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chanoyu-to-wa · 3 months ago

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The Chanoyu Hyaku-shu [茶湯百首], Part III: Poem 69.

〽 Ko-ita ni te koicha wo tate-ba chakin wo ba ko-ita no hashi ni oku-mono zo kashi

[小板��て濃茶を立てば茶巾をば小板の端に置く物ぞ可し].

“If [you are] making koicha with [the furo resting on] a ko-ita [小板], in the case of the chakin, it should be placed on the edge of the ko-ita as a matter of course.”

The ko-ita [小板] is a wooden board, exactly 9-sun 5-bu square, on which the large furo¹ was to be placed (to prevent its heat from damaging the tatami underneath). Originally made to be used as a base for large iron furo in the larger rooms², the ko-ita furo came to be used in the small room starting around the summer of 1587³.

The usage described here -- placing the chakin on the corner of the ko-ita closest to the center of the mat -- was ultimately based on the traditional use of the naga-ita [長板], and Jōō’s use of the shi-hō-ita [四方板]⁴.

The reason why the chakin needed to be put on the ko-ita during the koicha-temae was because the lid of the kama was supposed to be closed during the chasen-tōshi (so the kama could heat fully)⁵. If the chakin is not placed on the ko-ita, there is no other place to put it, since resting it on the lid of the kama will prevent the host from closing the kama⁶.

As we have seen in the case of other poems, because this rule was something that the tea community generally followed (at least until Sōtan started doing otherwise during the second half of the seventeenth century), all of the collections preserve the same version of this poem⁷.

_________________________

¹Since the days of Yoshimasa’s second retirement (1489~90), the large iron kimen-buro came to be used in the tearoom*, albeit resting on a naga-ita [長板] rather than on a daisu (since it was too large to fit on the large daisu, while respecting the teachings of kane-wari†). Jōō originally created the ko-ita as a way to protect Yoshimasa’s naga-ita from being damaged during the sumi-temae‡.

Later, as his approach to chanoyu became more wabi, Jōō dispensed with the naga-ita entirely, and used the ko-ita throughout the gathering, placing the mizusashi directly on the mat at its side. This became a convention associated with his 4.5-mat room**. ___________ *Originally the furo made of iron were produced to be used on the o-chanoyu-dana -- that is, in the preparation room, where the guests would not see them.

†Making a larger-sized daisu was also out of the question, since the rule was that the daisu should not rise up onto the heri on either side of the mat (while a daisu suitable for the large iron kimen-buro would have had to be 3-shaku 1-sun 5-bu wide, which is the total width of the kyōma mat itself).

‡The naga-ita, and the rest of the kaigu, were displayed in the toko during the shoza. They were moved to the utensil mat during the naka-dachi.

**The furo was not used in the small room until the summer of 1587 (which may be why Rikyū’s kaiki documenting the year that ran from the Tenth Month of 1586 to the Ninth Month of 1587 is the earliest one that was preserved -- since in earlier years the ro would have been used all year round in the small room: this kaiki survives as Book Two of the Nampō Roku).

²The original furo that was used in this way (and for which Jōō created the ko-ita in the first place) was the large iron Temmyō kimen-buro that had belonged to Ashikaga Yoshimasa*.

RIkyū told this story, regarding the way the size of the ko-ita (which measures 9-sun 5-bu square) was decided upon:

“Jōō-rō [紹鷗老] took the large furo outside and stood it on a piece of paper under the noonday sun” [in other words, when the sun was directly overhead, so the circumference of the furo would cast a uniformly sharp and perfectly circular shadow], “and traced the outline of the shadow on the paper with a brush and ink.

“The ko-ita was made the size of a square drawn inside the edge of that circle,” [as shown above].

The ko-ita was originally cut from the ten-ita of an old daisu†, meaning it was 6-bu thick and painted with shin-nuri [眞塗]. Subsequent ko-ita were either made in the same way, or were made to imitate these particulars‡. ___________ *This iron furo had been made to be used on the o-chanoyu-dana [御茶湯棚] that was attached to Yoshimasa’s private shoin. Once he began to make tea in the shoin using the daisu, this furo (and the other utensils associated with the o-chanoyu-dana) was no longer used. However, the utensils were kept in their places on the o-chanoyu-dana so it would not be empty.

