Murata Shukou

Japanese: 村田珠光 - むらた・しゅこう

Year of death: Bunki 2.5.15 (1502.6.19)
Year of birth: 1423
A tea master from the Muromachi period. He is also known as Kaisan Jukou as the founder of wabi-cha tea, but until recently, much about his biography was unknown. He was the son of Mokuichi Kengyo of Nara, and his first name was Mokichi. At the age of 11, he became an apprentice to the monk Ryokai of Shomyoji Temple in Nara, and was eventually put in charge of Horin-an, but at the age of 20, he ran away and became a wanderer, eventually meeting Ikkyu Sojun. He also became acquainted with Noami, who introduced him to the world of Karamono Suki (tea ceremony held on a shoin-dai table, which values Chinese cultural artifacts), which became an opportunity for him to develop wabi-cha tea. Through Noami's encouragement, he became acquainted with Ashikaga Yoshimasa, who introduced him as "studying the ways of Confucius" (Yamagami Sojiki). According to another version, Yoshimasa gave the title "Jukou-anshu" to the four-and-a-half-tatami-mat hermitage that was connected to the west of Rokujo Horikawa. In "Kokoro no Sentence" given to Furuichi Harima (Sumitane), which shows Juko's philosophy, he states that "confusing the distinction between Japanese and Chinese" is "the greatest importance of this path," and preaches the blending of Japanese and Chinese. In opposition to the worship of Chinese things brought over from China, it sought to develop an aesthetic sense for Japanese things. This is in line with the aspiration of pure Zen and possession, which is the basis of Higashiyama culture. Juko's wabi-cha should be seen as part of Higashiyama culture. In Juko's case, the uniqueness of the tea ceremony lay in its attempt to compensate for material shortages with spiritual richness. Ikkyu's Zen at Daitokuji also aimed to Japaneseize, and when Takeno Joo, who admired Juko, became close friends with Kogaku Soken and Daibayashi Soso, the decisive connection between Daitokuji and the tea ceremony was established. Among the names of Juko's disciples listed in the "Yamagami Sojiki," the most important is Furuichi Harima, who was the leader of the monks at Kofuku-ji Temple, and from him Nara lacquer wholesaler Matsuya Genzaburou inherited the Juko specialty, and the family's reverence for and preservation of the Juko specialty increased the name of Juko. It is unclear whether the artist in the signature on the "Landscape Painting" at the Nomura Museum of Art and the Kosetsu Museum of Art is the same person.

(Toda Katsuhisa)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：文亀2.5.15(1502.6.19)
生年：応永30(1423)
室町時代の茶湯者。侘び茶の創始者として,開山珠光とも称されるが,近年まで伝記については不明な部分が多かった。奈良の杢市検校の子で初名茂吉。11歳にして奈良称名寺の了海上人の徒弟となり,法林庵を預かるまでになるが,20歳のころ出奔して放浪し,やがて一休宗純に出会う。また能阿弥の知遇も得て,唐物数寄(中国の文物を重んじる書院台子の茶)の世界を知り,侘び茶を工夫する機縁となった。能阿弥の推挽で足利義政の知遇を得,「孔子の道を学ぶ」と紹介されたという(『山上宗二記』)。別の伝で六条堀川西に結んでいた四畳半草庵に,義政が「珠光庵主」の文字を与えたとされている。珠光の思想を示す,古市播磨(澄胤)に与えた「心の文」に,「和漢のさかひをまぎらかす」ことが「この道の一大事」とあって,和漢の混融が説かれる。中国渡来の唐物崇拝に対し,和物に対する美意識を開発しようとするものであった。それは,東山文化の基調である浄禅兼帯の志向と軌を一にする。珠光の侘び茶は,東山文化の一環として捉えるべきであろう。珠光の場合,物の不足を心の豊かさで補おうとするところに,茶の湯の独自性があった。大徳寺の一休の禅も,和様化を目途するもので,さらに珠光を慕う武野紹鴎が古岳宗亘,大林宗套に親炙することで,大徳寺と茶の湯が決定的に結びついた。『山上宗二記』に珠光門人の名が挙げられるが,とりわけ興福寺の衆徒の棟梁であった古市播磨が重要で,彼から奈良の漆問屋松屋源三郎が珠光名物を譲りうけ,この一族の珠光名物への崇拝,伝存が珠光の名を高めることになる。野村美術館,香雪美術館の「山水図」の落款の画人珠光が同一人であるか不詳。

(戸田勝久)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

<<: Murata Seifu

>>: Murata Shugyo