Chinese Poem Extolling a Reclusive Lifestyle
Unaffiliated with Zen sects but working in the Zen calligraphy tradition, the Shingon monk Jakugon Taijō achieved recognition as a scholar of Sanskrit and a calligrapher. He is considered one of the great monk-calligraphers of the Edo period, alongside Jiun Onkō and Ryōkan Taigu, also represented in the Cowles Collection.
The inscribed poem, by the Chinese poet Li Panlong (1514–1570), reads:
君去何時歸 山中春草夕
莫将白雲廬 不及紅塵陌
Now that you are leaving,
when might you return
To the spring grasses
in the mountains at dusk?
Do you really believe that a thatched hut
shrouded in white clouds
Does not have more to offer than
the mundane realm of red dust?
The inscribed poem, by the Chinese poet Li Panlong (1514–1570), reads:
君去何時歸 山中春草夕
莫将白雲廬 不及紅塵陌
Now that you are leaving,
when might you return
To the spring grasses
in the mountains at dusk?
Do you really believe that a thatched hut
shrouded in white clouds
Does not have more to offer than
the mundane realm of red dust?
Artwork Details
- 寂厳諦乗筆 李攀竜五言絶句
- Title: Chinese Poem Extolling a Reclusive Lifestyle
- Artist: Jakugon Taijō (Japanese, 1702–1771)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: mid-18th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 49 7/8 × 21 1/2 in. (126.7 × 54.6 cm)
Overall with mounting: 81 1/4 × 27 1/4 in. (206.4 × 69.2 cm)
Overall with knobs: 81 1/4 × 29 1/2 in. (206.4 × 74.9 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020
- Object Number: 2020.396.10
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Jakugon Taijō
ca. 1767–71
Chōbunsai Eishi
early 19th century
Sakai Ōho
ca. 1839
Unidentified artist
early 19th century
Utagawa Hiroshige
1857
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