The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

Listening to the Wind in the Pines

Listening to the Wind in the Pines

1400s
(Japanese, 1394–1481)
Painting only: 76.8 x 32 cm (30 1/4 x 12 5/8 in.); Including mounting: 153.7 x 38.1 cm (60 1/2 x 15 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The word mountain, appearing in the title to the poem on this painting, can also refer to a temple.

Description

A monk sits in contemplation below an overhang covered with pine. The poem, titled "Monk in the Mountains Listening to the Wind in the Pines," refers to two Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhist monks active in the ninth century. It may be translated as follows:

Why must the Zen of Rinzai (Linji Yixuan) and Tokusan (Deshan Xuanjian) reside in a single temple for thirty years?
Once he's solved his kōan, (the monk) ends his practice and falls asleep in the quietness of the wind among the tall pines. (translated by Osvaldo Mercuri)

According to an inscription following the poem, both painting and verse were done by an eminent Japanese Buddhist monk known for revitalizing the Kyoto temple Daitokuji.
  • ?-1985
    (Yabumoto Kōzō, Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1985-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Nakagawa Kazumasa 中川一政. Bokuseki Ikkyū Sōjun 墨蹟一休宗純. Tōkyō: Chūō Kōronsha, 1986.
    Grossman, Nancy, James T. Ulak, Marjorie Williams, and Laurence Channing. Art of Japan: Masterpieces from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2005. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 56
  • Japanese Gallery 235 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 2-July 9, 2018).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 12-July 13, 2004).
    Mountains, Rocks, and Water: Landscape Painting in Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 2-December 13, 1987).
    The Year in Review for 1985. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 12-April 20, 1986).
  • {{cite web|title=Listening to the Wind in the Pines|url=false|author=Ikkyū Sōjun|year=1400s|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1985.89