Introduction to the Exhibition

This online exhibition celebrates the remarkable legacy of the charismatic Zen master Yinyuan
Longqi (or Ingen Ryūki, as he is known in Japan), joining numerous commemorative activities held at
leading Ōbaku lineage temples in China and Japan in honor of the 350 th  anniversary of his death in
1673. Every fifty years in Japan, Ingen receives an honorary title bestowed by the Imperial
Household Agency. This year’s bestowal offers a special opportunity to celebrate Ingen’s many
achievements highlighting the broad and lasting impact of Ōbaku Zen’s visual culture in Japan.

Although many fine exhibitions of the arts of Ōbaku have been presented in Japan, there has not
been an exhibition in the West since the important and pioneering Obaku: Zen Painting and
Calligraphy held at the Spencer Museum of Art in1978 and organized by Professor Stephen Addiss
(1935-2022). The present exhibition is an initiative of the Center for Buddhist Studies, University of
Arizona, and focuses exclusively on works of art in public and private collections outside of Japan.

This online exhibition is an ongoing project. Five main rooms feature Ingen and his ancestors, his
Chinese and Japanese disciples, artists and poets, sacred figures, and traces of Obaku temples. There
is also a Self Tour option for those interested in specific artists, subjects, and themes.