1    

‘The  Far  Away  Heart’:  Trace,  examine  and  discuss  the  centrality  of  Buddhist  thought  and  practice  throughout  the  artistic  career  of  Itō  Jakuchū.  

Freddie Matthews  

2    

 

 

 

 

“Whenever there is a world of

living things, there is a world of

Buddha ancestors.”  

Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 1200-

1253)  

Portrait of I tō Jakuchū by Kubota Beisen (1852-1906). c . 1885. Colours on s i lk; hanging scrol l . 55 x 35 cm. Shōkoku-j i Temple, Kyoto.

3    

This essay sets out to trace the artistic career of Itō Jakuchū (伊藤 若冲; 1716-1800) in light of the artist’s personal

commitment to Buddhist thought, practice and ideals; examining the extent to which his membership to the Chinese

transplanted ‘Ōbaku Zen’ sect informed, nourished and guided his artistic maturation. Images are taken from a

variety of different works and are often united into ‘groups’ for the purpose of illustrating common themes and

stylistic variations.

Whilst scholars have broadly articulated the “pervasive influence of Buddhism”1 on the artistic output of Itō Jakuchū

(伊藤 若冲; 1716-1800), detailed scholarly research into it as, “the chief motivating force in his life”2 has yet to be

undertaken in a robust enough way. Whilst both the artist’s introversion and (unhindered) individualism have led

scholars to classify Jakuchū an ‘Eccentric’ (Jp: kijin) i on a par with his contemporaries, Soga Shōhaku (1730- 1781)

and Nagasawa Rosetsu (1754-1799), these men shared no ideological or artistic affiliation and approached their art

from widely contrasting view-points. Furthermore, unlike Shōhaku and Rosetsu, “Jakuchū ’s personal behavior was

sober and restrained,”3 being so committed as he was to the path of Zen Buddhism, that he was eventually awarded

the title of koji (‘lay brother’).4 This essay examines therefore, how scholars may wish to move beyond placing

Jakuchū within the ambiguous confines of ‘Kyoto Eccentric Art,’ instead defining his work as, ‘Pre-modern/Secular

Buddhist Art’. Indeed, as Christine Guth has noted, “Buddhist faith was so entwined with his personality that many

works that appear to be of a secular nature were in fact religiously motivated.”5

Jakuchū was born into a transitional era of Japanese history, wedged between the calm strictures of ‘old Japan’ and

its frenetic acceleration towards modernity. Within a century, Japan’s population had more than doubled, exceeding

over half a million by 1700. Such changes were felt not only within socio-political realms but within religious ones

also, with a marked “spiritual impoverishment”6ii perceived within the Buddhist establishment as it became “engulfed

by superstition and drained of elevated intellectual content.”7 In a radical response to this, many Buddhists often

opted to “walk the secular road8, “channeling their spiritual fervor into ‘artless art’”9 which trumpeted the virtues of

“secular morality,”10 “life-affirming culture,” and “humanistic values.”11 iii  

                                                                                                               1 Hickman, Money L and Sato, Yashuhirō. 1989. The Paintings of Jakuchū. The Asia Society Galleries, New York., p. 22. 2 Ibid., p. 27. 3 Rosenfield, John M and Cranston, Fumiko E. 1999. Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era. Vol.III. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts., p. 35. 4 Ibid., p. 35. 5 Guth, Christine. 1996. Japanese Art of the Edo Period. The Everyman Art Library, London., p. 82 6 Tamura, Yoshiro. 2000. Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History. Hunter, Jeffrey. (Trans). Kosei Publishing Co, Tokyo., p. 147. 7 Rosenfield. Op cit., p. 149. 8 Tamura. Op cit., p. 124. 9 Rosenfield. Op cit., P151. 10 Tamura. Op cit., p. 122.

4    

Contemporaneous of these social changes, was the economic rise of the pragmatic merchant class, who consciously

sought to reorient their cultural position against the archaic strictures of early Edo-period Japan. Aspirations towards

hitherto restricted activities such as painting were energetically pursued, and an amateur painting culture flourished

thanks to Chinese illustrated manuals such as the Hasshū Gafū (‘Painting Manual of Eight Varieties’) and the

Kaishien Gaden (‘Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting’). Within these small books, complex knowledge

of painting materials, pigments and brush strokes became readily accessible, and were avidly studied by inspired

individuals such as Itō Jakuchū.  

