Chinese Poem on Zen Meditation
Feiyin Tongrong was a Chinese monk who advocated a reassessment of Chan (Zen) practice and its transmission through history, asserting the superiority of the Linji (Rinzai) sect over that of the Caodong (Sōtō). Although he spent his entire life in China, his disciples traveled to Japan, where they established Manpukuji Temple as the center for promoting Feiyin’s ideas. This poem, inscribed in cursive script, conveys Feiyin’s wish to impart his teachings:
参禅参到獨知時 得意分明挙似誰
但看普天秋月夜 一輪彌満照前渓
I’ve done Zen meditation to the point
where I alone get it;
Understanding and clarity,
to whom might I pass this on?
All I see on this night of the autumn moon
is how it fills the heavens,
A single wheel effulgently
illuminating the stream before me.
—Adapted from Jonathan Chaves
参禅参到獨知時 得意分明挙似誰
但看普天秋月夜 一輪彌満照前渓
I’ve done Zen meditation to the point
where I alone get it;
Understanding and clarity,
to whom might I pass this on?
All I see on this night of the autumn moon
is how it fills the heavens,
A single wheel effulgently
illuminating the stream before me.
—Adapted from Jonathan Chaves
Artwork Details
- 費隱通容筆 五言絶句「参禅」
- Title: Chinese Poem on Zen Meditation
- Artist: Feiyin Tongrong (Chinese, 1593–1661) (Jpn. Hiin Tsūyō)
- Period: Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: mid-17th century
- Culture: China/Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 16 13/16 × 22 7/16 in. (42.7 × 57 cm)
Overall with mounting: 57 3/4 × 25 9/16 in. (146.7 × 65 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.420.16
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Feiyin Tongrong
1656
Central Tibet
ca. 1700
Leng Mei
18th century
Wang Yuanqi
ca. 1710
Wang Hui
datable to 1698
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