page_title: Shunoku Sōen
section_title: Connection with the Japanese Tea Ceremony
hierarchical_section_title: Shunoku Sōen / Connection with the Japanese Tea Ceremony
caption_attribution_description: a portrait by Tōhaku Hasegawa (長谷川等伯)(born in 1539 and dead in 1610), calligraphy by Sōen Shunoku (春屋 宗園)(born in 1529 and dead in 1611). Copied from http://www.omotesenke.com/image/04_p_01.jpg
context_page_description: Shunoku Sōen was a Rinzai Zen monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods and the 111th Head Priest of Daitoku-ji temple. He received the title Zen Master Rōgen Tenshin from Emperor Ōgimachi in 1586 and the highest acclaim of National Teacher Taihō Enkan from Emperor Go-Yōzei in 1600. Sōen was born in Yamashiro Province and became a monk at an early age. He first trained under Rosetsu Yōha at Kennin-ji before becoming a student of Kōin Sōken at Daitoku-ji. After Sōken's death, Sōen completed his training under Shōrei Sōkin of Daisen-in and the 107th Head Priest of Daitoku-ji. Sōen became the 111th Head Priest of Daitoku-ji in 1569.
context_section_description: Shunoko Sōen is famous for his deep connection with the Way of Tea. He held many tea wares now in the Sangen-in estate. In the collection of Sōen's poetry and Buddhist verses (gatha) entitled ‘Ichimoku Kō’ 一黙稿, he writes about the beauty of some of the most famous art objects in chanoyu history including the Chigusa, Miroku and Akebono tea jars and the Seitaka Katatsuki, and Enza Katatsuki tea caddies. The tea masters that studied Zen under him are a veritable who's who of chanoyu: Sōen bestowed Buddhist training names to Furuta Oribe (Kinpo 金甫), Ueda Sōko (Chikuin 竹隠), Kobori Enshū (Daiyū 大有), Sen Dōan (Minō 眠翁), Sen Sōtan, (Genshuku 元叔) and Yabunouchi Jōchi (Kenchū 剣中). Sōen was also closely associated with Imai Sōkyū and Sen Rikyū. In 1589, Sōen was the officiating priest for the opening ceremony of the Sanmon gate, reconstructed from funds donated by Rikyū. Three days after the opening, Sōen again officiated for the 50th anniversary memorial for Rikyū's father at Sanmon gate. Rikyū's grandson, Sen Sōtan, was sent to live at Sangen-in under the supervision of Shunoku Sōen at the age of ten through the wish of Rikyū. The calligraphy inscription of Rikyū's famous portrait by Hasegawa Tōhaku was written by Sōen at the request of Sen Dōan.
  Sōen passed away in 1611 at the age of 83. His grave is at Sangen-in.
caption: Portrait of Sen Rikyū by Hasegawa Tōhaku with a calligraphy inscription by Shunoku Sōen.
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "128", "Image YResolution": "128", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2020:10:10 22:43:02", "Image ExifOffset": "168", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "306", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3004", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "576", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1063"}