time in Japan?

If you drop the "accurate", I can give you a lead :-)

* About Sen-no-Rikyuu
You are asking about Sen-no-Rikyuu*1 [= Kanji in JIS-code are given
at the end of article].
The "no" inbetween is an interjected particle, and is not part of the name.
The family name is "Sen".
# And I shall write all the names family-name first throughout.

>I am not exactly sure of the
>historical context the film is taken from but I 
>believe the plot is centered around a revered Buddhist 
>priest named Rikyu whose opposition to his temporal
>ruler's plans to invade the Asian mainland earns
>him many enemies and the contempt of the ruler.

Rikyuu (1521-1591) cannot be called a Buddhist priest (but see below).
His real (worldly) name is Sen Sou-eki*2, and was a merchant in the
city of Sakai.  Sakai is to the south of Osaka, and at that time was
an independent merchant city just like Venice was.
After making a fortune out of trade (I think), he retired from business.
In Japan, mostly later in the Edo era, merchants often "retired" in
their forties and passed the business to their heirs.
This is often accompanied by the act of "Shukke"*3; which literally
means to abandon all worldly interests and enter a religious, Buddhist life.

This was also the case of Rikyuu, and "Rikyuu" is adapted both as
a Buddhist name and also as a penname [in lack of better terms].
However, it turns out that in many cases, those who have done "shukke"
are neither detached from worldly affairs, nor take to a discipled
lifestyle, let alone preaching Buddhism.  So was Rikyuu.

Rikyuu is most famous for perfecting the art of tea ceremonies
(Sadou*4 or Cha-no-yu*5).  Sadou in a nutshell is a highly sophisticated
way of etiquette protocols, meant to greet and entertain guests
(so it's not just about drinking tea).  Currently, Sadou is more
formalized and rigid; but the basic concept is to provide a detached,
easy atmosphere to the guests letting them temporarily forget their
worldly concerns.
The Sadou sects descending from Rikyuu is currently split into three
schools, Omote-senke*6, Ura-senke*7, and, oh I forgot the other one --
was it Mushanokouji-senke?  "Senke" is "Sen"+"ke", where "Sen" is the
family name following Rikyuu and "ke" designates a family trend.
Currently the most famous and prosperous of the three is Ura-senke,
headed by Sen Soushitsu who often makes headlines for various reasons :-)

Again, as it turns out, Sadou was never free from political affairs,
and actually took active involvement in them.
The rulers at that time (as well as some today) were all learned and took
great interest in Sadou, either as basic etiquette and social well-being,
or as a means to hold highly confidential meetings, or just to show-off
their collection of expensive Sadou utilities (mostly porcelain cups).
It is a slogan of Sadou that once one enters the tea chamber (chashitsu*8),
all the individuals are equal, regardless of their ranks in the real world
or of their relationships, including being opposed as enemies.
The politicians took the better of it (the current counterpart of this
may be golf and secret meetings at private restaurants :-).

As Mark Crispin wrote in his article, Rikyuu was most deeply involved
with Toyotomi Hideyoshi*9, but was also associated with other ruling
figures as well.  This includes Oda Nobunaga*10, who took to the feat
of reuniting Japan but fell midway in his quest being assasinated by
Akechi Mitsuhide*11 (who ironically, was a highly cultured gentleman).
Hideyoshi succeeded in succeeding Nobunaga :-) and completed the
reunification.  But his reign was short-lived, and after his death,
was took over by Tokugawa Ieyasu*12 who opened the Tokugawa (Edo) regime
that lasted over 260 years.  Ieyasu also had a strong acquaintance
with Rikyuu.

The relationship between Rikyuu and Hideyoshi is that of a typical
love-hate kind, and is scrutinized by both historical studies and
various works of literature.  Hideyoshi had the highest respect
for Rikyuu, but at the same time made numerous orders and demands which
Rikyuu in many ways did not obey, as he was determined in his
artistic pursuit.  Their relationship finally broke off leading to the
death of Rikyuu.

>At the end, the wise, humble Rikyu is assassinated of course.

This is not true.
Hideyoshi forced Rikyuu into suicide (Seppuku*13), and Rikyuu,
not making any apologies, accepted it.
The reason for their rupture still remains an unsolved mystery.
The direct accusation was that Rikyuu placed a statue of himself
over a temple gate so that even the ruling Hideyoshi was looked down
upon on entrance, but of course, this was a nominal excuse.
Another claimed reason is that Rikyuu took bribes in trading and
evaluating tea ceremony utilities.
The reason you mentioned (taken from the film) that Rikyuu turned
martyr in criticizing Hideyoshi (especially on the expedition to Korea)
may be another possibility, but since the actual invasion took place
after his death (the first invasion was in 1592), this may or may not
be the case.
A popular (though possibly a folklore) claim is that Rikyuu worked
as a spy for Ieyasu (expecting the downfall of Hideyoshi), and
Hideyoshi found that out.
I am in no position of giving a definite account.


* About the film
>Also, would
>anyone happen to know where the film might be available
>with English subtitles on videocassette or in a movie
>theatre engagement?

I have only skimmed through the film (on TV), so I don't have good knowledge
of it.  In the same year, there was another movie on Rikyuu titled
"Honkakubou Ibun"*14, seen from the viewpoint of one of his disciples.
Both were highly acclaimed in the year of their production.
I'm sure there are videos available for both of them, but sorry,
no knowledge of subtitled versions.

And you can find material on Rikyuu in various history books and
(better still) in books on Sadou.  I have no knowledge of English
translations of novels about Rikyuu.

Hope this helps.


-Yuzuru Hiraga

*** The following is a list of Kanji mantioned above in JIS code.
*** It contains the ESC character, so type 'n' here if your terminal
*** gets upset by them :-)


*1   $@@iMx5Y(J	Sen-no-Rikyuu
*2   $@@i=!0W(J	Sen Soueki
*3   $@=P2H(J	shukke
*4   $@CcF;(J	sadou
*5   $@Cc$NEr(J	cha-no-yu
*6   $@I=@i2H(J	Omote-senke
*7   $@N"@i2H(J	Ura-senke
*8   $@Cc<<(J	chasitsu
*9   $@K-?C=(5H(J	Toyotomi Hideyoshi
*10  $@?%ED?.D9(J	Oda Nobunaga
*11  $@L@CR8w=((J	Akechi Mitsuhide
*12  $@FA@n2H9/(J	Tokugawa Ieyasu
*13  $@@ZJ"(J	seppuku (= harakiri: though this term is hardly used.)
*14  $@K\3PK70dJ8(J	Honkakubou Ibun
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