At the start of the Ōnin wars (in 1467), Yoshimasa’s storehouse (wherein all of his treasured tea utensils had been stowed for safety) was burned down. The result was that only the objects on the o-chanoyu-dana that adjoined his shoin remained completely unscathed, since his residence itself was undamaged in the attack. Yoshimasa subsequently brought this furo out into the shoin and, placing it on a board made from the ten-ita of his daisu (which had been cut down to the inner corners of the four leg holes, because the edges of the board had been damaged), used it to serve tea.

This same furo (along with Yoshimasa’s naga-ita) became one of Oda Nobunaga’s greatest treasures, and was frequently used by him when serving tea with his own hands.

It should be mentioned that all of the large (and usually iron or lacquered-clay) furo measuring 1-shaku 1- or 2-sun in diameter were made for this purpose. As they had originally not been made to be seen by the guests, it was only this kind of furo that were sanctioned for use in the small room (and only after the summer of 1587).

†Daisu were traditionally made from high-quality cedar wood that had been aged for many years (so it was thoroughly dried out, and so would not warp). After a certain amount of use, the ji-ita becomes scorched by the heat of the furo, and this damage cannot be repaired. The ten-ita usually remains in fairly good condition, however, so the wood was often reused to make naga-ita (by cutting off the edges to the inner corners of the four leg holes, leaving a board roughly 2-shaku 5-sun 5-bu by 1-shaku), and the other smaller boards (the shi-hō-ita [四方板], which measured 1-shaku 2-sun 5-bu by 1-shaku, made by cutting the naga-ita in half; the ō-ita [大板], which measured 1-shaku 3-sun square; and the ko-ita [小板], measuring, as above, 9-sun 5-bu square).

The naga-ita was first made by Yoshimasa. The shi-hō-ita, ō-ita, and ko-ita were created by Jōō.

‡Rikyū made a special ko-ita that measured 8-sun 5-bu square. But while this, too, was made as a base for the large iron furo (not for a smaller furo as many say today), it was only used when a meibutsu-chaire was going to be displayed in the exact center of the mat (that is, resting squarely on the central kane) in the small room. When this smaller ko-ita was arranged on the mat in the usual way (that is, placed 5-sun from the far end of the mat, and 4-sun 5-bu from the heri), it moved the furo (and its heat) diagonally away from the precious chaire, to protect it (and the tea it contained) from any damage.

This ko-ita was only supposed to be used in this way, and any other usage was not approved by Rikyū. (Today this kind of ko-ita is commonly marketed for use with the little beni-bachi that are made to heat the tetsu-bin that is used with the beginning tray-temae that most schools have adopted as the first step in their training process.)

³Originally Rikyū placed the large iron kimen-buro on top of the lid of the mukō-ro*; but in small rooms that did not have a ro cut in them, Jōō’s ko-ita was used, as discussed in this poem.

Furo traditionally came in three sizes. The large furo (measuring 1-shaku 1- or 2-sun in diameter) was made to be used on the o-chanoyu-dana. The medium-sized furo (which was around 1-shaku in diameter) was supposed to be used on the large daisu. And the small furo (around 9-sun in total diameter†) was made for use on the small daisu.

The original large furo were mostly made of iron (since the guests were unlikely to see it, as it was kept and used on the o-chanoyu-dana, located in a 2-mat anteroom attached to the shoin), though lacquered ceramic Nara-buro of this size began to appear during the second half of the fifteenth century. As mentioned above, Jōō made the ko-ita for use with this kind of furo when it was brought out into the tea room. According to the original way of doing things, only a large iron furo was sanctioned for use in the small room; and, if the room lacked a mukō-ro (on the lid of which the furo could be placed), it was supposed to be arranged on a (shin-nuri) ko-ita‡.

The medium furo was originally made of bronze (and so imported from Korea until the very end of the sixteenth century, when the art of casting bronze was brought to Japan following Hideyoshi’s invasions of the continent); and, as a gesture of respect, it was said that a medium-sized bronze furo was only allowed to be used on the (large) daisu. However, from the end of the fifteenth century onward (as a consequence of the trade embargo with China and Korea), lacquered ceramic furo of the medium size were being made in Japan for use on the daisu**. These Nara-buro [奈良風爐]†† (as they were called, since they were originally made in that city) could be used apart from the daisu, and it was for this kind of furo that Jōō created the shi-hō-ita.

