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Chinese Poem Extolling a Reclusive Lifestyle

mid-18th century
Not on view
Unaffiliated with Zen sects but working in the Zen calligraphy tradition, the Shingon monk Jakugon Taijō achieved recognition as a scholar of Sanskrit and a calligrapher. He is considered one of the great monk-calligraphers of the Edo period, alongside Jiun Onkō and Ryōkan Taigu, also represented in the Cowles Collection.

The inscribed poem, by the Chinese poet Li Panlong (1514–1570), reads:

君去何時歸　山中春草夕
莫将白雲廬　不及紅塵陌

Now that you are leaving,
when might you return
To the spring grasses
in the mountains at dusk?
Do you really believe that a thatched hut
shrouded in white clouds
Does not have more to offer than
the mundane realm of red dust?

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • 寂厳諦乗筆　李攀竜五言絶句
  • Title: Chinese Poem Extolling a Reclusive Lifestyle
  • Artist: Jakugon Taijō (Japanese, 1702–1771)
  • Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
  • Date: mid-18th century
  • Culture: Japan
  • Medium: Hanging scroll; ink on paper
  • Dimensions: Image: 49 7/8 × 21 1/2 in. (126.7 × 54.6 cm)
    Overall with mounting: 81 1/4 × 27 1/4 in. (206.4 × 69.2 cm)
    Overall with knobs: 81 1/4 × 29 1/2 in. (206.4 × 74.9 cm)
  • Classification: Calligraphy
  • Credit Line: Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection, Gift of Mary and Cheney Cowles, 2020
  • Object Number: 2020.396.10
  • Curatorial Department: Asian Art

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“Spring Dawn” Poem by Meng Haoran, Jakugon Taijō Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
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Mantras of the Two Realms in Sanskrit Script , Jakugon Taijō Japanese, Pair of hanging scrolls; ink on paper, Japan

Mantras of the Two Realms in Sanskrit Script

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