ON CHAN ART¹

HISAMATSU SHIN'ICHI

Generally speaking, religious art -- to be properly so called -- must be something which expresses aesthetically some religious meaning. However high a value as art some work may have, if it does not express a religious meaning, it cannot be called religious art. Similarly, however high a religious value may be expressed -- for example, conceptually, as in the case of a holy scripture, or morally, as in the case of a religious precept -- such expressions cannot ipso facto be said to constitute religious art. Religious art must not only be art ; it must especially express religious meaning.

A point of view often encountered is that the ultimate in art is itself religious, that whatever possesses a high aesthetic value is understood to be by that very fact religious. Such a view rules out the possibility that something may possess high value as art and yet not express the slightest religious meanings. And thus, religious art becomes no more than art of high aesthetic value. What is religious art and what is not, becomes simply a matter of the difference of the degree of aesthetic excellence and not a difference of some more fundamental quality. It would, accordingly, become impossible to speak of religious art as art which especially expresses religious meaning. Is, however, the difference between religious art and non-religious art really no more than simply a difference in the degree of aesthetic excellence?

To be sure, something of the nature of godliness or sublimity (p. 22) emanates naturally from a work of art of high aesthetic value. That is, there are in fact instances where at first glance a superior work of art causes one to feel that it is a work of religious art. In such cases, the sublimity of the aesthetic excellence strikes one as being religious. But can we in fact declare such sublimity to be religious?

In my opinion, there are works of art which possess sublimity and yet are not religious, and there are works of art which are religious and yet do not possess sublimity. A sense of sublimity may naturally accompany works of high aesthetic quality, but I do not think it can be said that because a work of art has this sense of sublimity it is thereby religious. Sublimity and religiosity are not in my opinion synonymous concepts.

Sublimity (Chin., shenyun; Jap., shin'in), numbered as the first of the six rules of painting in Chinese classical treatises on painting, ² is no doubt the principal norm of aesthetics. Religiosity, however, does not constitute in any sense an element within any aesthetic norm. From the perspective of aesthetics, religiosity is no more than one possible theme which art may try to express. Accordingly, the presence or absence of sublimity is for aesthetics a most important matter, but the presence or absence of the quality of religiosity is for aesthetics per se of no consequence. The fact that an aesthetic work lacks religiosity does not lower its aesthetic value. If, however, an aesthetic work tries to express religiosity, but does not in fact possess religiosity, it must then be said that even its aesthetic value is low.

For example, if a landscape painted by Sesshuu³ does not express a religious meaning, one does not, therefore, necessarily consider its aesthetic value to be low. But if a Bodhidharma painted by Sesshuu does not express a religious meaning, probably no one could consider it to have much aesthetic value. If. however, such a painting is taken not as a painting of Bodhidharma but as a painting of an hysterical monk angrily glaring at someone, ⁴ then it is perhaps not necessary to speak of its aesthetic value as being low. If, on the other hand, Sesshuu tried to paint Bodhidharma the Chan master, but painted something that can only be regarded as an hysterical monk, (p. 23) then it is either because Sesshuu did not succeed in understanding the character of Bodhidharma the Chan master, or because even though he understood them, he was unable to express them. In either case, it is clear that Sesshuu was not able to paint Bodhidharma.

In the Bodhidharma painted by Hakuin,⁵ however, the characteristics of Bodhidharma as a Chan master are really well expressed. Since Hakuin was not, however, a professional painter, from the point of view of technique we may feel that there are some things that he could have done a little better. Nevertheless, the Bodhidharmas painted by Hakuin are far more Bodhidharma-like than those of Sesshuu, Dasoku, ⁶ or Kei-Shoki,⁷ among others. This is because Hakuin first grasped thoroughly the characteristics of Bodhidharma and, in painting these characteristics, even though technically imperfect, created a suitable style for that expression.

In the case of the Sesshuu "Bodhidharma," even though it should, from the standpoint of general technique, contain an epoch-making innovation, if the Bodhidharma painted by that epoch-making technique is not Bodhidharma-like, it goes without saying that, as a painting of Bodhidharma, it is without value.

