Death of a Tea Master (千利休 本覺坊遺文)

THE DEATH OF A TEA MASTER

Master!

Go back!

This road is not for you.

Then...

Is it leading to the Otherworld?

Master!

Master!

Master!

Master!

Good morning.

I've seen you in my dream.

Don't you feel all alone?

Master.

That road, dark and cold...

...did it really lead into the Otherworld?

To us, followers of the Path of the Tea,

it also shows the road we have to take.

Isn't it true?

The Tea Roan: in Lord Uraku 3 hermitage.--

...in Kennin Temple in Kyoto, had just been built.

I was invited there in the same time a rich merchant, by the name of Daitalru, was

He sold utensils for the Tea ceremony.

It's my first encounter with Lord Uraku.

I've only seen him from far away, a couple of times.

He left me the impression of a wise but severe man.

Wise, indeed he is.

It was 27 years ago. I wonder if he has changed...

Not at all.

Even Lord Hideoyoshi feared him.

After all, he was the Lord's Master's brother.

They are here.

I am Honkaku.

Welcome.

It seems you've been serving Rikyu, the Tea Master, for a long time.

Yes, I have.

Is this really... the famous bowl called "I do"?

A tea spoon made by the Lord Oribe.

Resilient, like him.

He was resilient, he died protesting.

Like Rikyu did.

And Soji, also.

Oribe did the same thing.

They all were Grand Masters of Tea.

Has one to die like this, in order to be a Grand Master of Tea?

Alone the night is cold.

Let's drink a little sake .

When did Rikyu receive the order to die?

27 years ago.

That many?...

And I, shamelessly, I am still alive.

Why did Hideyoshi command his death?

What was he punished for, in fact?

My Lord.

There are many rumors, and all bring slander.

Some say he was selling the Tea utensils very dearly. He had to.

Only the price can estimate the value of such objects.

Otherwise, we would never know it.

This is the way your fortune was made.

I've been reproached this.

Everything Rikyu chose was perfectly suited...

...to the most beautiful Tea Rooms.

It's only normal that such objects be very expensive.

This is no swindling.

It seems he was the victim of foul tongues.

And not few of them there were.

Lord Ishida was one of them.

What did they allege? That he be a Christian.

Ans that he was opposed to the invasion of Korea.

Was that true?

As the Path of Tea preconceives mutual respect, it was only normal...

...for him to accept Christianity... and reject war.

And the Daitoku incident...

O, the statue representing himself...

He had placed it at the temple's entrance....to supervise the guests.

As if he wanted to boast his power!

Never would he have done such a thing! I know!

That's enough.

These last days, I easily lose my temper.

Do you find this funny?

It is the way you talk. It reminds me of Father Toyo.

Wait! Father Toyo Shinnyo Temple... died in KEICHO 3.

Twenty years ago.

Tea followers worship only one flower.

But Hideyoshi planted thousands of cherry trees.

He then organized a party. And Toyo quit his position.

Talk to me about Toyo a little.

I went to his temple, to see the maple leaves.

After I walked through the door...

Hanlralru?

Is it you, Hanlralru?

Father Toyo!

Did you become a hermit, so young?

Now that you have lost your Master,

you must work even more for the Path of the Tea.

So I will!

What other road is there for you, but becoming....a Master in your own right?

Were you with Rikyu, the last time he came?

Yes, I was, sir.

That day he gave me a treasure. The Chojiro tea bowl.

A delicate black and deep bowl. Come, you will drink from it.

Thank you, sir.

Six years after Rikyu's death,

Kokei, from Daitoku Temple also died.

It was the end of an era.

They were the two pillars of that era.

An era when Tea had a meaning for warriors.

But this era has vanished for ever.

The Path of Tea in that era...

Drinking Tea before waging war...

...plunging into war...

...getting killed...

I have drank Rikyu's tea... I am ready to die.

Very well.

Rikyu's Tea had a strength.

Contrary to that of the other Masters.

He reigned as an absolute master in the Tea World.

He had devoted his entire life to it.

His Tea was strength.

Thus, he became Hideyoshi's rival.

And Hideyoshi ordered him to die.

Still, I feel that he asked himself for his death.

His tea was a battle... with no swords.

Hideyoshi should've fought without a weapon....in Rikyu's Tea Room.

Then, he wouldn't have had...

Any chance.

Many times he entered... in Rikyu's Tea Roam...

Dozens of times... Hundreds of times.

And each and every time he had ta taste the bitter scent of defeat.

I see you like it.

Paar Hideyashl deprived of sword... drinking Tea,

forced to look at wood... so many sword strikes.

For him, defeat was death.

Of course...

He wanted to defeat Rikyu, be it only once.

Then, in the end, he banished Rikyu from Kyoto.

What drove him to this?

Have you any idea?

We will never know it.

It is late.

Stay here.

No, thank you.

I'd rather walk back, under the moonlight.

Do as you wish.

This river will always remind me of the day when Rikyu was banished.

His boat went down the river, taking away the prisoner.

Two weeks later, his death was ordered.

I know that My Lords Sansai and Oribe...

...came dawn to the river to see him go.

They thought that Hideyashi...

...would change his mind after Rikyu's departure...

...and that he 'II soon call him back.

Without this, they'd have never dared... to came to bid farewell...

...to a man hated by his Lord.

But...

...Rikyu must have been hearing the footsteps of death...

...getting ever closer.

It doesn't came hard to me to imagine the way he was looking then,

even if I didn't see him leave.

As I remember the terrible way he looked....for having seen it once on him.

It was the marrow of the day of September 4th, Tensha 16,

at Hldeyoshl's residence where Rikyu was living.

From now on we'll accommodate three guests from Daitoku Temple.

Shunnoko is the most important.

Kokei and Gyokuho are the other two.

I, of course, I am their host. Yes.

Everything must be perfect for this ceremony.

Yes, sir

But a ceremony?

A farewell ceremony...

...for Kokei who will be banished.

Banished, but why? I don't know.

I don't also know when, or if he'll be pardoned.

What manuscript will there be on the wall?

Kido's poem.

The one Lord Hideyoshi entrusted you with?

Without his authorization? You risk being punished...

This is my goal.

Very well!

The poem...

...was perfect for the situation. It went:

"The wise man is ready to leave. "

"Let's pray he may soon come back and tell us his story. "

The poem was like a farewell for the priest sentenced ta exile.

That was its only meaning.

But...

...holding a farewell ceremony for the one who has defied Hideyoshi,

and more, in his own residence!

What a host! What guests!

What an exile, he who accepts such a hospitality!

And the host's composure who uses...

...Hideyoshi's manuscript without authorization!

How courageous!

I wanted ta, quickly, remove Kida's poem from the wall.

But; when I came back...

They have departed.

Leave it for now.

Yes.

Honkaku!

Yes.