Zen Master with Meditation Staff, and Chinese-Style Landscapes

Premodern Japanese portraiture does not necessarily present an accurate likeness of the sitter. The figure here nevertheless seems individuated, in the chinsō tradition of portraiture of Zen masters; it may be the Zen master Ten’yū Jōkō himself, or his master. He holds a “staff of admonition” (shippei) with which to rouse sleepy students during meditation. Landscapes were common in Zen ink painting of the late fourteenth century, and it became a convention to create triptychs, with natural images flanking a Buddhist deity or eminent monk. This scene features the common motifs of cliffs, rocky outcrops, pavilions, and a lone figure crossing a bridge. The painter, Tōeki, was the son of Tōgan, who founded the Unkoku school, claiming descent from Sesshū Tōyō (1420–1506), the great master of monochrome ink painting. In the early 1620s, Tōeki worked at the subtemples of Daitokuji, where Ten’yū was active.