Courtesan as Daruma
Attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu Japanese
Not on view
Though a painting of a young woman, the red cape and cowl are associated with traditional imagery of Daruma (Bodhidharma), the legendary monk who traveled from India to China to establish Chan (Zen) Buddhism, who is often depicted in similar garb. The painting here, unsigned but most likely by Toyoharu based on stylistic considerations, is intended as a parodic depiction of a Yoshiwara courtesan. The poem by Shokusanjin plays on Buddhist phrases related to the Daruma’s nine years of zazen meditation in a cave to connote a drinking party.
Drinking sake aged nine years,
along with crumbs of snacks
such as Zazen beans,
we realize that originally
there was nothing at all.
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