Hotei
Hotei, a popular figure in the Zen pantheon, is often depicted as a rotund, good-humored monk carrying a large sack. A semihistorical figure, he is believed to have lived in southern China in the late ninth century and was eventually recognized as a manifestation of Miroku, Buddha of the Future. The poetic text here, from a eulogy for Hotei by the Chinese Daoist Bai Yuchan (1194–1229), was inscribed by Tetsuzan Sōdon, a leading monk-scholar who served as abbot of the Zen monastery Myōshinji in Kyoto.
Hotei’s sack encompasses
the Great Emptiness.
Holding a staff, he tramps
around three thousand worlds.
Miroku claps his hands, and laughs—
ha, ha! The bright moon shines,
the wind disappears.
—Translated by John T. Carpenter
Hotei’s sack encompasses
the Great Emptiness.
Holding a staff, he tramps
around three thousand worlds.
Miroku claps his hands, and laughs—
ha, ha! The bright moon shines,
the wind disappears.
—Translated by John T. Carpenter
Artwork Details
- 狩野孝信筆 布袋図
- Title: Hotei
- Artist: Kano Takanobu (Japanese, 1571–1618)
- Calligrapher: Tetsuzan Sōdon (Japanese, 1532–1617)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: 1616
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 27 1/2 x 15 in. (69.9 x 38.1 cm)
Overall with mounting: 59 1/2 x 18 3/4 in. (151.1 x 47.6 cm)
Overall with rollers: 59 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (151.1 x 52.1 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Funds from various donors, 2006
- Object Number: 2006.115
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
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Ikei Shūtoku 惟馨周徳
probably 19th century
Kano Takanobu
mid- to late 1610s
Kano Takanobu
ca. 1600
Kano Tan'yū
mid-17th century
Japan
late 17th century
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