海北友雪筆　周茂叔愛蓮図|Zhou Maoshu Admiring Lotuses

Kaihō Yūsetsu

mid-17th century · Hanging scroll; ink on silk · Asian Art

A bearded scholar props his elbows on the side of his boat and rests his chin in his hands, leaning over to catch a glimpse of lotuses scattered across the surface of a pond. He is recognizable as the Northern Song-dynasty philosopher Zhou Maoshu (Chinese: Zhou Dunyi, 1017–1073). A leading figure in early neo-Confucian thought, Zhou wrote, among other texts, the short essay “On the Love of the Lotus” (“Ai lian shuo”), in which he describes the lotus as a “man of virtue,” in contrast to the “hermitlike” chrysanthemum and the “aristocratic” peony. After the death of his father, Kaihō Yūshō (1533–1615), Yūsetsu operated a shop selling readymade pictures under the name “Chūzaemon.” Later, he received patronage of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the third shogun, and reverted to using the family name Kaihō.

Artist

Kaihō Yūsetsu

Date

mid-17th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015