The small furo was also typically made of bronze; but because the original small furo lacked ears, even if it was made of bronze it was allowed to be used without the daisu‡‡. Jōō created the ō-ita [大板] (which measures 1-shaku 3-sun square, the same as the depth of the small daisu) for the small furo -- especially when it was going to be used in a room covered with kyōma tatami.

Jōō originally created these different boards for use during the shoza only -- so the daisu or Yoshimasa’s original naga-ita would not be damaged (from sparks or abrasive charcoal dust) during the sumi-temae***.(while the daisu or naga-ita would be displayed in the tokonoma). ___________ *The first time the furo was recorded to have been used in the small room was during the summer of 1587, in the 2-mat room (with mukō-ro) that Rikyū had erected on the grounds of the Hakozaki-gū [筥崎宮], in the pine barrens north-east of Hakata (in present day Fukuoka City), in Kyūshū -- during Hideyoshi’s Kyūshū campaign. The reason he did this (he was serving tea to the wealthy merchants of Hakata on Hideyoshi’s behalf) was because the furo was the same old iron kimen-buro that had famously belonged to Nobunaga (who was popularly known to have been using it to serve tea when the Honnō-ji was attacked by Mitsuhide). By using this furo, Rikyū was demonstrating to the merchants that Hideyoshi was Nobunaga’s legitimate heir and successor.

It was at this time that Hideyoshi was beginning to sound out the merchants (many of whom had intimate dealings with the kingdoms of Okinawa, Tsushima, and, of course, Josen) regarding his intention of sending an army across to the continent, in the hopes of placing himself on the Chinese imperial throne through right of conquest -- since he was planning to ask them to underwrite the invasion.

†When the furo had kan-tsuki (such as the kimen-buro), the kan-tsuki were supposed to fit inside the circle of its diameter. Thus, the body of the medium-sized furo (which was supposed to measure 1-shaku in total diameter), was actually around 9-sun in diameter (since the kimen kan-tsuki projected outward from the body).

‡Today most of the modern schools teach that iron furo should be placed on a ceramic tile. But this represents another misunderstanding of a specific historical precedent.

During the earthquake of 1596, when Hideyoshi’s great palace of Fushimi was destroyed, the large iron kimen-buro that had belonged to Yoshimasa (and which, in 1582, had sustained a large crack when Mori Ranmaru threw it against the wall to scatter the charcoal in order to burn down the shoin, so Nobunaga’s head could not be taken and paraded in ignominy by Akechi Mitsuhide) was further damaged, with most of the rim broken away. A new small unryū-gama was made, but because of the broken rim, the kama had to be set 1-sun lower in the furo than previously. In order to compensate for this, Furuta Sōshitsu placed that furo on top of an engraved floor tile (made of dark gray unglazed Korean togi [토기 = 土器]) that he had brought back from Korea. This tile was 1-sun 5-bu thick, so it elevated the mouth of the kama to approximately the same height as before. This was a special case, and intended only for use with this specific furo.

Later, the story was repeated by people who had no access to the actual details, or Sōshitsu’s reasoning. But since this tile had been introduced by Sōshitsu, it was called the Oribe kawara [織部瓦]. Later this name became confused with the variety of Mino pottery known as Oribe-yaki [織部燒], which featured designs painted with underglaze iron-oxide, and partly covered by a green glaze; and the machi-shū began to teach that all iron furo were “supposed” to be placed on tiles of this sort -- even though none of this had any historical validity.

According to Jōō and Rikyū, the large iron furo were always supposed to be placed on shin-nuri ko-ita (since the old ten-ita from which they were made were always painted with shin-nuri).

**At that time, only the daisu was commonly used when serving tea, so anyone who wished to practice chanoyu needed to acquire a daisu. If the tea room was covered with kyōma tatami [京間疊] (the mats that measured 6-shaku 3-sun by 3-shaku 1-sun 5-bu), he would use a large daisu. If the room was floored with inakama tatami [田舎間疊] (which measured 5-shaku 9-bu by 2-shaku 9-sun 5-bu), the host would use a small daisu. The two types of daisu were made for these two settings.

