The Way Flourishes, circa 1700

Details

Sengai Shoan (1636-1705)
The Way Flourishes, circa 1700
Signed Senju Sengai sho, sealed Rinzai shoshu sanju-yon sei, Shaku Shoan in and Donzui betsuji Sengai
Hanging scroll; ink on paper
53¾ x 15 1/8in. (129.0 x 38.4cm.)

Literature

John M. Rosenfield with Fumiko E. Cranston, Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, Vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Art Museums, 1999), pp. 236-37, no. 61.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve.

Lot Essay

Sengai Shoan (Chinese: Qiandai Xing’an) was the sixth abbot of Manpukuji temple of the Chinese Obaku sect of Zen Buddhism. He was a pupil of Sokuhi Nyoitsu and also known as a talented calligrapher.
The Chinese inscription about the refraction of the moon, symbol of enlightenment, has been translated:

The Way flourishes; the moon [is reflected in the] sea.

Translation by Fumiko E. Cranston from Extraordinary Persons, Vol. 1 (1999), p. 236.

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