Sen Doan was Rikyu's eldest son and inherited the Sakai branch of the Sen house. He matters for understanding how the family's transmission divided after Rikyu's death.
Life
Familiar with tea from a young age as Rikyu's eldest son, he took over the Sen house in Sakai. He worked to keep the family going after Rikyu's forced suicide, but the Sakai line is held to have ended after him.
Position in the tradition
Doan stands alongside Sen Shoan, Rikyu's adopted son, who inherited the Kyoto house, at the point where the transmission of Rikyu's tea forks. Because the three present-day Sen schools all descend from Shoan, Doan's line did not continue — but he remains indispensable to research on how Rikyu's practice was transmitted.
About this article
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Term info
- Life dates
- 1546–1607
- Category
- Term
Related terms
- Chado (The Way of Tea)chado
The Japanese practice of preparing and serving powdered green tea, treated as a lifelong discipline rather than a beverage ritual.
- Wabiwabi
Finding sufficiency of mind within insufficiency and plainness; one of the root concepts of tea practice.
- Ichigo ichie (one time, one meeting)ichigo ichie
The principle that every gathering is unrepeatable, and should therefore be treated as if it will never occur again.
- Takeno JooTakeno Joo
The Sakai merchant tea master (1502–1555) who deepened wabi tea through classical poetry, and taught Rikyu.
- Sen no RikyuSen no Rikyu
The tea master (1522–1591) who brought wabicha to its definitive form and from whom the three Sen schools descend.
- Sen ShoanSen Shoan
Rikyu's adopted son (1546–1614), who revived the Sen house in Kyoto; all three present schools descend from him.
- Sen SotanSen Sotan
Rikyu's grandson, the third head of the Sen house, whose four sons became the source of the three schools.