The naga-ita was only used with Yoshimasa’s large iron kimen-buro, so that was a special case that was beyond the ken of most tea people of that time.

††The Nara-buro that were made for use on the (large) daisu measured 1-shaku in diameter. These furo began to appear towards the end of the fifteenth century, as more and more townsmen began to practice chanoyu (which was still focused on the daisu)..

‡‡The original small furo was the bronze Chōsen-buro [朝鮮風爐], shown below, which lacked ears.

It seems that it was for this reason -- because this furo could not acknowledge the presence of a nobleman (by raising the kan) -- that the bronze Chōsen-buro could be used apart from the daisu.

In the case of the kimen-buro, the kan were supposed to be raised (as shown in the photo) whenever a nobleman was present in the room, and immediately lowered (so that they depend from the kan-tsuki, as seen in the photo of the arrangement of the utensil mat that accompanies the translation) when the nobleman left. It is said that this was the reason why this furo could only be used on the daisu (since raising and lowering the kan would have been inappropriate outside of that most formal of settings).

***At that time, the daisu or naga-ita and the rest of the kaigu would be displayed in the tokonoma. These things would be moved to the utensil mat during the naka-dachi. In this Jōō once again took as his precedent the doings of the Shino family, who displayed the Shino-dana [志野棚] on the utensil mat during the shoza (when incense would be appreciated), and then lifted the Shino-dana into the toko during the naka-dachi, to make way for the tea utensils that would be arranged on the utensil mat so tea could be served during the goza.

⁴As mentioned above, the shi-hō-ita measured approximately 2-shaku 5-sun 5-bu by 1-shaku, and was (originally) made by cutting a naga-ita in half.

Just as with the daisu, the furo would eventually damage the part of the naga-ita on which it was placed. By cutting the charred half of the board off, the remainder could continue to be used as a base for a 1-shaku Nara-buro (by Jōō’s day, these were usually mayu-buro [眉風爐]), with the mizusashi sitting directly on the mat at its side.

When the shi-hō-ita was used, not only the chakin, but also the chashaku and the lid of the chaire were to be placed on the ita during the temae. And the habōki and a pair of bronze kan, or the kōgō, or the hishaku and futaoki, were also displayed on the board, beside the furo, as well.

⁵The way this is taught by many modern schools today -- to immediately put the chakin on the lid of the kama as soon as it is taken out of the chawan at the beginning of the temae (meaning that the lid cannot be closed during the chasen-tōshi) -- started with Sōtan.

From his youth, Sōtan only used the small unryū-gama and the kiji-tsurube when serving tea (after the small unryū-gama and the large iron kimen-buro were returned to the Sen family along with Rikyū’s papers and some other utensils when the Sen family was restored*). Because the lid of the kiji-tsurube can be opened even when the chakin is resting on it, Sōtan got into the habit of placing the chakin there. But when he was called on to serve tea using another sort of mizusashi (in later life, after he was appointed tea master to the court of the retired Imperial Consort Tōfukumon-in), he went to put the chakin on the lid of the mizusashi. But, realizing that he had to open the mizusashi so he could add cold water to the kama, he put the chakin on the lid of the kama (which prevented him from being able to close the kama during the chasen-tōshi), and so the modern furo-koicha temae was born. ___________ *In the aftermath of the suppression of Akechi Mitsuhide’s rebellion, Hideyoshi presented the large Temmyō kimen-buro to Rikyū, as a memento of their lord Nobunaga. But because the furo had been cracked (and the original kama had been broken completely in the fire that consumed the Honnō-ji -- and much of that part of Kyōto as well), Rikyū decided that a new cylindrical kama (that preserved the diameter of the original kama’s mouth, while resting on a gotoku rather than the rim) needed to be made that would not put weight on the cracked rim of the furo. And because Nobunaga had always used the seiji unryū-mizusashi together with the furo when serving tea using Yoshimasa’s naga-ita, Rikyū had the Chinese dragon design from that mizusashi incised into the side of the mold (so the dragon and clouds would appear in bas-relief encircling the kama).

