Kobori Enshu - Kobori Enshu

A samurai and tea master from the early Edo period. The founder of the Enshu school of tea ceremony. Born in the 7th year of the Tensho era in Kobori Village, Sakata County, Omi (present-day Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture). His given name was Sakusuke and Masakazu. His pen name was Soho. The name Enshu comes from the fact that he was appointed to the rank of Junior Fifth Rank, Totomi no Kami, after the death of his father, Masatsugu, in 1604 (Keicho 9). In the 16th year of the Genwa era (the 2nd year of the Genwa era), at the age of 28, he was appointed as the commissioner of construction work for the Goyozei-in Palace. From then on, he was involved every year in the construction of various buildings, tea rooms, and gardens related to the shogunate and imperial court, including Edo Castle, Sunpu Castle, Nagoya Castle (stalagmite), Fushimi Castle (main citadel), the Imperial Palace (Emperor Gomizunoo) and the Empress's (Tokugawa Kazuko's) palace, Osaka Castle (stalagmite and main citadel), Konchiin (sukiya-style building and garden), Sento (Emperor Gomizunoo's) palace, Nijo Castle (second citadel), Minakuchi Castle in Omi, the Iba tea room, and Edo Tokai-ji Temple (gardens), and this continued into his early 60s. In the 24th year of the Kan'ei era (1st year of the Kan'ei era), he was appointed as the magistrate of Fushimi, a position he held until his death in February of the 4th year of the Shoho era. In addition to the practical talent he inherited from his father, he also had the backing of his father-in-law, Todo Takatora, who was trusted by Ieyasu and Hidetada, and he was active in both the imperial court and the military, and through his duties he acquired a wealth of classical knowledge and culture. He wrote two travelogues modeled after the Tales of Ise, and was good at calligraphy in the style of Teika. It can be said that the practice of naming tea utensils with ancient poems appropriate to their origins and appearance began in Enshu.

He developed an interest in the tea ceremony after witnessing Sen no Rikyu's tea ceremony at Yamato Koriyama Castle at the age of 10, and during the Keicho era (1596-1615) he studied under Furuta Oribe, who became a tea ceremony master after Rikyu's death, and created his own school of tea by using the Oribe school as the foundation and adopting and discarding Rikyu school as appropriate. His view of the tea ceremony can be seen in his "written and discarded writings" and "wall inscriptions," and although he introduced feudal ethics, he was characterized by a rich sensibility that was typical of the imperial court, which is why his aesthetic sense was called "kirei sabi." He invited Kougetsu Sogan to run the Kohoan hermitage within the Ryukoin temple of Daitokuji, but his tea ceremony poem Bosen depicts the world of shoin tea ceremony that Enshu loved. He died in his mansion in Fushimi.

[Murai Yasuhiko]

"The Tea Ceremony People's History" by Yasuhiko Murai (Kadokawa Sensho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸初期の武家、茶人。遠州流茶道の開祖。天正(てんしょう)7年近江(おうみ)坂田郡小堀村（現滋賀県長浜市）に生まれる。名は作介、政一。号を宗甫という。遠州の名は1604年（慶長9）、父正次の没後、従(じゅ)五位下遠江守(とおとうみのかみ)に叙任されたことによる。16年（元和2）、28歳のとき、後陽成院(ごようぜいいん)御所の作事奉行(ぶぎょう)を命ぜられたのを手始めに、以後、江戸城、駿府(すんぷ)城、名古屋城（天守）、伏見(ふしみ)城（本丸）、禁裏（後水尾(ごみずのお)天皇）御所、女御（徳川和子）御殿、大坂城（天守・本丸）、金地院(こんちいん)（数寄屋(すきや)・庭園）、仙洞(せんとう)（後水尾院）御所、二条城（二の丸）、近江水口(みなくち)城、伊庭(いば)茶室、江戸東海寺（庭園）など、連年のごとく幕府・宮廷関係の各種建築・茶室・庭園の作事にかかわり、これは60代の初めまで続いている。24年（寛永1）伏見奉行に任じられ、正保(しょうほう)4年2月、没するまで在職した。父譲りの実務的な才能に加え、家康・秀忠(ひでただ)の信任を得ていた岳父藤堂高虎(とうどうたかとら)の後ろ盾もあり、公武にわたって活躍、その職掌を通じて豊かな古典の知識教養の持ち主となった。『伊勢(いせ)物語』に擬して二つの紀行文を著し、定家風の書をよくした。茶道具に、その由来や姿形にふさわしい古歌をもって銘をつけたのは遠州に始まるといってよい。

　茶の湯については、10歳のとき大和郡山(やまとこおりやま)城で千利休(せんのりきゅう)の点前(てまえ)を実見して以来関心をもち、慶長(けいちょう)年間（1596～1615）利休没後茶の湯名人となった古田織部(ふるたおりべ)に師事して伝授を受け、織部流を根幹に、利休流を適宜取捨して一流をつくりだした。その茶の湯観は「書き捨て文」や「壁書条々」にみられ、封建倫理が導入されているものの、王朝ぶりの感性に富んでいるのが特徴、その美意識が「きれいさび」と称されたゆえんである。大徳寺龍光院内に江月宗玩(こうげつそうがん)を請(しょう)じて孤篷庵(こほうあん)を営んだが、茶席忘筌(ぼうせん)には遠州の好んだ書院茶の湯の世界が示されている。伏見の屋敷で没。

［村井康彦］

『村井康彦著『茶の湯人物志』（角川選書）』

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