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"Virtue"

Hakuin Ekaku Japanese
mid-18th century
Not on view
This oversize rendition of the character for “virtue” (toku 徳) reflects the exuberant spiritual energy projected by Ekaku, who was one of the foremost proponents of the revival of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism in late Edo-period Japan. Originally composed by Chinese historian and Confucian scholar Sima Guang (1018–1086), the inscription reads:

If you pile up money
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t be able to hold onto it.
If you pile up books
for your children and grandchildren,
they won’t read any of them.
No, the best thing to do
Is to quietly accumulate virtue,
in the spiritual realm.
Such a gift will benefit your descendants
for a long, long time.

—Trans. adapted from Jonathan Chaves

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 白隠慧鶴筆　大字「悳」
  • Title: "Virtue"
  • Artist: Hakuin Ekaku (Japanese, 1686–1769)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: mid-18th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 41 3/4 × 20 1/2 in. (106 × 52 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 73 1/8 × 25 3/16 in. (185.8 × 64 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 73 1/8 × 27 3/8 in. (185.8 × 69.5 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Fishbein-Bender Collection, Gift of T. Richard Fishbein and Estelle P. Bender, 2014
  • Object Number: 2014.768.2
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

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Portrait of Bodhidharma, Hakuin Ekaku Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Portrait of Bodhidharma
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”Abiding nowhere, the awakened mind arises”, Musō Soseki Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
”Abiding nowhere, the awakened mind arises”
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Kannon by a Lotus Pond, Hakuin Ekaku Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Kannon by a Lotus Pond
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Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese
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