After Hideyoshi had succeeded in capturing and razing the Ishiyama Hongan-ji [石山本願寺] (in central Ōsaka), in an effort to weaken the power of the Ikkō-ichinen-shū [一向一念宗] (which “dangerous” Amidist sect -- among its tenets was the idea that all people are equal, once they have recited the nenbutsu -- was then rumored to have caused the collapse of the Goryeo government), he built a castle on the site, surrounded by a moat. In the boathouse on the moat was a 2-mat tearoom (the Yamazato-maru [山里丸]) in which Hideyoshi would serve tea to his most intimate guests. For this room, Rikyū created a daisu-like tana (known as the Yamazato-dana), based on the take-daisu [竹臺子] that had been used by Shukō. The large Temmyō kimen-buro (and the small unryū-gama) were to be used on this tana, so Rikyū returned this furo to Hideyoshi.

As the large kimen-buro had been given to Rikyū, Hideyoshi seems to have considered that it was always his, and so he returned it to Shōan (along with a newly-made small unryū-gama) when he reinstated the Sen family name, not many months before his own death. And from that time on, only this kama and furo (and a kiji-tsurube) were used by him and Sōtan when serving tea to their guests.

⁶The reader should understand that there is no parallel practice associated with the irori. In other words, the chakin should never be placed on the ro-buchi (even though certain chajin were doing so during Jōō’s lifetime, with the practice having come down even to the present day). The reason for this prohibiiton was because it is all too easy for the chakin to fall into the ro (something that cannot happen when it is resting on the ko-ita).

When serving koicha using the ro, the chakin should be placed on the lid of the mizusashi (since the mizusashi will not be opened until after the host has drunk the cha-no-ato*, and he is going to begin cleaning the chawan.

With respect to this practice of the host’s drinking the cha-no-ato after serving koicha, this custom persisted into the 20th century, and only began to fall away after the large number of young women were pressed into studying chanoyu (on the theory that their holding advanced chanoyu menjō would make them more marriageable) began to balk at the idea of licking up someone else’s leavings†. ___________ *According to Rikyū -- and this was most especially the case in the small room (where the tea was supposed to be the most important element in the chakai) -- the cha-no-ato [茶の跡] (the film of koicha that remains clinging to the inside of the chawan after the guests have drunk the tea) should not be wasted.

Rather, after the chawan is returned to the host, the host first looks at the cha-no-ato, and smells it; and then, placing the chawan down on the mat in front of his knees, and performing a yu-gaeshi [湯返し] (raising a hishaku of hot water above the mouth of the kama for several seconds, and then pouring it back into the kama, to modulate the temperature -- the result will be a restoration of the shō-fū [松風] sound) and then pours a small amount of hot water into the chawan.

Using the chasen, the host gently cleans the koicha off of the sides of the bowl (this also helps to clean the chasen as well), and then whisks the cha-no-ato into a thin usucha, which he then drinks. Only then does the host open the mizusashi (during the ro season; in the case of the furo, it would have remained open since it was opened when the host was preparing the koicha) add both cold and hot water to the chawan, and proceed to clean the inside of the chawan with his thumb.

If the host prepares several bowls of koicha, he should drink the cha-no-ato from each of them before cleaning them.

Again, according to Rikyū, the cha-no-ato should always be drunk by the host. It is wrong to offer it to the guests (even if they mistakenly ask him to let them drink it). Sōtan, however, always served koicha as sui-cha [吸い茶] (in other words, all of the guests drank from a single large bowl of tea), and then, adding hot water to the cha-no-ato, offered this to his guests as their usucha. As a result, some modern schools continue this practice, and also take this kind of “usucha” as their model for what the ideal bowl of usucha should look like. Both of these are mistaken, at least if the idea is to follow Rikyū’s teachings in our chanoyu.

†The final nail in the coffin occurred when the wife of a certain influential iemoto, who had not been raised in a chanoyu-connected family, turned up her nose in disgust at the idea. After which this school began to actively dissuade its adherents from drinking the cha-no-ato under any circumstances.

