Following on from my previous post on this text where I translated the section on the daisu, I have here a short translation from the final sections of Sōju’s Record Concerning Tea Ceremony Utensils (茶湯道具事書)¹.
Of course, with so little being known Sōju and with other texts bearing his colophon not yet proven to be reliably attributed to him², it must be noted that the authenticity and reliability of this text is unknown. Still, it appears to show a valuable insight into the tea practice of the early 1500s and the type of texts that were circulating the tea circles of this time.
Firstly, here is the list of all the sections:
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Dimensions of the Two-Panel Screen
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Dimensions of the One-Panel Board (一枚板)
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Dimensions of the Hearth Frame (Robuchi, 囲炉裏の縁)
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Concerning Lacquerware (detailing various styles)
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Chasan
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Yuteki
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Kensan
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Leaf Tea Jars (Chatsubo, 茶壺・葉茶壺)
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Meibutsu Chatsubo (葉茶壺の名物)
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Colophon
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Daiei 3, 1st Month, 28th Day, Sōju (1523/1/28)
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Kōrai Chawan
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Hai-Katsugi Tenmoku
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Yellow Tenmoku
Here, I’ll look at those final three sections, which for some reason are situated after the colophon. They are included in the same section in the transcription so perhaps it is safe to treat them as belonging to the same author and date as the sections that precede the colophon.
Excerpts from Record Concerning Tea Ceremony Utensils, by Sōju - 1523
Translation by David Lavecchia
Concerning Kōrai Chawan: those with a diameter of around 5 sun 1 bu (15.5cm) and a height of around 1 sun 9 bu (5.75cm) are good. This is to be transmitted orally. In recent times, white ones are not used.
Concerning Hai-katsugi: the upper glaze is entirely black; the clay is visibly black; where the glaze stops, the yellow underglaze is revealed. Sometimes the yellow under glaze follows the edge where the glaze stops; sometimes it extends by 2 or 3 bu. If no yellow underglaze appears, then it is merely an ordinary Tenmoku. The "silver" of hai-katsugi Tenmoku refers to a white, muddy appearance. Its presence or absence is of no consequence. What is important is that the underglaze be yellow.
Concerning Yellow Tenmoku: Even if the entire upper glaze is yellow, or half of it is yellow, or there is yellow at the edge of the fukurin, as long as the upper glaze is yellow, it is called yellow Tenmoku. Some have a black upper glaze, some a light persimmon color, and some have a pear-skin texture; if any of these have yellow glaze mixed in, it is considered yellow Tenmoku. Some have “silver,” though its presence is not essential. In general, the clay is whitish. Among such bowls, those with black clay are considered especially fine Tenmoku. Even if yellow does not appear at the glaze stopping point, it does not matter.
Commentary:
Interestingly, some of the preceding sections, namely those concerning lacquerware and chasan (yuteki and kensan), bear a striking resemblance to respective sections of the Kundaikansōchōki, of which there is known to be a copy in the Tokugawa Museum of Nōami’s version with a Sōju colophon dated to the second month of 1523, i.e. just after this text was written. This copy is thought by some to have been compiled from an earlier copy belonging to Jukō. Although, the authenticity of this is questionable as the copy appears to be much younger than the 1523 date³. There are also many other copies of the Kundaikansōchōki dating to 1523, typically of the Sōami version⁴.
As kōrai chawan are not mentioned in the Kundaikansōchōki and the next known mention of them isn’t until the 1537/9/12 entry in the Matsuya Kaiki, this 1523 text would then be the oldest known mention of kōrai chawan in a tea setting (that I know of). The fact Sōju mentions that ‘in recent times, white ones are not used’ also implies that their usage predates this text significantly enough to have noticeable trends. Additionally, as he says that there is an oral transmission, it is plausible that information about kōrai chawan was transmitted to him from Jukō, implying that Jukō also used Korean bowls.
Hai-katsugi Tenmoku "Akiba", MOA
I have already commented on the hai-katsugi tenmoku entry here. As no actual description of hai-katsugi tenmoku exists in any of the Kundaikansōchōki copies, this text is a valuable early description of what actually defined this style. The relationship between hai-katsugi tenmoku and ki-tenmoku (yellow tenmoku) is also noted briefly in the Yamanoue Sōjiki when Sōji writes “yellow tenmoku are inferior to hai-katsugi tenmoku”. Sōju offers no such ranking between the two, although the preference for hai-katsugi is already established in the Kundaikansōchōki.
From Sōju’s description and surviving examples, it’s clear that the double-glazing of these bowls was their defining feature. As noted by Katō Shōhei in his re-evaluation of hai-katsugi tenmoku held by the Tokugawa Museum⁵, some tenmoku that have been previously identified as hai-katsugi or yellow tenmoku, are actually kensan (Jian ware) with glaze defects, not the double-glazed Chayang ware that has since been identified as the source of both hai-katsugi and yellow tenmoku.
Yellow Tenmoku: "Jukō Tenmoku"
The famous yellow tenmoku that bears Jukō’s name is an interesting example of the style and is sometimes identified as a hai-katsugi tenmoku. It possesses the yellow underglaze that Sōju requires for hai-katsugi, but as yellow shows through around the fukurin, it is fair to label it a yellow tenmoku, as per Sōju’s standards.
¹Accessed here
²宗珠と珠光茶秘書, 永島福太郎 - 1959
³ibid
⁴君臺觀左右帳記の建築的研究, 堀口捨己 - 1942
⁵『山上宗二記』所載の引拙所持「灰被天目」の再同定─伝来と箱書の功罪─, 加藤祥平
