Cleveland Museum of Art

Listening to the Wind in the Pines

Ikkyū Sōjun

Date

1400s

Medium

hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan, Muromachi period (1392–1573)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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

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