⁷This indicates that the practice of placing the chakin directly on the lid of the kama at the beginning of the koicha-temae did not enter common practice until the second half of the seventeenth century* -- in the years after Hosokawa Sansai wrote down his version of the Chanoyu hyaku shu [茶湯百首]. ___________ *This also tells us that the Sen family’s furo koicha-temae did not assume its current form until after that time. As a result, even though it goes against their own way of doing things, Sansai’s version of this poem remains part of the Hundred Poems collection preserved in both Omotesenke’s, and Urasenke’s, archives.

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chanoyu-to-wa · 1 month ago

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The Chanoyu Hyaku-shu [茶湯百首], Part IV: Poem 78.

〽 Tomoshibi ni in to yō to no futatsu ari akatsuki in ni yoru ha yō nari

[燈火に陰と陽との二ツ有り曉陰に夜は陽也].

“In the case of the tomoshibi, it can be yin or yang -- both of these two. At daybreak [it is] yin; at night it is yang.”

The tomoshibi is the oil lamp that is used in the tea room -- the details of which were discussed in the previous post (Poem 77).

The tomoshibi itself is neutral. The way it is handled determines whether its light is yin or yang.

Akatsuki in ni [曉陰に] means “at daybreak, (it is) yin.” What this is saying is that, between the hours of first light and sunrise, the tomoshibi should be swathed in a paper sheath of some sort when it is placed in the tea room for a “dawn” chakai.

The “yin effect” is achieved by placing the tomoshibi inside a zaseki-andon [座席行燈], shown above¹, since the paper dampens the light.

In the 4.5-mat room, the zaseki-andon is placed on the mat next to the utensil mat (since the intention is to give light to both the temae-za and the matting in front of the guests’ knees²).

In the smaller rooms, where there is not enough floor space for the andon³, it was usually placed in the tokonoma, 17-me or so back from the front heri⁴.

Yoru ha yō nari [夜は陽也] means “at night, it is yang.” In other words, at night the flame should be unimpeded by any sort of lampshade, so it illuminates the room strongly.

At night, the tomoshibi is usually arranged on a tankei [短檠] (or some other sort of base; or else suspended on the wall⁵ or on one of the pillars in rooms where the available floor space is limited), to elevate the flame, and so give better light to the room in general.

The original version of the poem (as found in Jōō’s Matsu-ya manuscript, and subsequently quoted by Rikyū) differs from Sansai’s version (as found in the Kyūshū manuscript) in that the shimo-no-ku [下の句] reads asa ha in ni te ban ha yō nari [朝はいんにて晩は陽なり].

Akatsuki [曉] specifically means dawn (i.e., the time between first light and sunrise, when the sky begins to lighten, but before the sun rises above the horizon), while asa [朝] refers to morning more broadly (from dawn to the forenoon). Likewise, ban [晩] means eventide, the time stretching from dusk to deep night, while yoru [夜] specifically means night (the time when the sky is completely dark). Jōō seems to have been thinking more broadly, while Sansai was remembering the poem in terms of the way chanoyu was being practiced in his day (which was essentially the same as things are done now). But syntactics aside, the difference between the two versions is so insignificant, in practical terms, that they are essentially identical, especially in English translation.

This poem is not found in either of the collections associated with Katagiri Sadamasa, though the reason why this is so is unclear.

_________________________

¹The zaseki-andon is shown in the photo with its lid on (which prevents light from shining upward). While some schools say to put the lid on, this refers to the modern case where the zaseki-andon is used at a yo-kai [夜會] (a chakai held at night) throughout the whole gathering. In this case, the lid is on during the shoza, and removed during the naka-dachi.

At a gathering that begins before sunrise* (this is the case mentioned in this poem), the zaseki-andon is used only during the shoza, and removed from the room during the naka-dachi (because, since things should be arranged so that sunrise is anticipated to occur during the naka-dachi, artificial lighting should no longer be needed during the goza).

As for whether the lid should be put on the andon or not in this case, it depends on the specific situation the host is facing -- how much light he thinks will be needed (which depends on both the size of the room and its configuration); nevertheless, the idea is that the light should seem wane, on the verge of fading away. ___________ *The akatsuki no chakai [曉の茶會] of Rikyū’s day was a little different from the way the modern schools do it.

