Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku)
Hanshan and Shide (active late 8th–early 9th century) were Chan Buddhist monks who held low-level positions at Guoqingsi, a temple on China’s sacred Mount Tiantai. Turned away from the viewer here, Hanshan (“Cold Mountain”) was a reclusive monk-poet. Shide, his constant companion, carries a broom indicating his role as the temple’s janitor. The pair of figures came to represent an iconoclastic aspect of Chan (Japanese: Zen) monastic practice and was a popular theme in Japanese painting.
In the Buddhist tradition, Hanshan and Shide were also honored as emanations of the bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen (Sanskrit: Manjushri and Samantabhadra), representing the virtues of wisdom and compassion. The inscription refers to this association: “One is the Bodhisattva of the Great Path. The other the Patriarch of the Great Buddha. What evidence is there? A broken broom, a tattered scripture, and unrhymed verse” (trans. Aaron Rio).
In the Buddhist tradition, Hanshan and Shide were also honored as emanations of the bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen (Sanskrit: Manjushri and Samantabhadra), representing the virtues of wisdom and compassion. The inscription refers to this association: “One is the Bodhisattva of the Great Path. The other the Patriarch of the Great Buddha. What evidence is there? A broken broom, a tattered scripture, and unrhymed verse” (trans. Aaron Rio).
Artwork Details
- 伊藤若冲筆 伝池大雅賛 寒山拾得 「 一箇大行薩埵、 一箇大佛袒師、 何以為驗 弊帚、殘經落韻詩」
- Title: Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku)
- Artist: Itō Jakuchū (Japanese, 1716–1800)
- Artist: Calligraphy attributed to Ike no Taiga (Japanese, 1723–1776)
- Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
- Date: late 18th century
- Culture: Japan
- Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 39 1/2 × 11 15/16 in. (100.4 × 30.3 cm)
Overall with mounting: 69 11/16 × 15 3/8 in. (177 × 39 cm)
Overall with knobs: 69 11/16 × 17 5/16 in. (177 × 44 cm) - Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Mary Griggs Burke Collection, Gift of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation, 2015
- Object Number: 2015.300.215
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
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Itō Jakuchū
1795
Itō Jakuchū
ca. 1767
Returned to lender
Itō Jakuchū
ca. 1796–98
Itō Jakuchū
ca. 1900
Itō Jakuchū
ca. 1900
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