Jakuchū was born into a wealthy merchant family in central Kyoto, which for three generations had operated a

wholesale greengrocer business in the Nishiki food district known as the ‘Masugen’.iv When Jakuchūʼs father passed

away in 1739, the twenty-three year old had inherited responsibility of the business, which he dutifully undertook

until the age of forty. Documentary sources make it clear however, that during this time Jakuchū profoundly lacked

any sort of spiritual nourishment, often abandoning his store for solitary retreats in the mountains. In 1755, Jakuchū

finally retired from the family business, handing its keys over to his younger brother Sōgan.  

 

Throughout the decade leading up to this, Jakuchū had showcased a profound “curiosity about spiritual matters”12

becoming deeply affected by Kyoto’s nascent ‘Ōbaku Zen’ sect (Ch: Huang-po), a continental school of Buddhism

transplanted from China after the collapse of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Such an encounter would “completely

shape his subsequent life.”13v Not only were this sect’s émigré monks “men of philosophical and artistic capabilities,”

but they also “represented the culture of Ming dynasty China.”14 Furthermore, the syncretic teachings of Ōbaku Zen

incorporated features of Pure Land Buddhism,vi which must have no doubt appealed to Jakuchū considering his

family were already members of this school.vii As his biographer and life-long friend Daiten Kenjo (1719-1801) later

conveyed, there were two main callings in Jakuchū’s life that eclipsed his engagement with his commercial

obligations; Buddhism and painting, the later being something Jakuchū had pursued earlier with the assistance of

Chinese painting manuals as well as the mysterious guidance of an anonymous teacher.viii  

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 11 Ibid., p. 113. 12 Hickman. Op cit., p. 18. 13 McKelway, Matthew P. Ed. 2005. Traditions Unbound: Groundbreaking Painters from 18th Century Kyoto. Asian Art Museum, San Francisco., p. 65. 14 Addiss, Stephen and Wong, Kwan S. 1978. Ōbaku: Zen Painting and Calligraphy. Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas., p. 6.

5    

Whilst Jakuchū chose to lead “the reclusive life of a priest”15 after his retirement from the Masugen, he nonetheless

relished the new social ties he forged through Kyoto’s Ōbaku Buddhist community. These included the Nanga painter

Ike no Taiga, the priest Baisaō (1675-1763), as well as (the previously mentioned) Daiten Kenjo- a distinguished

bungakusō (‘literary monk’) of the Shōkoku-ji monastery who acted as Jakuchū’s confidant, friend and life-long

spiritual mentor. Encouraged by these esteemed friends, Jakuchū received Zen instruction from the head abbot of the

Mampukuji temple, Hakujun Shōkō (1695-1776) and adopted the Buddhist name ‘Jakuchū’ (meaning, ‘Like a void’ix).

This signalled Jakuchūʼs adoption of the life of a ‘koji’ (Buddhist lay monk),x meaning that he “received the tonsure,

gave up eating meat, and conscientiously devoted himself to observing the prohibitions of Buddhism.”16 As Mason

notes, “For the rest of his days Jakuchū lived the life of a priest devoted to painting.”17

 

In light of his evident religiousity, the aspiring monk-painter was given exclusive access to the ancient painting

collections of numerous Ōbaku Zen temples, allowing him “to study and copy (their paintings) at his leisure.”18 The

exotic Chinese and Korean works that he witnessed were largely two-fold in style; those of “formal composition

executed in bright colours on silk or paper (and those) brushed quickly in ink”19 In time, these styles would crystallize

into Jakuchū’s foundations as a painter. Two examples of this early influence can be found in a polychrome hanging-

scroll of ‘Yoryu Kannon’ (‘Willow Kannon’; Sk: Avalokiteśvara) (See FIG. 1a) and a pair of ink hanging-scrolls of

‘Fugen’ (Sk: Samantabhadra) and ‘Monju’ (Sk: Mañjuśrī). See FIG. 2a-b. Not only were the later two ink scrolls

copied directly from continental sources, but the silk depiction of Kannon was likely copied from a Koryŏ period piece

similar to one from the Yamato Bunkakan. See FIG. 1b. Such replications conveyed Jakuchū’s pious respect for his

perceived spiritual heritage, as well as his ambition to recreate its art in his own land.