In his period, the guests usually arrived just after the sky began to lighten (so they would enter the koshi-kake around the time that the host was drawing water from the well), with the intention of their watching the host’s preparations, starting with the kindling of the fire, and the heating of the dawn-fresh water. The shutters covering the windows would have been removed before they arrived (to air out the room -- since, in theory at least, it might have been possible that the host had slept there, as this was supposed to be his hermitage). Because of these things, the need for artificial illumination would have been minimal.

Today the guests usually arrive the night before, and enter the room (with all the windows still covered with their wooden shutters) while it is completely dark. The kama of cold water (water drawn the previous evening, or perhaps the previous dawn) was supposed to be placed in the ro the night before, so it would be in a sub-boiling state (having come to a full boil and then declined) when they take their seats. This means that everything will be an hour or so earlier than what it was in Rikyū’s day.

The poem is naturally referring to the situation during Jōō’s and Rikyū’s lifetimes.

²This means that the host has to be careful to orient the tomoshibi properly inside the andon. The side with the flame should be on the side of the tomoshibi facing out into the room, with the andon then oriented so that its front-to-back axis is parallel to the heri of the utensil mat. ___________ *The base of the zaseki-andon measures 9-sun square.

The base of the smaller andon, in which a candle is used (shown below), is 6-sun square.

This smaller lamp is usually referred to as a roji-andon [路地行燈; today written 露地行燈], because it was sometimes carried by the host and guests in the roji, to light their way over the irregular stepping stones (usually on windy nights, since the rigid frame protects the flame better than the paper cone placed around the flame of a te-shoku [手燭], the long-handled metal candlestick more commonly used for this purpose). Nevertheless, it is recorded that Rikyū brought this kind of andon out as the principal source of light -- in other words, he used it as a “zashiki-andon” -- in his 2-mat rooms.

When used in this way, the handle (which is necessary only when carrying this andon through the roji) would be removed (the handle is held in place by two small pegs, and so designed to be modified in this way with ease).

³In the very small rooms -- 1.5 mats, ichi-jō-daime [一疊臺目] and 2-mats -- the tomoshibi was usually arranged on a kake-to-dai [掛燈臺] (two versions of which, from an Edo period treatise on tea, are shown below).

The usual rule was that the kake-tō-dai should be suspended on either the naka-bashira (below, left), or the toko-bashira (from a hook nailed so it faced the room, as shown on the right)*.

Since, at dawn, the tomoshibi is only used during the shoza, the primary purpose is to give light to the interior of the ro (so the host can see what he is doing while adding charcoal to the ro), and the area in front of the guests’ knees (so they can inspect the utensils, and also see their food during the kaiseki). In this case, a cylinder of paper was often placed on the kake-tō-dai before the tomoshibi was arranged on it, to create a sort of lampshade. ___________ *When used during a yo-kai (night gathering), the kake-tō-dai was usually suspended on the naka-bashira during the shoza, and from a hook nailed into the toko-bashira during the goza.

Alternatively, during the goza the kake-tō-dai could be suspended from the hook nailed into the back wall of the toko. Jōō referred to this arrangement as tō-ka [燈華], which means “flower of the lamp” -- in other words, the kake-tō-dai is taking the place of the flower arrangement (this works, in Japanese, through a play on words, since ka [華 or 花] means flower, while ka [火] means flame). Jōō considered this to be one of his most secret teachings.

At dawn, since it was used only during the shoza, the kake-tō-dai could be suspended in either place, depending on the circumstances.

⁴The orientation is roughly based on the placement of the usu-ita [薄板] (the board on which the flower arrangement is placed).

⁵This was achieved by using a sort of suibachi [垂撥], such as the one shown below.

This is one* of several suibachi that are said to have been brought back from Korea by Hosokawa Sansai. The narrow channel allows the hook (from which the kake-tō-dai was suspended) to be raised or lowered, to provide light where needed (such as for reading). ___________ *The other one was much longer, allowing for the lamp to be raised much higher, or brought lower.

From the beginning, it appears that Sansai used the larger one to hang his kake-hanaire, as is still the case today in rooms that do not have a hook affixed to the back wall of the toko (such as those where the plastered walls of the tokonoma are covered with wallpaper -- because the iron hook will quickly stain the paper, making it look dirty).

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