Rediscovering Rikyu: And the Beginnings of the Japanese Tea Ceremony

Rating:
Summary: Very Impressed
Review: I love this book! The author has researched and presented the subject well. It has put so much of the Tea Ceremony in perspective for me that I am grateful!

It is good to see an objective view, questioning histories coming from sources which rely on information from the Iemoto schools themselves. In the development of most Iemoto systems a loosely based and often fictious history is created, what the Chinese called "Leaning on the Ancients." However, these histories don't usually withstand the test of time and academic scrutiny. This is one of those wonderful books that sheds light on the subject, and allows us to see something of the real history.