Bodhidharma

This ink painting depicts Bodhidharma (Daruma), the semi-legendary prelate who traveled from India to China and is regarded as the founder of Zen (Chan) Buddhism—in a painting style introduced to medieval Japan and flourishing thereafter both within and beyond monastic settings. His robe, draped loosely around his body, is executed in bold brushstrokes, some applied in repeated passes to enhance their calligraphic quality. The layered brushwork of his hair and mustache radiates outward, while his facial features are defined by fluid, confident lines that emphasize his penetrating gaze, inviting the practitioner’s focused introspection.

Above the expansive negative space, where an extremely thin layer of ink wash preserves the whiteness of Bodhidharma’s robe, an inscription was added by Motsugai Jōban (Shōban), a former abbot of Myōshinji in Kyoto, expressing his rejection of material attachments:

輕世瑤如輕瓦礫
棄金輪如棄淤泥
眼中瞳子碧於柳
祈之祖高日月低

He treats the world’s jewelry
as rubble,
Casts aside the golden wheel
as sludge.
In his eyes, the pupil gleams
greener than willows,
Pray to the patriarch,
held higher than sun and moon.

Trans. Tim T. Zhang)