                                                                                                               15 Price, Joe. In [Authour Unkown]. 2006. The Price Collection: Jakuchū and the Age of Imagination. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc, Tokyo National Museum. 16 Hickman. Op cit., p. 20. 17 Mason. Op cit. p322 18 Guth. Op cit., p. 82. 19 Sharf, Elizabeth Horton. 1994. Ōbaku Zen Portrait Painting: A Revisionist Analysis. UMI Dissertation Services, Michigan., p. 6.

6    

FIG. 1a: (far left): ‘Yoryu Kannon’ (Willow Kannon). n.d. Colours on silk; hanging scroll. 129.2 x 61.8 cm. Seal: Jakuchū koji. Private collection; Hyogo Prefecture. In Hickman, 1989. Fig 5. FIG. 1b(top right): Willow Kannon. Korean artist; Koryŏ period; c.14th century. From the Yamato Bunkakan. In Hickman, 1989. Fig 52. FIG. 2a (bottom left): ‘Fugen, the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue’. 普賢図. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. 142.3 x 61 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art. FIG. 2b (bottom right): ‘Monju, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom.’ Hanging scroll; ink on paper. 142.5 x 60.9 cm. Cleveland Museum of Art.

7    

FIG. 3: Daruma (Bodhidharma). c. 1765-1770. Hanging scroll; colour and ink on silk. 78.5 x 92cm. In Rosenfield, Vol 1. Extraordinary Persons. Fig 100, p 332.

Whilst attempting to remain as faithful as possible to his visual prototypes, it appears Jakuchū could not contain his

artistic flair for using strong, saturated pigments as epitomized in an early silk hanging scroll of ‘Daruma’ (Sk:

Bodhidharma). See FIG. 3. Here Jakuchū adopts an image that “stemmed from (a) Chinese religious picture,”20

and transforms it into something evocative, striking and quintessentially Japanese. The piece also demonstrates

Jakuchū’s nascent use of graphic line and colour to infuse life and vitality into his subjects- “a self-conscious effort

to revitalize Buddhist votive painting.”21

Jakuchū’s artistic genius was finally manifested in his magnum opus, Dōshoku sai-e (Jp: 動植綵絵; ‘Pictures of the

Colourful Realm of Living Beings), which he had dillegently worked on for almost a decade between 1757 and 1765

                                                                                                               20 Rosenfield. Op cit., p. 332. 21 Ibid., p. 337.

8    

as a gift to the Shōkoku-ji temple- his spiritual and artistic cradle. In his accompanying document of dedication,

Jakuchū declared:

“Frivolous motives and the desire for worldly acclaim have played no part in this

undertaking. I have humbly donated all the paintings to the Shōkoku-ji in the hope that

they will always be utilized as objects of solemn reverence.”22

                                                                                                               22 In Hickman. Op cit., p. 22.

9    

FIG. 4a-f: Dōshoku sai-e (The Colourful Realm of Living Beings). Set of thirty hanging scroll. c. 1757-1766. Polychrome on silk. c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.  

From top left to bottom right: ‘Maple Tree and Small Birds’, ‘Roses and Small Bird’, ‘Wild Goose and Reeds’, ‘Pond and Insects’, ‘Plum Blossoms and Cranes’, ‘Fish’.  

10    

FIG. 4g-l: Dōshoku sai-e (The Colourful Realm of Living Beings). Set of thirty hanging scroll. c. 1757-1766. Polychrome on silk. c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.  

From top left to bottom right: ‘Peonies and Butterflies’, ‘Nandina and Rooster’, ‘Lotus Pond and Fish’, ‘Mandarin Ducks in Snow’, ‘Old Pine Tree and Peacock’, ‘Golden Pheasants in Snow’.  

11    

FIG. 5a: Original layout of ‘Dōshoku sai-e’ (‘The Colourful Realm of Living Beings’) in Shōkoku-ji Monastery, Kyoto. FIG. 5b-d: ‘Śākyamuni Triptych’, consisting of The Buddha Śākyamuni, Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra. c. First half of the 1760s. Set of three polychrome on silk hanging scrolls. Shōkoku-ji Monastery, Kyoto. 210.3 x 111.3 cm (each scroll). Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

