Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu)

吟風一樣松

c. 1660–1709

Yueshan Daozong 悅山道宗

(Chinese, 1629–1709)

China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

hanging scroll; ink on paper

Painting only: 128.9 x 29 cm (50 3/4 x 11 7/16 in.); Overall with knobs: 179 x 36.4 cm (70 1/2 x 14 5/16 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow 2003.354

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

The Ōbaku school of Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism was founded in Japan by Chinese monks in the 1600s. The monk Yueshan emigrated from the Chinese province of Fujian to serve as priest and later abbot at Manpukuji, the headquarters of the Ōbaku school in Japan.

Description

This bold calligraphy written by Yueshan, an Ōbaku school monk, consists of five characters tentatively translated as “Pine trees singing in the wind.”

The line is from Cold Mountain Poems (Hanshan shi). Cold Mountain is the pen name (hao) of the poet monk Han Shan, as well as the name of a place. In one poem Han describes getting lost on the road to Cold Mountain, perhaps an allusion to the search for religious enlightenment.