The Three Perfections: Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting

John T. Carpenter with Tim T. Zhang
2025
320 pages
191 illustrations
9.5 x 11 in
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In East Asian cultures, the integration of poetry, painting, and calligraphy, known as the "Three Perfections," is considered the apex of artistic expression. This sumptuous book explores 1,000 years of Japanese art through more than 100 works--hanging scrolls, folding screens, handscrolls, and albums--from the Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. John T. Carpenter provides an engaging history of these interrelated disciplines and shows evidence of intellectual exchange between Chinese and Japanese artists in works with poetry in both languages, calligraphies in Chinese brushed by Japanese Zen monks, and examples of Japanese paintings pictorializing scenes from Chinese literature and legend. Many of the works featured, including Japanese poetic forms, Chinese verses, and Zen Buddhist sayings, are deciphered and translated here for the first time, providing readers with a better understanding of each work's rich and layered meaning. Highlighting the talents of such masters as Musō Soseki, Sesson Shūkei, Jiun Onkō, Ryōkan Taigu, Ike Taiga, and Yosa Buson, this book celebrates the power of brush-written calligraphy and its complex visual synergy with painted images.

“The Historical Buddha Preaching,” a section from The Illustrated Sutra of Past and Present Karma (Kako genzai inga kyō emaki), Unidentified artist Japanese, mid-8th century, Handscroll section mounted as a hanging scroll;  ink and color on paper, Japan
Unidentified artist
mid-8th century
Section of the Flower Ornament Sutra (Kegon-kyō), known as the “Senpukuji Burned Sutra” (Senpukuji yakegyō) 
, Unidentified artist, Section of handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on pale indigo-dyed paper decorated with flakes of gold leaf, Japan
Unidentified artist
12th century
Section of the Sutra on the Contemplation of Immeasurable Life, one of the “Rengeōin Fragments” (Rengeō’in-gire), Emperor Shirakawa  Japanese, Hanging scroll; gold and malachite on paper decorated in gold and silver, Japan
Emperor Shirakawa
12th century
Excerpt from Bai Juyi's "Autobiography of a Master of Drunken Poetry Recitation", Fujiwara no Yukinari (Kōzei)  Japanese, Handscroll section mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Fujiwara no Yukinari (Kōzei)
early 11th century
Poems about Neighbors, from Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Wakan rōeishū), one of the “Tatsuta Fragments” (Tatsuta-gire), Minamoto Ienaga  Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on decorated paper, Japan
Minamoto Ienaga
13th century
The Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, Studio of Kano Takanobu  Japanese, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, gold, and silver on paper, Japan
Studio of Kano Takanobu
Konoe Nobutada
early 17th century
Illustrated Handscrolls of The Tale of Genji, Ryūjo (Tatsujo)  Japanese, Five handscrolls; ink and color on paper (illustrations); ink on paper (texts), Japan
Ryūjo (Tatsujo)
1594
Reading a sutra by moonlight, Unidentified artist , early 14th century, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, China
Unidentified artist
ca. 1332
Reading a Sutra by Moonlight, Jifei Ruyi (Sokuhi Nyoitsu)  Chinese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Jifei Ruyi (Sokuhi Nyoitsu)
17th century, after 1661
Portrait of Yinyuan Longqi, unidentified artist , active late 17th century, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
unidentified artist
Muan Xingtao
1676
“Udumbara Flowers” (Udonge) Temple Plaque, Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen Ryūki)  Chinese, Carved wood; lacquer, color, and gold, Japan
Yinyuan Longqi (Ingen Ryūki)
carved 1741
Huaisu Writing on a Banana Leaf 
, Tomioka Tessai  Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Tomioka Tessai
1918
Poetry Gathering at the Orchid Pavilion (Lanting), Tomioka Tessai  Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink and color on paper, Japan
Tomioka Tessai
1913
Poems about Plum Blossoms, from the “Sekido-bon Version of Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern”, Fujiwara no Yukinari  Japanese, Page from a bound booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on dyed paper, Japan
Fujiwara no Yukinari
mid- to late 11th century
Poem about Cherry Blossoms from Collection of Elegant Flowers (Reikashū), one of the Scented-Paper Fragments (Kōshi-gire), Kodai no Kimi  Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper, Japan
Kodai no Kimi
late 11th century
Two Poems about Palace Gossip, one of the “Ōe Fragments” (Ōe-gire), Fujiwara no Sadayori  Japanese, Page from a bound booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on mica paper with gold flecks, Japan
Fujiwara no Sadayori
early 12th century
Poems about the Arrival of Autumn, from Newly Selected Collection of Poems to Sing (Shinsen rōeishū), one of the “Yamana Fragments” (Yamana-gire), Fujiwara no Mototoshi  Japanese, Hanging scroll; ink on paper with gold and silver flecks, Japan
Fujiwara no Mototoshi
ca. 1116–22
A Poem of Lament, one of the “Uzura Fragments” (Uzura-gire), Fujiwara Akisuke  Japanese, Section of a page from a bound booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on paper patterned with mica powder, Japan
Fujiwara Akisuke
13th century
Poems about Cherry Blossoms, one of the “Murasame Fragments” (Murasame-gire), Nijō Tameyo  Japanese, Page from a booklet mounted as a hanging scroll; ink on dyed paper, Japan
Nijō Tameyo
early 14th century
Kana Letter on Stamped Images of Amida Buddha
, Hanging scroll; brush written letter, ink on paper (front); stamped images, ink on paper (reverse), Japan
Japan
early 13th century
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Carpenter, John T. The Three Perfections, Japanese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting: The Mary and Cheney Cowles Collection. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2025.