Baisao (Japanese: 売茶翁, Hepburn: baisaō) (1675–1763) was a Japanese Buddhist monk of the Ōbaku school of Zen Buddhism, who became famous for traveling around Kyoto selling Tea and writing Poetry . The veneration of Baisao during and after his lifetime helped to popularize sencha tea and led to the creation of the sencha tea ceremony.fn1
One of my favorite poets of some of my favorite poems.
His Tea shop was Tsūsen-tei (通仙亭), translated as "the shop that leads to sagehood": path of the wizard/hermit, but also a restaurant. His life as a tea seller was ascetic, the Buddhist -monk-turned-layman choosing to live in the dust of the city rather than resort to hermitage, he would wake and carry his teawares, a brazier and the a bamboo tube for donations, set up along a path in some temple or park and offer tea to passers-by.fn2 This is a constant daydream of mine, to set up a table somewhere and offer tea to strangers. Someday, I hope.
Resources:
Old Tea Seller_ Life and Zen Poetry in 18th Century Kyoto, The are my ongoing koreader annotations, some of my favorite poems are there.
The Roaring Stream, a new Zen Reader https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=The+Roaring+stream+%3A+a+new+Zen+reader has some brief information and some poems
Poems By Baisao, Translations by Roger Pulvers
Looking forward to tucking in to this.
Saga tourism biographical information about Baisao, including locations
Includes this nice table of his life milestones
| 1675 (Enpo 3rd year) | 1 year old | Born on May 16th as the third son of Tsuneya Shibayama Mokunoshin. His childhood name is Kikuizumi |
| 1686 (Jokyo 3rd year) | 12 years old | Monk Natsukiumi becomes a monk at Ryutsuji Temple in Saga City. |
| 1687 (Jokyo 4th year) | 13 years old | Allowed to meet the 4th Zen Master Doktan of Mt. Obakuji Manpukuji Temple |
| 1688 (Genroku 1) | 14 years old | Returns to Ryutsuji Temple and works hard at studies and training. |
| 1696 (Genroku 9) | 22 years old | Due to poor health, he traveled to Edo and Kyoto and then trained under Zen Master Gekko of Manjuji Temple in Sendai. |
| 1707 (Hoei 4th year) | 33 years old | Absorb knowledge of Sencha in Nagasaki |
| 1731 (Kyoho 16) | 57 years old | He handed over Ryutsuji Temple to his disciple, Oshio, and went to Kyoto to fulfill his ambition. |
| 1735 (Kyoho 20) | 61 years old | He opened Tsusen-tei in Higashiyama and began selling tea while preaching Zen. |
| 1742 (Kanpo 2nd year) | 68 years old | Took a lay-name, Koyugai |
| 1763 (Horeki 13) | 89 years old | Jakuiri in Kyoto on July 16th |
Baisao Kego
Baisao's tea shop was named Tsūsen-tei, "the shop that leads to sagehood"
BAISAOH Project
They run a historical society and small museum in Saga dedicated to Baisao.
Their website has some interesting bits too, including Baisao's association with the man who created what we would come to call Sencha Tea , rather than how Baisao used it to mean the simmering style popular from China at the time:
Also worth mentioning is his encounter with Nagatani Soen (1681-1778) of Uji, Kyoto. Soen Nagatani was the person who invented the current method of making sencha, which involves steaming the new leaves and drying them while roasting them on a roasting stove. It is said that Baichao visited Soen's house (present-day Yuyadani, Ujitawara Town) in 1742, tasted Soen's sencha, was so satisfied with the wonderful taste that they stayed overnight and talked about tea.
Baisao also had a portrait painted of him by Nagatani.
高遊外売茶翁顕彰会 / Hizen Tsusen-tei on Facebook
The BAISAOH Project runs this small tea house in Naga dedicated to Baisao. this is their facebook page with photos of the space and their events.
Tea with Baisao, the old tea seller - Historical Tea Session - YouTube
Archive Videos Videos I've Watched Tea
This person brews Tea like I do, I learned it from Baisao , after all. A good overview of the history of his life, a bit of his place in the Culture of Japan , this pivotal place in Kyoto during a time when sencha was being introduced, intertwining himself with Poets and literati, but a humble old man, barely enough rice to fill his stomach.
Yet here he is, sitting in a forest grove, offering to tea to passers by. Have a cup of tea!
Footnotes
Tea with Baisao, the old tea seller - Historical Tea Session - YouTube , Page 127 of the book: "the scrupulous routine of his everyday life, a religious practice in itself, was something most people failed to notice.