In order for one to paint a picture of Bodhidharma, the characteristics of Bodhidharma must first be made one's own charac-(p. 24)teristics, and then an appropriate technique must be found to depict them. Making the characteristics of Bodhidharma fully one's own, however, is not a matter of aesthetics but a matter of religion. Of course, the Bodhidharma which is made fully one's own through religion is not as such a work of art. In order for it to become a work of art, it must express itself aesthetically. Without, however, the religious realization of Bodhidharma’s character, one cannot produce a true picture of Bodhidharma.

Accordingly, the evaluation of a picture of Bodhidharma must be made by determining how well the depicted Bodhidharma expresses the religiously realized Bodhidharma. That is, in evaluating a picture of Bodhidharma one must consider to what extent the religiously realized Bodhidharma vividly and graphically appears in the portrait painted.

So it is when any religious matter, and not just a portrait of Bodhidharma, such as Buddhist gathas or Buddhist chants (called Shoumyou) must likewise be evaluated according to how well the religious substance is being expressed, in the one case through poetry, in the other through music.

This being so, in the case either of the creation, the appreciation, or the criticism of religious art, the creator, the appreciator, or the critic must first fully make his own the religious substance involved. If he does not, the artist-creator will lose the religious object which should be expressed through the work of art, while the appreciator and the critic will not be able to understand the religious meaning which the work of art intends to express.

Of late, there has been very little religious art worth looking at, and, further, the instances of valid criticism of religious art have also been few. May this not be because the religious realization on the part of the artists and the critics has not been sufficient ?

If religious art means, as described above, not simply great and sublime art, but art which expresses religious meaning, i.e., meaning which can be actualized only through religion, then that which I am here calling Chan art belongs to the category of religious art. This is because Chan art is art which expresses the Chan religious meaning (p. 25) which has been realized through Chan as a religion.

Examples which belong to the main line of Chan art are ; in the field of painting : in China, Shi Ke and Guanxiu of the Five Dynasties period ; Liang Kai, Muqi, Riguan and Yujian of the Song Dynasty ; and Yintuoluo of the Yuan Dynasty ; in Japan, Mokuan, Kaou, Bonpou, Josetsu, Souami and Shukou of the Ashikaga period ; Miyamoto Musashi (Niten) of the Momoyama period ; Isshi, Hakuin, Sengai, Seisetsu and Kougan of the Tokugawa period. In the field of calligraphy : in China, Wuzhun, Wu'an, Xutang, Zhongfeng, Yin Yuejiang, Ning Yishan, Wuxue Zuyuan and Feiyin ; and in Japan, Shuuhou, Kanzan, Musou, Ikkyuu, Shun'oku Souyen, Kokei, Genkou, Takuan, Seigan, Ten'yuu, Daishin, Daigu, Jiun and Ryoukan. In the field of literature : in China, the Chanxi-ji of Su Dongpo, ⁸ the Hanshanshi-ji, ⁹ Jianhu-fengyue-ji, ¹⁰ and Zengi-gemon[-shu] ¹¹ ; and in Japan, Gosan Literature, ¹³ the Chan records and the poems of the various Japanese and Chinese Chan monks ; in the field of theater arts, there is the Nou drama ; in the field of ceremonial arts, the tea-ceremony and the various ceremonial practices of the Chan monks ; in the field of architecture, with their construction and decoration of Chan temples as well as tea ceremony rooms or houses ; in the field of arts and crafts, the various utensils used in the tea-ceremony : tea-bowls, tea-containers, incense-boxes, flower vases, tea-kettles and serving-plates for sweets ; in the field of garden construction, the gardens of Chan temples and the paths leading to the tea-houses. There are of course, other corollary works of art which contain a Chan influence received from this main stream of Chan art. In both religious and aesthetic respects, Chan art constitutes a major current which occupies an important, never to be overlooked position in the history of Oriental art.

It is generally recognized that Chan constitutes an essential element in the Oriental spirit and, likewise, that Chan art partakes of (p. 26) the essence of Oriental art. But even if this were not so, that Chan art is a unique art form which thoroughly developed only in the Orient can probably be said without dispute.

