Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi

Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) Japanese

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A scroll with boldly inscribed Chinese characters by or attributed to a prominent Zen monk such as Motsurin Jōtō would have been used for display in an alcove during a tea ceremony. Motsurin Jōtō, or Bokusai, was a close disciple of the famous Zen monk Ikkyū (1394–1481) of Daitokuji. Because of this close connection, Motsurin’s briskly brushed calligraphy closely resembles that of his master.

Here he has brushed a couplet by the Tang poet Bai Juyi (772–846):

Wild grasses spread out
far across the plains.
Each year they wither,
only to flourish again.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Couplet from the Chinese Poem “Grasses” by Bai Juyi, Motsurin Jōtō (Bokusai) (Japanese, died 1492), Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan

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