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Hotei Pointing at the Moon

Fūgai Ekun Japanese
1650
Not on view
The portly monk Hotei is shown hoisting his satchel over his shoulder while he points a finger at the sky above, toward an unseen moon. The abbreviated brushwork and suggestive use of blank space were earlier associated with Zen monk painters of medieval times. The Zen monk Fūgai Ekun of the Sōtō sect followed in this tradition, and often inscribed his paintings in a highly cursive script. The inscription reads:

生涯不貧、大福無隣、 指月看月、途中老賓
Shōgai hin narazu
daifuku rin nashi
tsuki o sashi tsuki o miru
tochū no rōhin

Throughout my life,
I haven’t been poor
Nor have lived
amid wealth.
Pointing at the moon,
looking at the moon,
I’m just an old traveler
along the way.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 風外慧薫筆　指月布袋図
  • Title: Hotei Pointing at the Moon
  • Artist: Fūgai Ekun (Japanese, 1568–1654)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: 1650
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 12 15/16 × 17 3/16 in. (32.9 × 43.7 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 45 9/16 × 20 1/16 in. (115.8 × 50.9 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 45 9/16 × 18 1/16 in. (115.8 × 45.9 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, 2013
  • Object Number: 2013.1133.1
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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