Of course, in the West also there have continued to be from the earliest centuries until modern times instances of a religious realization extremely similar to Chan ; for example, the mysticism of Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, Eckhart, and Boehme, among others. But while this mystical tradition did exert a rather deep influence on Western religion and philosophy, it was not the main line of Western thought. Accordingly, unlike Chan in the Orient, it did not take the form of an independent school and did not become the Zeitgeist of any specific age. It is perhaps for this reason that this Western mystical tradition did not reach the point of creating out of itself a unique art or culture.

In the West also, there are paintings which may perhaps be said to be mystical ; for example, the paintings of Daumier, Courbet, Whistler, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Blake, and especially Millet. The paintings of Blake seem to express something more strongly religious than the paintings of the others just mentioned. This religious quality, (p. 27) however, while it cannot be said not to be mystical, is a quality mixed with a great deal of the supernatural. It is not mystical in the pure sense of mysticism as found in such a figure as Eckhart. Millet is probably, by far, the most purely mystical. And in the field of literature, in the writings of Maeterlinck and Yeats, one can very likely find a great deal which is mystical. But it cannot be said that such art or literature thoroughly or purely expresses the kind of "mysticism" expressed in the Chan art of the Orient. Even less can it be considered that this Western art comprises a definite aesthetic current based (p. 28) on mystical experience. In this sense, Chan art must be said to occupy an important position not only in the aesthetic history of the Orient but in the aesthetic history of the world.

Ordinarily, when people speak of Chan paintings they frequently have in mind simply paintings painted by Chan monks or paintings which treat of ancient Chan incidents. ¹³ However, even though a painting has been painted by a Chan monk or is a painting which treats of Chan incidents, if it is a painting in which Chan meaning has not been expressed, it cannot be called a Chan painting. For example, even though they were Chan monks, the paintings of Tetsuou¹⁴ and those of the early Sengai¹⁵ cannot be called Chan paintings. Again, even though they are paintings which treat of ancients, the paintings appearing in many early twentieth¹⁶ century Japanese exhibition like Teiten and Inten¹⁷ portraying Bodhidharma, Hanshan-and-Shide and Nanquan-cutting-the-cat, cannot be said to be Chan paintings.

In contrast to these paintings just referred to, even though they were not painted by Chan monks, such paintings as the "Su Dongpo" painted by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, ¹⁸ the "Bodhidharma," or the "Wild Geese in the Reeds" painted by Miyamoto Musashi, ¹⁹ the "Budai," and the potraits of Hitomaro and Tsurayuki painted by Iwasa Shoui, ²⁰ all fully possess the essential (p. 29) chracteristics of a Chan painting. Again, although they do not deal with ancient Chan incidents, such paintings as Muqi’s “Six Persimmons," "The Wild Geese in the Reeds," and the landscapes, ²¹ "The Orchids" of Gyokuenshi,²² or the landscape of Souami, ²³ may very well be said to be excellent Chan paintings.

The same may be said regarding calligraphy. Just because a piece of calligraphy was written by a Chan monk, or just because it consists of Chan words or phrases, does not mean that it can ipso facto be said to be Chan calligraphy. On the other hand, there are instances of calligraphy which can be said to be Chan calligraphy even though they are not the work of Chan monks and even though they do not contain Chan phrases. For example, although Isshi ²⁴ was a Chan monk, his calligraphy is not as Chan-like as the calligraphy of Jiun, ²⁵ who was monk of the Shingon sect.

The poem on the tomb of Emperor Wu cannot be called a Chan poem ; however, when Genko²⁶ took it as the subject of a piece of calligraphy, his calligraphy of this poem became an excellent piece of Chan calligraphy. (It is preserved at Rinkain, Myoshinji Temple.) This being so, what is to be called Chan painting or Chan calligraphy is not a painting which has been painted by a Chan monk or a piece of calligraphy containing Chan phrases but rather a painting or a piece of calligraphy which expresses Chan meaning.

