大鵬正鯤筆　伯珣照浩賛　雪竹図|Bamboo in Snow

Hakujun Shōkō|Taihō Shōkon

1774 · Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on silk · Asian Art

The interplay of word and image is a firmly established Chinese tradition that Japanese artists have also cultivated. Taihō, who twice served as abbot of the Manpukuji Temple (headquarters of the Ōbaku Zen sect in Kyoto), is noted for his paintings of bamboo. Another Chinese émigré monk and Manpukuji abbot, Hakujun Shōkō, composed the following poem at the age of eighty to accompany Taihō’s painting: Bamboo expands, putting forth bamboo shoots, over thick green leaves. Let a man contemplate the virtues of bamboo: elegance, strength, and firmness, and purify the roots of his karma.

Artist

Hakujun Shōkō|Taihō Shōkon

Date

1774

Medium

Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on silk

Culture

Japan

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Harry G. C. Packard Collection of Asian Art, Gift of Harry G. C. Packard, and Purchase, Fletcher, Rogers, Harris Brisbane Dick, and Louis V. Bell Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, 1975