Aesthetic Authorities: The Socio-Political Dimensions of Warlord Tea Praxis in Early Modern Japan, 1573-1860

Abstract

This dissertation examines the practice of chanoyu (a performative art form featuring the formalized preparation of tea) by the regional warlords who took up the art in great numbers in Japan from the late sixteenth century forward. Spanning the period from 1573 until 1860, the case studies of seven warlord tea masters, as well as many ancillary figures, demonstrate the manner in which warlord tea praxis first developed in Japan and provide insight into why the art was embraced so widely by the military elite. Tracing this development through four chronological stages, this dissertation challenges the marginalization of warlord tea praxis in current scholarship, arguing that warlord tea masters were not only central to the field of early modern tea, but that warlord tea masters shaped the historical development of chanoyu in significant ways: assuming public roles as aesthetic authorities, collaborating with artisans, preserving and cataloguing tea utensils of historic import, contributing extensively to tea discourse through their writings, and articulating the connections between chanoyu and the governance of the Tokugawa state.