Minneapolis Institute of Art

A Confucian principle

Itsuzan 佚山

Date

1771

Medium

Hanging scroll, ink on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

Born in Osaka, Itsuzan studied seal script and seal carving and presented his findings to the government at the early age of 16. In 1738 he became a Buddhist monk and around ten years later moved to Nagasaki to study the colorful Chinese bird and flower painting style. In 1757 he settled down at a temple in Kyoto where he responded to the many requests for his painting and calligraphy. This single line of seal script is from this later period and is based off of Confucian teachings. 行仁義事 致遠經方 Implement benevolent and righteous actions; Expand them afar, so the standard is corrected. (Trans. Stephen Addiss) Japan, Asia

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