After Sen no Rikyu died, Sen no Soutan, successor of collateral son of Sen no Rikyu, Shouan (son of a previous marriage of the second wife of Rikyu,) fixed his residence in Kyoto, and induced his three sons, namely Sosyu, his second son, Sosa, his third son, and Soshitsu, his forth son, to establish three schools of tea ceremony, namely Mushanokoji Senke, Omote Senke, and Urasenke, respectively; which is the story that tells how Sansenke started (three Senke schools), but each of the schools claims that their original head was Sen no Rikyu.
千利休の没後、傍系の少庵（後妻の連子）の後を継いだ千宗旦が京都に屋敷を構え、次男宗守・三男宗左・四男宗室にそれぞれ武者小路千家・表千家・裏千家を興させたのが三千家の始まりであるが、各家ともに家元は利休を初代として数える。