Calligraphy: "And naturally ripens into fruit" / Tetsugen (Ôbaku) Doko
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About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1968/2.19
- Title
- Calligraphy: "And naturally ripens into fruit"
- Artist
- Tetsugen (Ôbaku) Doko
- Artist Nationality
- Japanese
- Artist Life Dates
- active 1630-1682
- Medium and Support
- ink on paper
- Object Creation Date
- circa 1660-1682
- Object Creation Place
- Asia (continent)
- Japan (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- Asia (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Japan (nation)
- Style/Group/Movement
- Zen
- Inscription
- Seals: 2 lower left
- Signature and two seals of the artist
- Dimensions
- 132.6 cm x 26.4 cm (52 3/16 in. x 10 3/8 in.)
- Century
- 17th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Primary Object Type
- calligraphy
- Secondary Object Classification
- Painting
- Secondary Object Type
- hanging scroll
- Physical Description
- Hanging scroll with five large calligraphic kanji characters. The lower right contains further text and orangish read seals. The background brocade on which it is mounted is green and gold and has a floral design. Two strips of other material lie across the top and bottom of the white material on which teh calligraphy is painted. These strips also have a floral design and a light gold/yellow background.
- Subject Matter
- In traditional China, calligraphy was regarded as the highest of the arts because it was held to be the truest reflection of one’s character. For Chinese Chán and Japanese Zen monks, who were immersed in Chinese literati culture, calligraphy could thus be a form of self-portraiture.
- The verse here, piously attributed to Bodhidharma, is the second of a two-line poem and seems to predict the future flourishing of the five lineages of Zen: “One bud opens into five petals, and naturally ripens into fruit.”
- The calligrapher of this scroll, Ôbaku Tetsugen, was among the first generation of Japanese converts to the Ôbaku sect of Zen; he was a disciple of Muan Xingtao (known in Japan as Mokuan).
- Secondary Keywords
- associated concepts
- chinese buddhism
- coating (material)
- coating by form
- descriptors
- image-making processes and techniques
- japanese buddhism
- materials
- materials by function
- materials by origin
- people and culture
- plant material
- processes and techniques
- processes and techniques by specific type
- religions
- religions and religious concepts
- writing (processes)
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 228 x 747
- File Size
- 21 KB
- Record
- 1968/2.19
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1968-sl-2.19/1968_2.19.jpg
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- Manifest
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1968-SL-2.19:1968_2.19.JPG
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"Calligraphy: "And naturally ripens into fruit"; Tetsugen (Ôbaku) Doko." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1968-sl-2.19/1968_2.19.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 19, 2024.
