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Bean Vine

Painting by Itō Jakuchū Japanese
Inscription by Musen Jōzen (Tangai) Japanese
late 1750s–before 1764
Not on view
Itō Jakuchū, son of a greengrocer, used vegetables and plants as a personal iconography that almost always included a moral or religious meaning. This handsome sketch of a bean plant, paired with a poem by Ōbaku Zen monk Musen Jōzen (Tangai), refers to a story about the Chinese poet Cao Zhi (192–232), whose tyrannical brother, Cao Pei (Emperor Wen), once commanded him to compose a poem before he took seven steps, threatening him with execution if he failed. Tangai’s verse makes an erudite reference to Cao Zhi’s original poem comparing himself and his brother to the parts of a bean plant, while also alluding to the Zen philosophy of nonduality.

The green vine puts forth blossoms,
and its pods are like half-formed swords.
The bean and stalk are inseparable;
both were born from the same roots.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 伊藤若冲筆　無染浄善 (丹崖)賛　 豌豆豆図
  • Title: Bean Vine
  • Artist: Painting by Itō Jakuchū (Japanese, 1716–1800)
  • Artist: Inscription by Musen Jōzen (Tangai) (Japanese, 1693–1764)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: late 1750s–before 1764
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 49 1/2 x 18 7/8 in. (125.7 x 47.9 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 75 5/8 x 24 1/4 in. (192.1 x 61.6 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 75 5/8 x 26 1/2 in. (192.1 x 67.3 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lita Annenberg Hazen Charitable Trust Gift, in honor of Cynthia and Leon Polsky, 1985
  • Object Number: 1985.97
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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Hen and Rooster with Grapevine, Itō Jakuchū Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk, Japan
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Woods and Valleys of Mount Yu, Ni Zan Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
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A White Macaw, Itō Jakuchū Japanese, Reproduction of an original Jakuchū design; woodblock print, ink and color on paper, Japan
A White Macaw
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Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese
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