Portrait of Mu-an Hsing-Tao
Object Details
- Label
- The founder is respected by the Imperial Courts of the two nations;
- Revered by everyone everywhere as outstanding.
- The child of the cassia tree, the grandchild of the orchid;
- His virtue is great, his principles lofty-
- How can such a thing be portrayed?
- It is like the ocean and the sky raising the Iron Kunlun Mountain.
- -Yueshan Cong, descendant-in-law of Nanyue, respectfully inscribed
- Translated by Yoshiaki Shimizu
- The "founder" described in this eulogy and portrayed below is the Chinese monk Mokuan Shøtø (Muan Xingtao, 1611-1684), who moved to Japan and succeeded his teacher, Ingen Ryvki (Yinyuan Longqi), as abbot of Manpukuji, headquarters of the recently established Øbaku school of Zen Buddhism. In addition to teaching approximately fifty disciples at Manpukuji, Muan-who is best known by his Japanese name, Mokuan-became an accomplished calligrapher. Examples of his calligraphy are displayed to the left and right of this portrait.
- Here, he sits in a chair holding a long staff; he wears the deep yellow robe and dark red cassock standard in Øbaku monasteries. In contrast to earlier portraits of Zen Buddhist teachers, portraits of Øbaku monks portray them in strictly frontal poses. This convention of formal Chinese portraiture was not widely adopted in Japan outside the Øbaku school.
- Provenance
- To 1981
- Seiichi Honde, Kyoto, Japan [1]
- From 1981
- Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Seiichi Honde, Kyoto, Japan [2]
- Notes:
- [1] See object file.
- [2] The hanging scroll was transferred from the Freer Gallery of Art Study Collection to the permanent collection in April 1982.
- Collection
- Freer Gallery of Art Collection
- Exhibition History
- Spreading the Word (May 18 to November 12, 2018)
- Faith and Form: Selected Calligraphy and Painting from the Japanese Religious Traditions (March 20 to July 18, 2004)
- Portraiture from Japan (July 1, 1983 to April 5, 1984)
- Portraiture of Japan (July 1, 1983 to April 5, 1984)
- Previous custodian or owner
- Honde Seiichi
- Credit Line
- Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment
- Data Source
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
- Date
- 17th century
- Period
- Edo period
- Accession Number
- F1982.8
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Ink and color on paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (image): 85.7 × 33.3 cm (33 3/4 × 13 1/8 in)
- Origin
- Japan
- Related Online Resources
- Google Cultural Institute
- See more items in
- Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
- Topic
- portrait
- Buddhism
- Zen Buddhism
- Edo period (1615 - 1868)
- funerary
- poetry
- Japan
- fly whisk
- abbot
- kakemono
- Japanese Art
- Record ID
- fsg_F1982.8
