Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed
Bodhidharma (Japanese: Daruma) was a sixth-century Indian sage who is credited with transmitting Zen Buddhist teachings to China. After an unsuccessful encounter with the Chinese Liang-dynasty Emperor Wu, Bodhidharma is said to have sailed up the Yangzi River on a single reed to continue his journey to promote Zen. Executed in an abbreviated style using only a few long, flowing strokes to define the sage’s robes, this work reflects an ink-painting style that was introduced from China in the late Kamakura period (1185–1333). The colophon above the figure, composed and inscribed by the noted Zen monk Gyokushitsu Sōhaku, reads:
Lightly sailing on a single reed,
He is majestic and commanding.
Far from Liang territory,
Ah, what does he recall?
Although this painting was previously attributed to the Momoyama-period artist Kano Sōshū (1551–1601), a reevaluation of the seal impressed at lower right has revealed the artist to be Kano Genshun (also called Hayato), a Kano painter of the early Edo period and first head of the minor Yamashita Kano studio.
Lightly sailing on a single reed,
He is majestic and commanding.
Far from Liang territory,
Ah, what does he recall?
Although this painting was previously attributed to the Momoyama-period artist Kano Sōshū (1551–1601), a reevaluation of the seal impressed at lower right has revealed the artist to be Kano Genshun (also called Hayato), a Kano painter of the early Edo period and first head of the minor Yamashita Kano studio.
Artwork Details
- 芦葉達磨図 (Royō Daruma zu)
- Title: Bodhidharma Crossing the Yangzi River on a Reed
- Artist: Kano Genshun 狩野元俊 (Japanese, 1588–1672)
- Artist: Inscription by Gyokushitsu Sōhaku (Japanese, 1572–1641)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: before 1641
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 31 3/4 x 12 3/4 in. (80.6 x 32.4 cm)
Overall with mounting: 64 x 17 1/2 in. (162.6 x 44.5 cm)
Overall with knobs: 64 x 19 1/4 in. (162.6 x 48.9 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2007
- Object Number: 2007.29
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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