chouka　鳥か

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Ch: Niaoke. Lit. bird's nest. A painting subject depicting the Tang dynasty eccentric priest Dourin 道林 (Ch: Daolin), also called Chouka zenji 鳥か禅師 (Ch: Niaoke chanshi), Zen master bird's nest, because he often sat atop a tall pine tree. Near Chouka's pine roost at the Hourinzenji 鳳林禅寺 (Ch: Fenglinchansi) in Hangzhou 杭州, a magpie built a nest, and thus Chouka also acquired the sobriquet Shaku oshou 鵲和尚 (priest Magpie). It is reported that the great Tang poet Bai Letian (Jp: *Haku Rakuten 白楽天) once held a dialogue with Chouka while the latter was seated atop his tree. There are well-known pantings of the subject by Sesshuu 雪舟 (1420-1506), Shoukei 祥啓 (late 15c), and Soutatsu 宗達 (?- 1640?; Cleveland Museum).

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