Portrait of Kyūzan Sōei

This image of the Zen master Kyūzan Sōei (1605–1656) is an example of chinsō—portraits with naturalistic facial details, which masters gave their disciples as certification of their attainment of enlightenment. The portrait is a testimony to a disciple’s participation in the lineage of succession of the Buddhist Law as practiced in Zen. Sōei, 194th abbot of the Zen Buddhist temple Daitokuji, in northern Kyoto, may have presented this work to one of his pupils. The inscription above the seated figure was written by Sōei’s own master, Tenyū Shōkō (1586–1666), Daitokuji’s 169th abbot.

Shortly before and during Sōei’s lifetime, Daitokuji achieved prominence from the patronage of the military establishment, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and through connections to important figures in Kyoto’s cultural life such as the tea masters Sen no Rikyū and Kobori Enshū (1579–1647). It was also renowned for its collection of masterworks by Chinese and Japanese painters.