The Socio-Political Dimensions of Warlord Tea Praxis in Early Modern Japan, 1573-1860
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Aesthetic Authorities: The Socio-Political Dimensions of Warlord Tea Praxis in Early Modern Japan, 1573-1860 By Melinda Sue Landeck Submitted to the graduate degree program in History and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Eric C. Rath ________________________________ Dr. J. Megan Greene ________________________________ Dr. Eve Levin ________________________________ Dr. Michael Baskett ________________________________ Dr. William Lindsey Date: October 21, 2015 The Dissertation Committee for Melinda Sue Landeck certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Aesthetic Authorities: The Socio-Political Dimensions of Warlord Tea Praxis in Early Modern Japan, 1573-1860 ________________________________ Chairperson, Dr. Eric C. Rath Date approved: October 21, 2015 ii Abstract This dissertation examines the practice of chanoyu (a performative art form featuring the formalized preparation of tea) by the regional warlords who took up the art in great numbers in Japan from the late sixteenth century forward. Spanning the period from 1573 until 1860, the case studies of seven warlord tea masters, as well as many ancillary figures, demonstrate the manner in which warlord tea praxis first developed in Japan and provide insight into why the art was embraced so widely by the military elite. Tracing this development through four chronological stages, this dissertation challenges the marginalization of warlord tea praxis in current scholarship, arguing that warlord tea masters were not only central to the field of early modern tea, but that warlord tea masters shaped the historical development of chanoyu in significant ways: assuming public roles as aesthetic authorities, collaborating with artisans, preserving and cataloguing tea utensils of historic import, contributing extensively to tea discourse through their writings, and articulating the connections between chanoyu and the governance of the Tokugawa state. iii Acknowledgements As with any undertaking of daunting size and long duration, there are so many people to whom I owe thanks and gratitude. I am deeply indebted to my dissertation adviser Eric Rath, whose sage counsel, patience, and insight have guided this project from its inception. Completion of this dissertation would have been impossible without his guidance and thoughtful critiques at every stage of its development over the past five years. During my time at the University of Kansas, I have been mentored by many other excellent historians of East Asia, including Megan Greene, William Tsutsui, Devon Dear, and Benjamin Uchiyama. Eve Levin has kindly shared useful advice on professionalization and never failed to help me consider as-yet unexplored implications of my research. Maggie Childs has been a constant source of reliable feedback and thought-provoking conversation. From Michael Baskett, I learned how to critically interpret cinematic depictions of historical figures and events. William Lindsey helped me navigate the apparent contradictions of Japanese religious history. The help of Michiko Ito at Watson Library in identifying and obtaining key resource materials cannot be overstated. My ability to interpret difficult early modern manuscripts has been greatly aided by participation in two seminars led by Laura Moretti (University of Cambridge, Emmanuel College) and Susumu Yamabe (Nish ōgakusha University), held in Pennsylvania and England, respectively. None of this research would have been possible without the early dedication of Mako Beecken, my first Japanese language teacher and later a respected colleague in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at Colorado State University. More than a decade of work with the Program for Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado has taught how best to share my research with a wider audience, and I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to collaborate with Lynn Parisi and Cathy Higbee Ishida on various projects, including some which engage tea history. While in Kansas, Nancy Hope at the Kansas Consortium for Teaching about Asia and Patty Woods with the Heart of America Japan-America Society have also kindly provided opportunities for such outreach work. I was fortunate to receive a Japan Foundation Dissertation Research Fellowship grant for 2011-2012 which allowed me to conduct much of the archival research for this dissertation. While in Japan, Timothy Cross of Fukuoka University provided excellent on-site guidance and support for the project. I am grateful to Tokumaru Takatsugu of the Urasenke Konnichian archives for his assistance in accessing key documents. I also received valuable aid from staff iv members at the National Diet Library, the Eisei Bunk ō in Kumamoto, Matsui Bunko in Yatsushiro-jō, and from countless other curators, librarians, and docents at cultural sites connected to tea around Japan. I am grateful to my longtime friend Kiyoshi Takashima for arranging a personal introduction to scholars working on Hosokawa Sansai at the Eisei Bunk ō’s branch office at Kumamoto University. A serendipitous meeting with Haruo Ohkubo of Tokyo’s Musashino Gakuin University in Hikone yielded fascinating insight on the warlord Ii Naosuke and his life there at Umoreginoya. The encouragement of established tea scholars such as Kumakura Isao, Morgan Pitelka, Patricia Graham, Andrew Maske, James-Henry Holland, Kristin Surak, and Rebecca Corbett has inspired me to strive to live up to their scholarly models. It would be remiss of me to fail to mention my many teachers in the tea world, including Dale Slusser, Dean Olson, Randy Channell, Michael Ricci, Aaron Bryson, Christy Bartlett, Roy Bath, Todd Frey and Mrs. Tsuchiya. Bruce Hamana welcomed me to public tea events at Urasenke and introduced me to fellow students of tea in Kyoto. The scholars Ethan Segal, Stephen Miller, and Todd Henry have also provided mentoring and friendship over the years for which I am genuinely thankful. Along the way, I have benefited from and been comforted by the presence of genial and supportive colleagues at the University of Kansas and elsewhere, including Nicole Barnes, Paula Renée Curtis, Amy Franks Sevilla, John Schneiderwind, Bobby Del Greco, Allison Schmidt, Andrew Kustodowicz, Dezeree Hodish, Heather Yates, Vanessa Aldrich, and John Biersack. Thank you all for helping me sustain a healthy perspective and sense of humor along the way The support of Jim Varner was instrumental in enabling my return to student life from full-time teaching and much of my subsequent success is due to his generosity in facilitating that initial transition. My dear friend Sunniye Buesing, my sister DebiSue Merritt, and many other friends and family members have also been stalwarts of personal support. Finally, I doubt if I can ever adequately express the debt of gratitude and appreciation I owe to my husband, Gary Landeck. He has patiently listened to endless monologues on tea history, read many early chapter drafts, and believed in me and this project through high and low points alike. His unwavering support and love have daily sustained me on this journey. To all of the people who helped usher me toward the completion of this dissertation, I offer this expression of my enduring respect and appreciation. Thank you. v Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... vi Introduction: Warlord Tea in Historical Context ........................................................................... 1 Chapter Two: No Tea Outside of Riky ū? Hosokawa Sansai, Furuta Oribe and the Question of Chanoyu Orthodoxy ...................................................................................................................... 45 Chapter Three: Inventing Auteurs: Warlord Tea Masters and the Cultivation of Cultural Authority, 1615-1673 ............................... 84 Chapter Four: “For the Ordering of the State”: Matsudaira Fumai’s Neo-Confucian Reclamation of Warlord Tea ............................................................................................................................ 133 Chapter Five: “Correcting the Original Teachings”: Ii Naosuke and Late-Tokugawa Chanoyu 173 Conclusion: Toward a Holistic History of Warlord Tea ............................................................. 213 Epilogue ...................................................................................................................................... 219 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 221 vi Introduction: Warlord Tea in Historical Context [A warrior] should make inquiry into the way of horsemanship, tea, archery and tactics. ~Hosokawa Y ūsai 1 From the late sixteenth century onward, the practice of chanoyu 2 – a performative art form characterized by the ritualized preparation and service of green tea – grew in popularity among Japan’s samurai. Quick to realize that the art conferred a veneer of cultural respectability upon its serious