12    

Quickly becoming one of the most celebrated works of the entire Edo period, Doshoku Sai-e presented “an

encyclopedic depiction of fauna and flora of various terrestrial, marine, and avian species” 23xi within a total of

thirty-threexii silk hanging scrolls of roughly 5 ½ by 3 feet, each minutely rendered to the point of hyper-realism

with “loving exactitude.”24 See FIG. 4a-l. For example, 146 varieties of seashells appear in ‘Shells’ and 76 different

species appear in ‘Pond and Insects.’ In Doshoku Sai-e, Jakuchū also demonstrated his artistic virtuosity by

showcasing every technical innovation of his time, as well as the time he had spent observing his subjects from

nature (known as ‘shaseiga’ in Japanese).xiii Contemplated as a unified whole Doshoku Sai-e was intended to be

understood as a “representation of the interrelatedness of the created and transcendent worlds,”25 a symbol of “the

universality of the Buddha’s teachings,”26 and the Bussho (‘Buddha nature’) of all sentient beings. See FIG. 5a. The

“devotional linchpin”27 of the work was a strikingly orthodox triptych of the historical Śākyamuni Buddha,

Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, each claimed (by Jakuchū) to have been “scrupulously

copied”28 from works by the 13th-century Chinese artist Zhang Sigong, which Jakuchū had discovered in the

collections of the Tofukuji monastery.xiv See FIG. 5b-d.Whilst the convention of flanking a central ‘orthodox’ icon

with surrounding nature scenes had long been a hallmark of East Asian Zen painting;29 the ‘Kannon Triptych’ (SEE

FIG) of the Southern Song artist Mu Qi (c.1200-1270) may have been the particular impetus for Dōshoku sai-e,

considering that it had long been held at the Daitōku-ji temple in Kyoto, close to where Jakuchū resided. See FIG.

6.  

 

 

FIG. 6: ‘Kannon Triptych’. Mu Qi, (1200-1270). China; Southern Song Dynasty. Daitōku-ji, Kyoto.

                                                                                                               23 Ibid., p. 21. 24 Johnson, Ken. ‘Teeming With Transcendent Life’: Works by Ito Jakuchu at National Gallery. [Art Review.] New York Times. March 30, 2012. 25 Rotondo-McCord, Lisa. An Enduring Vision: 17th to 20th Century Japanese Painting from the Gitter-Yelen Collection. University of Washington Press, Seattle., p. 103. 26 McKelway. Op cit., p. 65. 27 Hickman. Op cit., p. 62. 28 Jakuchū in Hickman. Op cit., p. 22. 29  Hickman. Op cit., p. 58.  

13    

The Shōkoku-ji temple functioned as something of a public gallery for the Doshoku Sai-e paintings, which were

periodically displayed for ritual, thus infusing them with “the aura of religious icons in their own right.”30 Despite

the fame this yielded however, the artist remained uninterested in pursuing titles such as ‘Hokkyō’ or ‘Hōgen,’

instead distancing himself from public life with long periods of retreat at the Ōbaku Zen temple of Sekihōji, in

Fukakusa, just south of Kyoto. During this time, he became staggeringly prolific in his artistic output, producing

pieces that are as visually diverse as they are technically innovative. A veritable patchwork of such works can be

perceived in a unification of one of Jakuchū’s all-time favourite subjects, the solitary rooster. Indeed, as many

scholars have observed, this subject “seems to have some metaphorical significance”31 for Jakuchū, and “cannot be

treated as an isolated phenomenon.”32 Whilst acknowledging that Jakuchū kept fowl as convenient subjects for

shaseiga (life-drawing)33, his consistent fascination with the rooster may also suggest that he was conscious of the

animals’ ancient Buddhist iconography (the rooster is the traditional Buddhist symbol for the spiritual poison of

‘craving’ or ‘attachment’ [Sk: trishna]),xv thus bringing extra resonance to the fact that Jakuchū’s “strutting male

and submissive female birds strike poses reminiscent of ukiyo-e actor prints.”34xvi See FIG. 6a-l.

                                                                                                               

30 Ibid., p. 26. 31Ibid., p. 26.  32 Matsushima, In [Authour Unkown]. 2006. The Price Collection: Jakuchū and the Age of Imagination. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc, Tokyo National Museum., p. 245-246. 33 Croissant, Doris. Ed. 2011. Splendid Impressions: Japanese Secular Painting, 1400-1900 in the Museum of East Asian Art, Cologne. Hotei Publishing, Leiden., p. 295. 34 Stanley- Baker, Joan. 2000. Japanese Art. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London., p. 180.

