Poem in Chinese about Sugar

14th century

Not on view

A prominent figure in early fourteenth-century Japanese Zen, Shiren was born into an aristocratic family in Kyoto and studied Zen in Kamakura with the Chinese émigré monk Yishan Yining (Japanese: Issan Ichinei, 1247–1317). Shiren’s calligraphy reveals a debt to his master in its crisp brushwork, long horizontal strokes, and overall rightward-leaning tendency. The seven-character quatrain, about sugar, reads:

Now let fire and water fight it out:
Heat and boil it many times,
It will form naturally;
Don’t say that it always tastes like honey.
When you roll your tongue
It may also taste sour.
—Trans. Yoshiaki Shimizu and John M. Rosenfield

Artwork Details

虎関師錬筆　墨跡「糖」
Title: Poem in Chinese about Sugar
Artist: Kokan Shiren (Japanese, 1278–1346)
Period: Nanbokuchō period (1336–92)
Date: 14th century
Culture: Japan
Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions: Image: 12 1/4 x 18 5/8 in. (31.1 x 47.3 cm)
Overall with mounting: 47 x 24 in. (119.4 x 61 cm)
Overall with knobs: 47 x 25 13/16 in. (119.4 x 65.6 cm)
Classification: Calligraphy
Credit Line: Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto, in honor of Elizabeth and Neil Swinton, 2014
Object Number: 2014.719.6
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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