When Chan meaning is to be expressed aesthetically, it must be expressed through a form which is both suitable and possesses a (p. 30) necessary relation to the meaning to be expressed. It is precisely because it does possess such a form that a painting, a piece of calligraphy, a manner of living, a dwelling place, a face, a literary composition, or sportive play, is spoken of as "Chan-like." If a Chan monk wrote in the beautiful, delicate, haze-like, running kana style of ancient times, if he painted brilliant, gold Buddha images, or if he engaged in elegant, enticing behavior, he could not be said to be "Chan-like." In much of what is ordinarily characterized as "Chan-like," there is a great deal which has no necessary relation at all to the essence of a Chan man but which is, on the contrary, simply an accidental surface combination of factors or surface style. That which is to be truly called "Chan-like," however, has not any such accidental, superficial similarities to Chan; it must rather have those fundamentals which are rooted in the essence of what it means to be a Chan man.

This being so, no matter to what extent an act is actually performed by a Chan monk, that which does not derive from the essence of what it means to be a Chan man cannot be called "Chan-like." Therefore, in order to discriminate whether something is Chan-like or not, it is necessary to understand the essence of what it means to be a Chan man. And in order for the essence of what it means to be a Chan man to be understood, Chan-meaning itself must be understood.

The understanding of Chan-meaning must await Chan-religious realization. What I am here calling "Chan-meaning" is not an intellectual, conceptual meaning, but it is the living "Chan-Mind" itself. It is impossible to discern clearly whether or not Chan-meaning is being expressed in a given expression without a very firm hold on this living Chan-Mind.

Regarding such questions as whether or not a certain conceptual discourse is in accord with the basic meaning of Chan or again just what Chan incident a certain painting is expressing, if one reads a book written about the basic meaning of Chan or if one consults a reference book on Chan incidents, -- even without any special grasp of the Chan-Mind, -- these matters can be determined relatively easily. Although they cannot, of course, be said to be conclusive, it is in this regard that ordinary Chan scholarly studies or essays on Chan painting (p. 31) are sometimes helpful.

In order, however, to determine which calligraphic style or which style of painting or which music expresses a Chan style, one must have a thoroughly vivid Chan realization. If one lacks this realization, one probably will not be able to understand why a certain calligraphic style, a certain painting style, a certain piece of music or a certain living manner especially expresses Chan-meaning.

Historians say that Chan flourished in China during the Song period, that it was at this time that the painting style of such artists as Muqi and Liang Kai²⁷ was born, that in Japan the Chan school came into prominence during the Higashiyama period, ²⁸ that it was in this period that Song art was appreciated, and that in this same period the tea-ceremony arose. But they do not give adequate answers to such questions as follows : Why was it that when Chan flourished, such a painting style as that of Muqi's and Liang Kai's arose ? Why, under the same influence, did the tea-ceremony arise ? Why, in the Higashiyama period in Japan, were such simple, primitive and unpolished paintings as the Buddha paintings of Shi Ke, ²⁹ Guanxiu, ³⁰ and Muqi appreciated even more than the brilliant gold Buddha paintings of the Heian and Kamakura periods ? Even when historians do attempt to answer these questions, they do not do so from within the meaning of Chan itself. Rather their answers are no more than external explanations (p. 32) given in terms of the attending circumstances.

For example the reason given to explain the appearance of such persons as Kaou, ³¹ Mokuan ³² and Souami during the period from the end of the Kamakura era to the Higashiyama era, is that Japanese Chan monks of that period went to the China of the Song, and brought back Chan paintings of Yintuoluo, ³³ Muqi, and others. In this explanation, however, the questions as to why the Chan monks who went to Song China brought back the works of Yintuoluo and Muqi, and why Japan during that period took in these works and was so receptive to their influence, are not dealt with very satisfactorily. If these questions are not asked and are not answered, even the historical explanation cannot be said to have been thoroughly presented. But unless these problems are dealt with by one who has himself genuinely grasped the Chan-Mind, they cannot be answered.

This being so, in order to understand Chan aesthetics thoroughly, first the Chan-Mind must be vividly actualized and the question of why the Chan-Mind has to be aesthetically expressed necessarily through such and such a form must be determined. Following this, it must be clearly understood just why the several forms mentioned above as examples of Chan aesthetics -- the paintings of Shi Ke or Hakuin, the calligraphy of Su Donpo or Jiun, the tea-ceremony, the gardens of Chan temples, etc. -- constitute, each in its own way, necessary aesthetic forms for Chan.