14    

From top left to bottom right:

FIG. 7a: Detail from ‘Figures, Birds and Flowers.’ Ink on paper. Six-panel screen. 127.5 x 52.3 cm (each), Los Angeles County Museum of Art. FIG. 7b: ‘Rooster on Branch.’ Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1757–1766. c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo.  FIG. 7c: ‘Rooster on Snow Covered Branch.’ Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. Ibid .  FIG. 7d: ‘Rooster in Snow.’ Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1757–1766. c . 210 x 111 cm.  FIG. 7e: Detail from ‘Rooster Family.’ Ink on paper. ND.  FIG. 7f: ‘Rooster at Sunrise.’ Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1757–1766. c . 210 x 111 cm. FIG. 7g: ‘Rooster and Banana Plant.’ Ink on paper; hanging scroll. ND. FIG. 7h: Detail from ‘Birds, Animals, and Flowering Plants in Imaginary Scene.’ Six-Panel screen. ND. FIG. 7i: ‘Rooster and Hen’. Ink on paper; hanging scroll. ND. FIG. 7j: ‘Hydrangeas and Fowl’. Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1757–1766. c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. FIG. 7k: ‘Nandina and Rooster ’ . Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1761–1765. c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. FIG. 7l: ‘Rooster’. Hanging Scroll; ink and light colors on paper. c. 1795. Collection of the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture.

15    

Furthermore, many of Jakuchū ’s more ‘meticulous’ works suggest that he had discovered a unique meditational aid

in painting. As Guth notes, “for Jakuchū painting became a form of religious discipline.”35 This is no better

expressed than in his patiently rendered ‘Birds, Animals, and Flowering Plants in an Imaginary Scene,’ a pair of

six-panel screens, each composed of roughly 43,000 individually painted polychrome squares on paper, attentively

rendered with the same mind-frame as the devotee who piously recites nembutsu (Jp: 念仏; Sk: buddhānusmrti;

‘Minfulness of the Buddha’). See FIG. 8a-b.

 

FIG. 8a-b: ‘Birds, Animals, and Flowering Plants in Imaginary Scene.’ Date unknown. Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink and colour on paper. Each: 168.7 x 374.4 cm. The Etsuko and Joe Price Collection.

 

                                                                                                               35 Guth. Op cit., p. 82.

16    

Despite his staggeringly diverse artistic repertoire, the terrain that seems to have increasingly appealed to

Jakuchū in his later years was the expressive potential of suiboku (monochrome water and ink painting), which

he no-doubt considered a greater spiritual task than his “maniacally fastidious”36 polychrome works.xvii Whilst

residing at temples such as the Sekihōji (often on periodical retreat), Jakuchū attempted such pieces, which

“resonated with the intuitive spontaneity of Zen thought.”37 See FIG. 9a-d. In these works, Jakuchū often

rendered his subject’s bodies simply with a single stroke, which in some ways appropriated the traditional

Ensō (Jp: 円相; ‘Zen Buddhist Circle’), the classic expression of Zen satori (enlightenment) frequently adopted

by venerable monk-painters such as Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1768). See FIG. 9e. Other subtleties such as the

vegetal bald-heads of the Zen eccentrics Kanzan (寒山 Ch: Hánshān) and Jittoku (拾得; Ch: Shídé)xviii (See

FIG. 9a) also demonstrated Jakuchū ’s humorous approach to his art- a feature fully in accord with the

methods and practices of Zen.xix  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                               36 Croissant. Op cit., p. 138. 37 Hickman. Op cit., p. 22.

17    

FIG. 9a (far left): ‘Kanzan and Jittoku’. c. 1763. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. 105 x 28 cm. Bowers Museum, CA. FIG. 9b-c: (above and below left): Detail from ‘Figures, Birds and Flowers.’ Ink on paper. Six panel screen. 127.5 x 52.3 cm (each), Los Angeles County Museum of Art. FIG. 9d (above right): ‘Cranes.’ Hangings scroll; ink on paper. 1775-1790s. Size and unknown. Bowers Museum, CA. FIG. 9e: ‘Enso’ by Hakuin Ekaku. 1686-1768. Ink on paper.

