Handscroll of Calligraphy by Ōbaku Zen Monks
mid-17th to mid-18th century
Medium
Forty-three sheets mounted as a pair of handscrolls; ink on paper
Dimensions
a: Image: 11 1/4 in. × 34 ft. 10 1/2 in. (28.5 × 1063 cm) b: Image: 11 1/4 in. × 44 ft. 9 3/8 in. (28.5 × 1365 cm)
Classification
Calligraphy
Culture & Period
Japan · Edo period (1615–1868)
Department
Asian Art
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2021
Accession Number
2021.185a, b
Art Historical Context
This exquisite pair of handscrolls calligraphy by Ōbaku Zen monks, led by the influential Chinese monk Yinyuanqi (known in Japan as Ingen Ryū). In the mid-17th century Ingen fled Ming dynasty China amid political turmoil and founded theŌbaku school of Zen Buddhism in Japan during the Edo period (1615–1868). This work, spanning from the mid-17th to mid-18th century, reflects the fusion of Chinese Zen traditions with Japanese culture, as monks inscribed sutras, poems, and Zen sayings across forty-three sheets of ink on paper. Mounted as two monumental handscrolls—one 34 feet 10½ inches long, th...