To express the special characteristics of Chan aesthetics, the following terms are sometimes used³⁴:

" free from worldliness" (tuosu ; datsuzoku),

"crabbed with age" (canggu ; souko),

"of serene emptiness" (kongji ; kuujaku),

"still and secluded" (youqu ; yuugeki),

["of mature solitude"] ([ji ;] sabi) ; ["of ripe poverty"] ([cha ;] wabi), ³⁵

"aged naivety" (guzhuo ; kosetsu),

"simplicity" (supu ; soboku),

"unseizability" (meibabi ; motsuhabi),

"untastableness" (meiziwei ; motsujimi),

"all the more elegance [for the lack of it] (ye fengliu ; ya fuuryuu), ³⁶

"directness" (duande ; tanteki),

"unrestricted freedom" (satuo ; shadatsu),

"no-mind" (wuxin ; mushin),

"an unruly fellow" (mengbalang ; manparou),

"imposing (p. 33) aloofness" (aowu ; goukotsu),

"mad" (fengtian ; fuuten),

"unyielding" (danban ; tanpan), and

"purity" (qingjing ; shojou).

For a clear understanding of the birthplace in ourselves of these characteristics, we must go through the same procedures that were cited above as the method needed for a thorough understanding of Chan aesthetics.

1 (Original note :) This is a translation of "Zen Geijutsu no Rikai" (On the Understanding of Zen Art) from the author's book Touyouteki Mu ("Oriental Nothingness"), Kyoto: Koubundou, 1939, pp. 85-97. (Orig. n. ends.)

Translated by Richard DeMartino in collaboration with Fujiyoshi Jikai and Abe Masao (in the Japanese name order), and made public in The Eastern Buddhist vol. 1 no. 2, September 1966, p. 21-33; Hisamatsu Shin'ichi Chosakushuu, Houzoukan, Kyoto vol. five, pp. 93-101. Revised by Tokiwa Gishin, the present version supplies the original translation with further notes for corrections and brief explanations, uses "Chan" for "Zen" except in "Rinzai-zen," replaces Chinese and Japanese characters by their romanized spellings, and uses pinyin for the spellings of Chinese words.

Illustrations omitted in this revised version for technical reasons are:

Bodhidharma by Hakuin (p. 23)

Shoukintei, Katsura Imperial Villa (p. 26)

Persimmons by Muqi (p. 27)

Tea-bowl, 'Goshomaru' ware (ibid.)

Crane by Muqi (p. 28)

Gin' (Singing) by Jiun (p. 29)

Budai by Liang Kai (p. 31)

2 The first of the six criteria for producing, appreciating, and criticizing paintings, mentioned by Xiehe, dates unknown, a Chinese painter of the Southern Qi Dynasty (479-502), in his book Guhuapinlu ("A Record of Ancient Paintings Classified") is "permeation by grace and elegance (qiyunshengdong; kiinseidou)." The other five criteria are ; "the bones' way of brush application," "according with things in depicting forms," "following the type in bestowing colors," "managing the composition," and "handing down models by taking imitation." Cf. Shougakkan Kokugodaijiten, Tokyo 1981.

3 "Sesshuu" is a pen name of Touyou, 1420-1506, a Rinzai-zen priest, who had an inborn love of painting, and did not like reading scriptures. During the years of Kansei (1460-65) he went across to Ming China, and became the first-rank senior monk at the Jinde Temple of Mt. Tiantong. He is said to have remarked that he failed to meet any fine teacher of painting in the land of Ming, and that lands of scenic beauty were his only teachers. After returning to Japan, he abided in the Unkokuji, Suou Province, and then in the Daikian in Iwami. Famed for landscape painting, he also painted figures like Shakyamuni coming out of the mountain, Avalokitesvara, and Bodhidharma. In his Zen and the Fine Arts (ZFA hereafter), Kodansha International, Tokyo 1971, Hisamatsu takes up landscape paintings by Sesshuu (plates 3, 92, 93), but no figures by him at all. In this revised version “ou” and “uu” are used for transliteration of the two Japanese long vowels of “o” and “u” except for “Tokyo” and “Kyoto”.

