The 48 Laws Of Power

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246 LAW
so

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWI

The

Japanese

tea

ceremony

called

Cha~no—yu

(“Hot

Water

for

Tea”)

has

origins

inancient

times,

butit

reachedits

peak

ofrefinementinthesix~

teenth

century

underitsmostrenowned

practitioner,

Senno

Rjlcyu.

Al-

though

notfromanoble

family,Rikyu

roseto

great

power,becoming

the

preferred

teamasterofthe

EmperorHideyoshi,

andan

important

adviser

onaestheticandeven

political

matters.For

Rikyu,

thesecretof

success

consistedin

appearing

natural,

concealing

theeffort

behindone’swork.

One

dayRikyu

andhissonwentto

an

acquaintance’s

houseforatea

ceremony.

Onthe

way

in,

thesonremarkedthatthe

lovelyantique—look~

inggate

attheirhost’shouse

gave

itan

evocativelylonelyappearance.

“I

don’tthink

so,”

replied

his

father,

“it

looks

as

though

it

had

been

brought

fromsomemountain

templealongway

off,

and

as

if

thelabor

required

to

import

it

musthavecost

a

lotof

money.”

Iftheownerofthehousehad

put

thismucheffortintoone

gate,

itwouldshowinhistea

ceremony-—-and

in-

deedSenno

Rikyu

hadtoleavethe

ceremonyearly,

unabletoendurethe

affectationandeffortit

inadvertently

revealed.

Onanother

evening,

while

having

teaata

friend’s

house,

Rikyu

saw

his

host

go

outside,

hold

up

a

lanteminthe

darkness,

cutalemonoffa

tree,

and

bring

itin.Thischarmed

Rikyu--the

hostneededa.relishforthedish

hewas

serving,

andhad

spontaneouslygone

outsideto

get

one.Butwhen

themanofferedthelemonwithsomeOsakarice

cake,

Rikyu

realizedthat

hehad

planned

the

cutting

ofthelemonall

along,

to

go

withthis

expensive

delicacy.

The

gesture

no

longer

seemed

spontane0us—~it

wasa

way

forthe

hostto

prove

hiscleverness.Hehad

accidentally

revealedhowhardhe

was

trying.Having

seen

enough,Rikyu

politely

declinedthe

cake,

excused

himself,

andleft.

EmperorHideyoshi

once

planned

tovisit

Rikyu

for

a.tea

ceremony.

On

the

night

beforehe

wasto

come,

snow

began

tofall.

Thinkingquickly,

Rikyu

laidroundcushionsthatfit

exactly

oneachofthe

steppingvstones

thatled

through

the

garden

tohishouse.

Just

before

dawn,

he

rose,

saw

thatithad

stoppedsnowing,

and

carefully

removedthecushions.When

Hideyoshi

arrived,

hemarveledatthe

simplebeauty

ofthe

sight-—tl1eper-

fectly

round

stepping

stones,

unencumbered

by

snow——-andnoticedhowit

called

no

attentiontothemannerinwhich

Rikyu

had

accomplished

it,

but

only

tothe

politegesture

itself.

AfterSenno

Rikyu

died,

hisideashada

profound

influenceonthe

practice

ofthetea

ceremony.

The

Tokugawashogun

Yorinobu,

sonofthe

greatEmperorIeyasu,

wasa

studentof

Rikyu'steachings.

Inhis

garden

he

had

astone

lanternmade

by

afamous

master,

andLordSakaiTadakatsu

asked

if

hecouldcome

by

one

day

toseeit.Yoriuobu

replied

thathewould

be

honored,

andcommandedhis

gardeners

to

puteverything

inorderfor

thevisit. These

gardeners,

unfamiliarwiththe

precepts

of

Cha-no~yu,

thought

thestone

lantern

misshapen,

itswindows

being

too

small

forthe

present

taste.

They

had

a

localworkman

enlarge

thewindows.Afew

days

beforeLordSakai’s

visit,

Yorinobutouredthe

garden.

‘Whenhesawtheal-