The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu)
c. 1660–1709
(Chinese, 1629–1709)
Image: 28.6 x 64.1 cm (11 1/4 x 25 1/4 in.); Overall with knobs: 115.6 x 73.8 cm (45 1/2 x 29 1/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert T. Gow 2003.353
Location: not on view
Description
This spontaneous, bold calligraphy style is characteristic of members of the Japanese Ōbaku school (Huangbo in Chinese) of Chan (Zen in Japanese) Buddhism, which was founded in Japan by Chinese monks in the 1600s. The monk Yueshan emigrated to Japan from the Chinese province of Fujian, taking a priestly post at Manpukuji, the headquarters of the Ōbaku school in Japan. He later became the seventh abbot of the distinguished temple.Yueshan’s calligraphy features rounded characters that allow him to fuse strokes and characters in speedy brush movements. Here the text begins with the large character chu (“the beginning”), the initial focus of meditation on the text: The dragon murmurs after sunset. The tiger roars before dawn.
- (Chinese Porcelain Factory, NY, sold to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Gow)?–2003Robert and Katy Gow, Naples, FL, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art2003–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Power and Possession: Chinese Calligraphy and Inscribed Objects – Chinese Gallery Rotation 240a, 241c. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 13, 2018-February 3, 2019).
- {{cite web|title=Calligraphy in Semi-Cursive Style (xing-caoshu)|url=false|author=Yueshan Daozong|year=c. 1660–1709|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.353