RIKYU: Some contrasting perspectives on Sen no Rikyū (1522 – 1591)

	Some describe him
	as a master of zen -
	Others as a
	shrewd businessman

	Some call him
	a god of tea -
	Others think of him
	as a mere apparatchik

	When tea cups touch our lips
	and we savor the silence
	of fresh rising steam

	or feel the warmth of
	glazed porcelain with
	freshly infused tea

	what need is there
	of labels? 


Bhäraté: This poem makes a good point: each person can be portrayed in many different ways.

An-Yi:   Indeed. And how does such framing occur? That's worth reflecting on. . .

Daiki:   I'd rather sip tea than think. 95% of all intellectualizations are a waste of time.


=====================================================================================
from _Pan-Asian Pulses: Poetry, Art, and Dialogs about Asia_ by T Newfields
SUMMARY: A poem about a 16th Century Japanese tea master and conversation about stereotyping.
KEYWORDS: tea ceremony, 1522 births, 1591 deaths, Sen no Rikyū

Author: T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ] (b. 1955)
Begun: 1997 in Shizuoka, Japan ≜ Finished: 2019 in Yokohama, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted

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TRANSLATIONS 

DEUTSCH:  https://www.tnewfields.info/de/rikyud.htm 
ESPAÑOL:  https://www.tnewfields.info/es/rikyu.htm 
FRANÇAIS: https://www.tnewfields.info/fr/rikyu.htm 
NIHONGO:  https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/rikyu.htm 
ZHŌNGWÉN: https://www.tnewfields.info/lixiu.htm