4 (Orig. n.:) See Illustration 121 of Oriental Ink-Painting by Ernest Grosse.

5 Hakuin Ekaku, 1685-1768, a Rinzai-zen priest. "Hakuin" is one of his pen names. He invented the koan of the "sound of a single hand" at the age of sixty-four. Confer the plates 108, 111, and 113 in ZFA for Hakuin's painting of Bodhidharma.

6 Soga Dasoku (not Jasoku), ?-1483, a painter. Shuuyo was his name while Dasoku was his pen name. Cf. pl. 90, a portrait of Linji, by Dasoku in ZFA.

7 Shoukei, ?-1345, born of a painter's family, kept a taste for painting even after becoming a Rinzai-zen priest and serving as a secretary (shoki) at the Kenchouji, Kamakura.

8 "A Collection of Delights in Chan," a collection of prose and poetry on Chan by and anecdotes of Su Dongpo, 1046-1101, as well as of questions and answers between him and Chan master Foyin, ?-1098, nine volumes. Cf. Yanagida Seizan, Zenke Goroku II, Chikumashobou, Tokyo 1974.

9 A collection of poems of Hanshan, Shide, and Fengga, three hermits in Mt. Tiantai, one volume. The earliest publication of its extant text seems to have been in 1229. Cf. Yanagida, Zenke Goroku II.

10 "A Collection of Poems on Rivers and Lakes with Wind and Moon," an anthology of peotry and Buddhist verses by Chan priests toward the end of Song, compiled by Songpo Zongqi, a dharma-heir to Wuzhun Shifan, two volumes. Cf. Yanagida, Zenke Goroku II. 11 "A Collection of Model Expressions for Chan Rites in Chinese," compiled by Kokan Shiren, 1278-1346, a Gosan version, two volumes. Cf. Zengaku Daijiten, compiled at Komazawa University, Tokyo 1978.

12 A Chinese literature produced by Japanese Rinzai-zen priests who worked under the influence of Chinese literature while abiding in any of the five top temples and/or ten temples next high in official rank, in Kyoto, with three stages from the end of Kamakura toward the end of Muromachi periods. Cf. Zengaku Daijiten.

13 The original Japanese term "kosoku-kien" means "forefathers' words as norms" and their "occasions for Awakening." Their records are taken up for concentration in practice.

14 Tetsuou Somon, 1791-1871, a Rinzai-zen priest.

15 Gibon, 1750-1837, a Rinzai-zen priest. "Sengai" is one of his pen names.

16 The word "twelfth" in the original translation was corrected to "twentieth."

17 The Teiten or Teikoku-bijutsuin-tenrankai, Imperial Academy's art exhibition, began in 1919, changed its name in 1946 to the Nitten or Nihon-bijutsu-tenrankai, Japan Art Exhibition, and in 1958 became a non-official group named Shadanhojin (the Juridical Corporate Association) Nitten. The Inten or Nihon-bijutsuin-tenrankai, Japan Art Institute exhibition, is a private group of painters, which started in 1898, as a reform movement of Japanese painting.

18 Yoshimitsu, 1358-1408, the third Ashikaga shougun, had likings for poetry, music and art, and contributed to bringing in paintings from China to Japan in the Muromachi period. Hisamatsu's ZFA includes a plate of one of Yoshimitsu's paintings, "Du Zimei" (Du Fu, a poet of the Tang Dynasty) with ink on paper (pl. 89).

19 Miyamoto Niten Musashi, 1584-1645, a renowned swordsman. ZFA includes plates of these two paintings.

20 Iwasa Matabei Shoui, 1578-1650, a painter in the early Edo period. ZFA includes his "Hotei" (Butai pl. 100).

21 Muqi is the pen name of Fachang, ?-1335/40, a Chan priest-painter. ZFA includes plates of his paintings, pls. 2, 55-72.