18    

Such humour was no better expressed than in ‘Vegetable Paranirvana’. See FIG. 10a. This monochrome

hanging-scroll abandoned iconographic conventions, playfully reinventing the orthodox composition of

Sakyamuni’s death, with a collection of prostrate vegetables mourning the death of a Japanese white radish

(daikon).xx The piece not only fuses the spirit of ‘mitate’ (parodying) and Zen, but also articulates the

Japanese Buddhist belief that even plants hold “the potential to attain Buddhahood (jōbutsu)”38xxi Perhaps

most importantly however, this piece makes an overt autobiographical reference to the years Jakuchū had

spent selling vegetables at the Masugen.xxii

 

FIG. 10a (left): ‘Vegetable Paranirvana.’ c. 1780. Ink on paper; hanging scroll. 181.7 x 96.1 cm. Kyoto National Museum. FIG. 10b (above): Classical depiction of ‘The Buddha's Paranirvana.’ Kamakura period (1185-1332). Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                               38 McKelway. Op cit., p. 172.

19    

Jakuchū forged strong ties with the Kyoto Buddhist Sangha, and his art increasingly became a dual enterprise

between the two parties. Formal temple commissions included projects at the Ō-shoin Hall of the Rokuonji temple

in 1759, the renowned Kotohiragū shrine on the island of Shikoku in 1764, the Kaihōji temple near Sekihōji, and the

Saifukuji temple in Toyonaka where he was probably resident for several months.39 Similarly, many of his paintings

were inscribed by senior Ōbaku monks, such as the monk-poet ‘Musen Jōzen’ (or ‘Tangai; 1693-1764) and the

Zenrakuji temple priest, Dokuan Sōjō.40 Praise from such an venerable audience no doubt encouraged Jakuchu

personally, as well as enhancing his “already established reputation”41 professionally.  

 

Perhaps the greatest respect extended to Jakuchū by Kyoto’s Buddhist clergy however, were commissions for

portraits of venerable Zen masters- an honour which none of his contemporaries seem to have ever received. These

included a portrait of the esteemed monk Baisaō Kō Yūgai ([賣茶翁; 1675-1763]), “one of midcentury Kyoto’s most

curiously influential figures”42xxiii), for his 1763 wood-block print obituary, ‘the Baisao Gego’ (See FIG. 11a),xxiv and

another of Hoan Joei (1722-1796), the “distinguished Ōbaku prelate and … twenty-third Bishop of the

Mampukuji.”43 See FIG. 11b. Importantly, the later was rendered as a traditional chinzō (formal Zen portrait),xxv

illustrative of the worthiness placed on Jakuchū by his Buddhist peers by this time, as Ōbaku chinzō were

traditionally reserved for Chinese emigrant craftsmen.44

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                               39 Hickman. Op cit., p. 23. 40 Rotondo-McCord. Op cit., p. 104. 41 Hickman. Op cit., p. 26. 42 Rotondo-McCord. Op cit. p. 104. 43 McKelway. Op cit., p. 79. 44 See Sharf. Op cit.

20    

FIG. 11a: Page from the Baisaō Gego (Woodblock-print). 1763. 27.7 x 17.5cm. National Archives of Japan, Tokyo. In Hickman, Fig 18.

FIG. 11b:Portrait of Hoan Jōei (1722-1796). 1797. Ink on silk; hanging scroll. 170.0 x 80.5 cm. Singature: Painted by Old Man BeItō, age eighty-two. Mampukuji, Kyoto Prefecture. In Hickman Fig. 4

In Jakuchū ’s seventy-second year (1788), a disastrous fire erupted in Kyoto, destroying much of the city including

the Itō family store, the ‘Shin’enkan’ (Jakuchū ’s two story studio which he called, ‘The Villa of The Far Away

Heart’45), as well as many other family owned structures across the Nishiki neighbourhood.xxvi Until this point

Jakuchū had existed largely without financial worries, but now found it imperative to support himself through

income-generating commissions. Thanks to his reputation as one of Kyoto’s finest artists (preceding the prominent

Nanga masters Taiga and Buson in the Heian Jimbutsushi and ranked second only to Maruyama Ōkyo46), Jakuchū

found it especially easy to attract commissions, usually of popular subjects such as stylized carp, cranes, fauna and

                                                                                                               45 Rosenfield. Vol III. Op cit., p. 36., 46 Hickman. Op cit., p. 26.

21    

other animals.47 Jakuchū often signed these pieces ‘Old Man Beitō’ in reference to the market cost of his work, Beitō

being a measure of rice. Given that his home had been destroyed, Jakuchū became resident at the Sekihōji templexxvii

which no doubt suited him perfectly. Almost immediately, he embarked upon a playful project of arranging

hundreds of carved stone statues of traditional Buddhist subjects across a hill behind the temple. A newly

discovered ink hanging-scroll from this era depicts his vision for this composition. See FIG. 12a-b.

