Bamboo in Snow

The interplay of word and image is a firmly established Chinese tradition that Japanese artists have also cultivated, seen here in the work of two Chinese abbots of Manpukuji (the headquarters of the Ōbaku Zen in Uji, south of Kyoto). As Manpukuji served as a center for newly introduced waves of Zen Buddhism and as a hub of Chinese culture in Japan, these abbots became religious mentors and artistic confidants to local Japanese artists, carrying recognized spiritual and cultural authority. Dapeng Zhengkun, known in Japanese as Taihō Shōkon, who twice served as abbot, is noted for his paintings of bamboo. Another Manpukuji abbot, Boxun Zhaohao, or Hakujun Shōkō in Japanese, composed the following poem at the age of eighty to accompany the painting:

淇園移到產龍孫
傲雪倚々綠葉繁
瀟灑堅剛君子操
令人相觀淨諸根

Transplanted from the Qi Garden,
these “grandsons of dragons” sprout.
Braving the snow with grace,
their green leaves flourish.
Unrestricted yet steadfast—
the conduct of a true gentleman.
To gaze upon them,
cleanses all of one’s senses.

(Trans. Tim T. Zhang)