22 "Gyokuen" is the pen name ("-shi"; "-zi" in Chinese, is a title of respect) of Bonpo, dates unknown, in Muromachi period, a Rinzai-zen priest, dharma-heir to Shun'oku Myouha, 1311-88.

23 Souami Shinsou, ?-1525, a painter who served the shougun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. See pls. 94-97 in ZFA.

24 Isshi Bunshu, 1608-46, a Rinzai-zen priest.

25 Jiun Onkou, 1718-1804, an excellent scholar of the Sanskrit studies.

26 Nanke Genkou, 1538-1604, a Rinzai-zen priest. The Rinkain of Myoushinji was one of the temples founded for him by the contemporary political authorities.

27 Liang Kai, Liang Fengzi in pen-name, dates unknown, was a painter-in-attendance at the Imperial Painting Academy during the Jiatai period (1201-04) of the Southern Song.

28 The period between 1449, when Ashikaga Yoshimasa became the eighth shogun, and 1490, when he died.

29 Shi Ke, dates unknown, painter of the Five Dynasties period, mid-tenth century. Pls. 33 and 34 in ZFA.

30 Guanxiu, 832-912, a Chan priest, was good at poetry, calligraphy, and painting. King of Wuyue, the Qian family, respected him as "Great Master Chanyue." Pls. 29-32 in ZFA.

31 Kaou Sounen, ?-1345, a Japanese Rinzai-zen priest, who crossed to Yuan China around 1317, and after ten years' stay returned. Pl. 83 in ZFA.

32 Mokuan Reien, ?-1345 ?, a Japanese Rinzai-zen priest, who crossed to Yuan-China, and died there around 1345. Pl. 85 in ZFA.

33 Yintuoluo (Indra, in Sanskrit), mid-fourteenth century, Yuan Dynasty, was born, it is said, in India, came to China, and was head-priest of the Daguangjiao Chan temple in Bianliang, Honan. Pls. 78-82 in ZFA.

34 (Orig. n.:) The reader is warned that the translations of these terms are necessrily tentative giving only the general sense of the original meanings. English renderings are too often negative in their connotation. These terms in Japanese are positive expressions that describe the qualities associated with satire experience.

35 In his letter dated February 23, 1976, Hisamatsu, in reply to Tonkawa’s question, wrote : "Both wabi and sabi are values of a higher order which appear on the negation of worldly values like high ranks, glory, pomp, charm, etc.; Examples are : one who has renounced the world, one free from worldliness, a recluse ; the aged golden color, bright colors now patinated, the taste of crudeness rather than fineness, the gracefulness of dull finish, the tastefulness of ageing instead of youthfulness, the fun of asymmetry, old landscapes, etc. One could say wabi is more of a subject while sabi concerns an object." Then Hisamatsu cited examples of artistic works in his ZFA in which the two values were better expressed : (1) For sabi, pl. 16, Warikoudai-type tea bowl ; pl. 17, Goshomaru-type tea bowl ; pl. 114, Yang Ningshi, Excerpt from the Shenxian-qijufa ; pl. 55, Muqi, Persimmons. (2) For wabi, pls. 33-35, Shi Ke, The Second Patriarch in Repose ; pl. 6, Hakuin, the Character Mu ("No") ; pl. 40, Liang Kai, The Sixth Patriarch Destroying the Sutra ; pl. 45, Liang Kai, Sage of Yaotai ; Pls. 81, 82, Yintuoluo, Hanshan and Shide ; pl. 136, Hakuin, Sanskrit character. (3) For both sabi and wabi, pl. 37, Liang Kai, Shakyamuni Descending the Mountain ; pl. 87, Josetsu, Three Sages ; pl. 152, Pillar and hearth for preparing tea, Sa'an tea room, Gyokurin'in Temple, Kyoto. 36 The previous rendering "but elegance" was replaced by the above, which is the final part of the final seven-character line of the four-lines of verse to praise Linji, who demonstrated his firm conviction to have realized the Buddha-dharma of his master Huangbo through rejecting help from his advisor Dayu by giving a few pokes to the other's side, a well-known verse by Baiyun Shouduan, 1025-72, dharma-heir to Yangqi Fanghui. (Zokuzoukyou 120-436b)

2008/01/03