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DiaporamaHanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku)
701
100.0cm x 30.0cm
Itō Jakuchū (1716 – 1800)
Discover Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), a revolutionary Japanese painter of the Edo period. Celebrated for his vibrant bird & flower paintings, unique perspectives, and Zen Buddhist influences, he's an 'eccentric' master who reshaped Japanese art.
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).
About this artwork
- Title: Hanshan and Shide (Japanese: Kanzan and Jittoku)
- Artist: Itō Jakuchū
- Year: 701
- Original dimensions: 100.0cm x 30.0cm
- Format: Portrait
- Copyright status: Public domain
- Color hue: Green Spectrum
- Perceived brightness: deep_shadow
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