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Fenggan, Hanshan, and Shide

Reisai Japanese
first half of the 15th century
Not on view
From their perch on a rocky precipice, three figures look out over clouds rising from a valley below. At left are Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku), Chan (Japanese: Zen) monks who held low-level positions at Guoqingsi, a temple on China’s Mount Tiantai. The reclusive monk-poet Hanshan, shown carrying a bucket, was said to have gathered leftover food from the temple kitchen, where he worked. Shide holds a broom indicating his role as the temple janitor. The older, contemplative figure at right is their teacher Fenggan (Japanese: Bukan) who lived, according to legend, with a pet tiger, easily overlooked as he naps by a rock. Although these paintings—once the flanking scrolls of an iconic triptych—bear no seals or signatures, they have long been attributed to Reisai based on style. Reisai was a follower of Kichizan Minchō (1352–1431), an artist active in the painting atelier of the Zen monastery Tōfukuji in Kyoto.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 霊彩筆　豊干寒山拾得図
  • Title: Fenggan, Hanshan, and Shide
  • Artist: Reisai (Japanese, active ca. 1430–50)
  • Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
  • Date: first half of the 15th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Pair of hanging scrolls; ink and color on paper
  • Dimensions: Image (a): 37 7/8 × 13 5/8 in. (96.2 × 34.6 cm)
    Overall with mounting (a): 72 15/16 × 18 11/16 in. (185.3 × 47.5 cm)
    Overall with knobs (a): 72 15/16 × 20 5/16 in. (185.3 × 51.6 cm)
    Image (b): 37 15/16 × 13 9/16 in. (96.3 × 34.5 cm)
    Overall with mounting (b): 72 5/8 × 18 11/16 in. (184.5 × 47.4 cm)
    Overall with knobs (b): 72 5/8 × 20 1/4 in. (184.5 × 51.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.300.46a, b
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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