chouyou, taigetsu　朝陽・対月

KEY WORD :　 art history / paintings

Ch: chaoyang duiyue.　A Zen painting subject depicting a priest sewing in the morning sun (Jp: chouyou 朝陽) and another reading a sutra by the reflection of the moon (Jp: taigetsu 対月). The theme is derived from a Song poem attributed to Wang Fengchen 王逢辰: "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 無住子 (1295; Tokugawa 徳川 Art Museum, Aichi prefecture), although there are also versions attributed to Muqi (Jp: Mokkei 牧谿; late 13c; Doumoto 堂本 Collection, Kyoto) and Yintuoluo (Jp: Indara 因陀羅, Private collection). Two Japanese examples are particularly well-known, one by Chuuan Shinkou 仲安真康 (mid-15c; Tokyo National Museum) and the other a pair of hanging scrolls attributed to Kaou 可翁 (early 14c; now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and Cleveland Museum, USA).

REFERENCES:

EXTERNAL LINKS:

NOTES:

(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System.　No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。