李攀竜の五言絶句 (Ri Hanryū no Gogon zekku, Chinese poem in five-character lines by Li Panlong)|五言絶句 （Gogon zekku）|Chinese Poem Extolling a Reclusive Lifestyle

Jakugon 寂厳

mid-18th century · Hanging scroll; ink on paper · Asian Art

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?

Artist

Jakugon 寂厳

Date

mid-18th century

Medium

Hanging scroll; ink on paper

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020