"Virtue"
This oversize rendition of the character for “virtue” (toku 徳) reflects the exuberant spiritual energy projected by Ekaku, who was one of the foremost proponents of the revival of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in late Edo-period Japan. Originally composed by Chinese historian and Confucian scholar Sima Guang (1018–1086), the inscription reads:
If you pile up money
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t be able to hold onto it.
If you pile up books
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t read any of them.
No, the best thing to do
Is to quietly accumulate virtue,
in the spiritual realm.
Such a gift will benefit your descendants
for a long, long time.
—Trans. adapted from Jonathan Chaves
If you pile up money
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t be able to hold onto it.
If you pile up books
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t read any of them.
No, the best thing to do
Is to quietly accumulate virtue,
in the spiritual realm.
Such a gift will benefit your descendants
for a long, long time.
—Trans. adapted from Jonathan Chaves
Artwork Details
- 白隠慧鶴筆 大字「悳」
- Title: "Virtue"
- Artist: Hakuin Ekaku (Japanese, 1686–1769)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: mid-18th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 41 3/4 × 20 1/2 in. (106 × 52 cm)
Overall with mounting: 73 1/8 × 25 3/16 in. (185.8 × 64 cm)
Overall with knobs: 73 1/8 × 27 3/8 in. (185.8 × 69.5 cm) - Classification: Calligraphy
- Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, 2014
- Object Number: 2014.768.2
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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