 

FIG. 12a: View of Sekihōji. 1789. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. H: 71.6 cm; W: 101.8 cm. Kyoto National Museum.

FIG. 12b: Jakuchū ’s statues at the Sekihōji. Credit: Flickr member ‘Khoitoan’.

                                                                                                               47 Croissant. Op cit. p. 296.

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Creeping towards his eightieth year, Jakuchū appears to have been fully at peace with the impermanence of life, as

expressed in his Weathered Skull; a sketched depiction of a stylized skull abandoned in a desolate field. The image

echoes the “world-weariness and memento mori”48 infused into another piece, ‘Lotus Pond’, done four years earlier,

whilst highlighting Jakuchū’s mastery of compositional structure and graphic design, taking its impetus from the

reverse printing process of taku-hanga. The inscription by the Edo period poet Kagawa Kageki (1768-1834) reads:

‘Never darkening,

constantly it shines, this moon-

and if it is so

there will surely be no one

that sleeps through the night of this world.’49

                                                                                                               48 Hickman. Op cit., p. 78. 49 Kagawa Kageki (1768-1834) in Ibid., p. 176.

23    

FIG. 13: Weathered Skull. 1794. Ink on paper; hanging scroll. 100.8 x 58.3 cm. Signature: ‘Painted by Old Man Beitō, age seventy-nine’. Saifukuji, Osaka.

24    

In 1800, Jakuchū passed away and funeral services were held at the Sekihōji temple, where his remains were

interred. In addition, services were performed at the Hozōji (the tutelary temple of the Itō family in Kyoto) as well as

the Kokuonji, the proxy temple for the Shōkokuji whilst it was being repaired after the fire of 1788. Almost a century

later, the Doshoku Sai-e paintings were presented to the Imperial Household in exchange for a substantial donation

(10,000 yen) for use towards further repair and maintenance of the temple.50 In a felicitous turn of fate, the temple

that had initially given so much life to Jakuchū’s brush, was posthumously nurtured and sustained by that very same

brush.  

 

In the Buddhist world, it is believed that phenomenal reality appeals to man through six essential senses (Sk:

āyatana): the eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin and mind; each causally connected to one another in an infinite

interconnected web (Sk: pratītyasamutpāda). The striking, evocative, and often unforgettable artwork of Itō

Jakuchū could similarly be said to appeal in such a way. Moreover, his works transcend aesthetic limits, originating

from higher ideals than those born simply out of ‘eccentricity.’ As this essay as examined, Buddhism was central to

stimulating, motivating and enriching the fabric of Jakuchūʼs entire artistic vision, and his continued legacy

demonstrates how, in his pious search for the divine and the eternal, man truly wields the capacity to create those

two things.  

