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Tenjin Traveling to China

Attributed to Tōsai Japanese
Inscription traditionally attributed to Kisei Reigen Japanese
early 16th century
Not on view
The statesman-poet Sugawara no Michizane (845–903) is shown here in his deified form, Tenjin, on a visit to China to meet the influential Chan (Zen) monk Wuzhun Shifan (1178–1249). He wears a Daoist robe and a hood of semitransparent gauze, and a bag hangs from his shoulder. The inscribed poem by the Zen poet-monk Kisei Reigen reads:

径山密付破袈裟　丞相詩禅験作家
不是庭前無柏樹　如何袖裡有梅花
At Jingshan Monastery, the tattered robes
of a monk were esoterically transmitted.
Grand Chancellor [Michizane] composed a poem
on Chan to test the master [Wuzhun Shifan].
It is not that the front garden
has no cypress trees;
But why are there plum blossoms
tucked into his sleeve?

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 伝等歳筆　伝希世霊彦(村庵)賛　渡唐天神像
  • Title: Tenjin Traveling to China
  • Artist: Attributed to Tōsai (Japanese, active late 15th century)
  • Artist: Inscription traditionally attributed to Kisei Reigen (Japanese, 1403–1488)
  • Period: Muromachi period (1392–1573)
  • Date: early 16th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
  • Dimensions: Image: 37 5/16 × 14 3/8 in. (94.8 × 36.5 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 73 7/16 × 23 1/16 in. (186.5 × 58.5 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2019
  • Object Number: 2019.420.5
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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