Ch: chaoyang
duiyue.@A Zen painting subject depicting a priest sewing in the
morning sun (Jp: chouyou ’©—z) and another reading a sutra
by the reflection of the moon (Jp: taigetsu ‘ÎŒŽ). The theme
is derived from a Song poem attributed to Wang Fengchen ‰¤ˆ§’C: "In the morning
sun I mend my torn robe, by moonlight I practice my sutras," which sums
up the simple nature of Zen practice. Typically the subject is rendered
as a pair of hanging scrolls hung with the two monks facing inward. The
oldest extant painting on the theme, by Wu Zhuzi –³ZŽq (1295; Tokugawa
“¿ì Art Museum, Aichi prefecture), although there are also versions attributed to Muqi (Jp: Mokkei
–qæ®; late 13c; Doumoto “°–{ Collection, Kyoto) and Yintuoluo (Jp: Indara ˆö‘É—…, Private collection). Two Japanese examples are particularly
well-known, one by Chuuan Shinkou ’‡ˆÀ^N (mid-15c; Tokyo National Museum)
and the other a pair of hanging scrolls attributed to Kaou ‰Â‰¥ (early 14c;
now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Cleveland Museum, USA). |