                                                                                                               50 Hickman. Op cit., p. 32.

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Appendix: Endnotes  

                                                                                                               i The idea that Jakuchū was an eccentric “was promoted by the art historian Tsuji Nobuo, whose influential publication A Lineage of Eccentrics (Kisō no keifu, 1970) proposed a genealogy of unorthodox painters in Japan’s premodern past.” (Croissant. 2001. p. 138.) ii As Michael Mohr has noted; “The transformation of Buddhism during the Tokugawa period has not been sufficiently explored by modern scholars.” (Mohr. 1994. p.1.) iii New philosophies such as ‘Shingaku’ (‘Heart Learning’), as expounded by Ishida Baigan (1685-1744) taught the “way of the merchant;” “a humanistic and pragmatic philosophy” whereby ethics were “a matter not of religion but of individual conscience.” (Tamura. 2000. p. 145.) iv A greengrocer still operates at this site. (Hickman. 1989. p. 17.) v This school, which came to be known as the ‘third’ sect of Japanese Zen (Alicia and Daigan. 1974. p. 262.), was transplanted from China in 1654 after the fall of the Ming Dynasty by the Chinese émigré Yinyuan Longqi (Jp: Ingen; 1592-1673) and named after the monastery Ōbakusan Manpukuji. This sect “enjoyed immediate prestige in Japan” receiving “considerable material and moral support from the Japanese military government” (Sharf. 1994. p. 4-5.), who not only sponsored the main temple of Mampuku-ji but even facilitated “further emigration of Ōbaku monks from China to perpetuate the line.” (Baroni. 2000. p. 181.). vi Ōbaku Zen considered the ‘Pure Land’ a ‘psychological state of mind’ (Alicia and Daigan. 1974. p. 262.) with ‘nembutsu’ pragmatically invoked in order to raise the individuals’ spiritual awareness. vii Jakuchū’s family were originally members of the Hōzōji Pure Land temple in the Rokkaku-sagaru district of Kyoto. viii Speculated as being the Kanō school trained artist Ōoka Shumboku (1680-1763). ix This name was derived from the forty-fifth section of the Tao Te Ching and was conferred by Daiten. x As evident by the round relief seal he chose to use in many of his later works which read ‘Jakuchū koji’ (‘Lay Monk Jakuchū’ ). xi The impulse for the accurate classification of the natural world was typical within this era with picture books such as the Ehon Mushi Erami (‘Picture book of crawling creatures’) by Kitagawa Utamoro in 1788 proving extremely popular. Likewise, Korusai received much commercial success with his bird and flower prints. The ‘cult of realism’ within the 18th century was no better expressed however than in the works of Jakuchū ’s contemporary, Maruyama Ōkyo (Jp: 円山 応挙; 1733-1795). xii Thirty-three is a potent number in traditional East Asian Buddhist thought, the Bodhisattva Kannon having thirty-three heads and transcendental manifestations. xiii As Jakuchū himself stated, “Flowers, birds, grasses, and insects each have their own innate spirit. Only after one has actually determined the true nature of this spirit through observation should painting begin.” (Jakuchū, in Hickman. 1989. p. 46.) xiv However, a medieval Korean painting recently discovered in Japan (now in the Cleveland Museum of Art), “seems unquestionably to have served as the model for the painting of Sakyamuni” (Rosenfield and Cranston. 1999. Vol. I. p. 332.) xv The rooster is often visually entwined with the pig (symbolizing ‘ignorance’; Sk: avidya) and the snake (symbolizing ‘aversion’; Sk: dosa) within the centre of the Indian bhavacakra (Wheel of Life). Together, these animals are representative of the ‘three Buddhist poisons’ (Sanskit: trivisa; Jp: Sandoku). xvi Furthermore, as Matsushima has noted, Jakuchu regularly “sublimated the ordinary chicken into a dramatic phoenix-like motif.” (Matsushima, In The Price Collection. 2006. p245-246) suggesting a link with the Shin School (Jp: 浄土真宗; True Pure Land School) of Buddhism, where it was believed, “through the transfiguring power of Amida's Light… the Cock of Craving (could be) changed to the Phoenix of Compassion.” Harold Stewart. xvii In his monochrome pieces, Jakuchū experimented increasingly with signature techniques such as sujimegaki (‘partition drawing’) whereby he took advantage of the high absorbent Chinese xuan paper (Jp: gasenshi) in order to delineate subtle forms. (Croissant. 2001. p. 138.) xviii “Images of this pair composed a cherished Zen Buddhist reference to the consuming search for enlightenment and the ephemeral nature of life’s possessions.” (Rotondo-McCord. 2003. p. 104.) xix A Zen master may adopt the expedient means of “humour and clownishness” (Hyers. 1974. p. 135.) to provoke ‘kenshō’ (‘seeing into one’s own nature’) in his student (Hyers. 1974. p. 137.) xx The radish (daikon) was particularly suited to the position of the enlightened one, considering its cultural associations with purity, humility and resilience. (McKelway. 2005. p. 172.). As Hickman also points out, “during the Edo period a bifurcated daikon was customarily used as a religious offering to Daikokuten, the god who brought riches.” (Hickman. 1989. p. 165.)

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                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 xxi Some daring masters in Japan such as the Tendai master Chujin (1065-1138) even declared that plants were already Buddhas. (Schmithausen. 2009. p. 23.) xxii The painting (which formally resided in the Seiganji Pure Land temple in Kyoto) was thought to have been made in honour of his recently passed mother. (McKelway. 2005. p. 172.) xxiii Baisao was an aged itinerant and former monk of the Ōbaku sect, who “proselytized in direct and easily understandable ways a syncretic Buddhism highly influenced by Daoist notions,” and practiced “sencha, or steeped tea, as a vehicle of enlightenment.” (Rotondo-McCord. 2003. p. 104.). xxiv Baisao once remarked of Jakuchū ’s painting: “Enlivened by his hand, his paintings are filled with a mysterious spirit.” (Hickman. 1989. p. 138.)