Ingen and Obaku Zen Lineage Ancestors
Yinyuan Longqi (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592-1673) was already a revered abbot in China when, in 1654, he accepted an invitation from the overseas Chinese community in Nagasaki to bring his teachings to Japan. He subsequently founded the Ōbaku school of Zen, whose headquarters is at Manpukuji in Uji, near Kyoto. In Japan, Ingen is celebrated for introducing Chinese Buddhist monastic culture of the late Ming dynasty, and for inspiring a mushrooming of the visual arts, notably calligraphy, painting, and sculpture, and the arts of seal-carving, music, temple cuisine, and a tea ceremony using steeped green leaf tea (sencha). Less well known is the full extent of his impact on the renewal, growth, and transformation of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Portrait paintings of Ingen by professional painters, together with works of calligraphy he brushed, convey his strength and character.
Just like other Zen abbots in China and Japan, Ingen venerated his spiritual ancestors, beginning with the historical Buddha known as Śākyamuni. Among these ancestors is the legendary Indian patriarch Bodhidharma, who is thought to have inherited the dharma, the mind or awakening of the Buddha, in a process known as dharma transmission. Bodhidharma in turn transmitted the dharma to China, where he is renowned as the First Patriarch of Zen (Ch. Chan).
Portraits of Bodhidharma are a favorite subject of Ōbaku paintings and he also appears in textual form in calligraphic works of art, as do other Buddhist deities such as Śākyamuni Buddha. Such works are treated equally as icons when displayed in commemorative ceremonies honoring their subjects.
Bodhidharma often appears as a single figure seated as though in meditation and draped in a capacious bright red robe evoking his Indian heritage. He is also the central figure in triptychs flanked by the ninth-century Chinese Zen masters Deshan and Linji. Ingen is connected to these patriarchs as he claimed spiritual descent from Śākyamuni and Bodhidharma via Linji. Ingen and his dharma masters Miyun (Jp. Mitsuun) and Feiyin (Jp. Hiin) played seminal roles in reviving monastic practices at a time of existential challenges and political turmoil in late Ming China.
BODHIDHARMA by Yiran Xingrong (Jp. Itsunen Shōyū)
Bodhidharma Yiran Xingrong 逸然性融 (Jp. Itsunen Shōyū, 1601-1668) Duli Xingyi獨立性易 (Jp. Dokuryū Shōeki, 1596-1672) Edo period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 95 cm x 39 cm, 178 cm x 52 cm (mounted) Collection of Harald Conrad 這箇老胡誰人不識 菩提達磨九年面壁 Who is this unknown...
THE CYPRESS TREE IN THE COURTYARD by Yinyuan Longqi (Jp. Ingen Ryūki)
The cypress tree in the courtyard Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592-1673) Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 123 x 36.3 cm; 190.5 x 47.3 cm (mounted) Collection of Harald Conrad 庭前柏樹子 The cypress tree in the courtyard In response to...
ŚĀKYAMUNI BUDDHA by Ryōkei Shōsen
Śākyamuni Buddha Ryōkei Shōsen龍渓性潜 (1602-1670) Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 59 x 14.2 cm; 143 x 31 cm (mounted) Collection of Stuart Katz 釈迦文仏 Śākyamuni Buddha [button...
RED-ROBED BODHIDHARMA by Kanō Eiken
Red-Robed Bodhidharma, 1745 Kanō Eiken 狩野永碩 (1690－1759) Inscription by Hyakusetsu Genyō 百拙元養(1668-1749) Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868) Ink and color on paper 124.5 x 56.7 cm; 185 x 68 cm (mounted) Collection of Stuart Katz [button...
BODHIDHARMA by Tetsugyū Dōki
Bodhidharma Tetsugyū Dōki鐵牛道機 (1628-1712) Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 68.8 x 36.5 cm; 157 x 46 cm (mounted) Collection of Stuart Katz Return...
RED-ROBED BODHIDHARMA by Takuhō Dōshū
Red-Robed Bodhidharma Takuhō Dōshū卓峰道秀 (1652–1714) Inscription by Gaoquan Xingdun高泉性潡 (Jp. Kōsen Shōton, 1633-1695) Japan, Edo Period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk 102.9 x 36.2 cm; 190.2 x 49.5 cm (mounted) Collection of Stuart Katz [button...
TRIPTYCH OF THREE ZEN MASTERS: DESHAN, BODHIDHARMA, AND LINJI by Yiran Xingrong (Jp. Itsunen Shōyū)
Triptych of Three Zen Masters: Deshan, Bodhidharma, and Linji Yiran Xingrong 逸然性融 (Jp. Itsunen Shōyū, 1601-1668) Eulogies by Muan Xingtao 木菴性瑫 (Jp. Mokuan Shōtō, 1611-1684), 1658 Japan, Edo period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink and color on paper Each scroll:...
FIRST PATRIARCH, GREAT MASTER BODHIDHARMA by Muan Xingtao (Jp. Mokuan Shōtō)
First Patriarch, Great Master Bodhidharma, mid-17th century Muan Xingtao 木菴性瑫 (Jp. Mokuan Shōtō, 1611-1684) Japan, Edo period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 139.7 x 29.2 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art, Purchased with funds donated by Andrea M. Baldeck,...
THE WAY OF THE PATRIARCHS SPANS A THOUSAND YEARS by Yinyuan Longqi (Jp. Ingen Ryūki)
The Way of the Patriarchs spans a thousand years, mid-17th century Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592-1673) Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 119.4 x 27.9 cm; 204.5 x 39.4 cm (mounted) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Florence...
PORTRAIT OF YINYUAN LONGQI 隱元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki) in the tradition of Kita Genki
Portrait of Yinyuan Longqi 隱元隆琦 (Jp. Ingen Ryūki, 1592-1673) Tradition of Kita Genki 喜多元規 (active c. 1663-1709) Eulogy by Muan Xingtao 木菴性瑫 (Jp. Mokuan Shōtō, 1611-1684), 1676 Japan, Edo period (1615–1868) Hanging scroll, ink and color on silk 119.4 x 57.8 cm;...
THE MEANING OF BODHIDHARMA’S COMING FROM THE WEST CAN ONLY BE LOOKED AT AFTER KALPAS RETURNING by Feiyin Tongrong (Jp. Hiin Tsūyō)
The meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West can only be looked at after kalpas returning, 1656 Feiyin Tongrong 費隠通容 (Jp. Hiin Tsūyō, 1593-1661) Japan, Edo period (1615-1868) Hanging scroll, ink on paper 127 x 29 cm, 194 x 31 cm (mounted) Collection of Harald...