The

Far Away Heart: Trace, examine and discuss the centrality of Buddhist thought and practice throughout the artistic career of It Jakuch.

Freddie Matthews

Whenever there is a world of living things, there is a world of Buddha ancestors. Dgen Zenji (; 12001253)

Portrait of It Jakuch by Kubota Beisen (1852-1906). c. 1885. Colours on silk; hanging scroll. 55 x 35 cm. Shkoku-ji Temple, Kyoto.

This essay sets out to trace the artistic career of It Jakuch ( ; 1716-1800) in light of the artists personal commitment to Buddhist thought, practice and ideals; examining the extent to which his membership to the Chinese transplanted baku 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 Buddhism1 on the artistic output of It Jakuch ( ; 1716-1800), detailed scholarly research into it as, the chief motivating force in his life2 has yet to be undertaken in a robust enough way. Whilst both the artists introversion and (unhindered) individualism have led scholars to classify Jakuch an Eccentric (Jp: kijin) i on a par with his contemporaries, Soga Shhaku (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 Shhaku and Rosetsu, Jakuch 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 Jakuch 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

Jakuch 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, Japans 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 impoverishment6ii 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 art9 which trumpeted the virtues of secular morality,10 life-affirming culture, and humanistic values.11 iii

Hickman, Money L and Sato, Yashuhir. 1989. The Paintings of Jakuch. 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.
1

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 Hassh Gaf (Painting Manual of Eight Varieties) and the Kaishien Gaden (Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting). W i t h i n t h e s e s m a l l b o o k s , c o m p l e x k nowledge of painting materials, pigments and brush strokes became readily accessible, and were avidly studied by inspired individuals such as It Jakuch.

Jakuch 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 Jakuchs 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 Jakuch profoundly lacked any sort of spiritual nourishment, often abandoning his store for solitary retreats in the mountains. In 1755, Jakuch finally retired from the family business, handing its keys over to his younger brother Sgan.

Throughout the decade leading up to this, Jakuch had showcased a profound curiosity about spiritual matters12 becoming deeply affected by Kyotos nascent baku 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 sects migr monks men of philosophical and artistic capabilities, but they also represented the culture of Ming dynasty China.14 Furthermore, the syncretic teachings of baku Zen incorporated features of Pure Land Buddhism,vi which must have no doubt appealed to Jakuch 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 Jakuchs life that eclipsed his engagement with his commercial obligations; Buddhism and painting, the later being something Jakuch had pursued earlier with the assistance of Chinese painting manuals as well as the mysterious guidance of an anonymous teacher.viii

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. baku: Zen Painting and Calligraphy. Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas., p. 6.
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Whilst Jakuch chose to lead the reclusive life of a priest15 after his retirement from the Masugen, he nonetheless relished the new social ties he forged through Kyotos baku Buddhist community. These included the Nanga painter Ike no Taiga, the priest Baisa (1675-1763), as well as (the previously mentioned) Daiten Kenjo- a distinguished bungakus (literary monk) of the Shkoku-ji monastery who acted as Jakuchs confidant, friend and life-long spiritual mentor. Encouraged by these esteemed friends, Jakuch received Zen instruction from the head abbot of the Mampukuji temple, Hakujun Shk (1695-1776) and adopted the Buddhist name Jakuch (meaning, Like a voidix). This signalled Jakuchs 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 Jakuch 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 baku 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 ink19 In time, these styles would crystallize into Jakuchs foundations as a painter. Two examples of this early influence can be found in a polychrome hangingscroll of Yoryu Kannon (Willow Kannon; Sk: Avalokitevara) (See FIG. 1a) and a pair of ink hanging-scrolls of Fugen (Sk: Samantabhadra) and Monju (Sk: Majur). 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 Kory period piece similar to one from the Yamato Bunkakan. See FIG. 1b. Such replications conveyed Jakuchs pious respect for his perceived spiritual heritage, as well as his ambition to recreate its art in his own land.

Price, Joe. In [Authour Unkown]. 2006. The Price Collection: Jakuch 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. baku Zen Portrait Painting: A Revisionist Analysis. UMI Dissertation Services, Michigan., p. 6.
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FIG. 1a: (far left): Yoryu Kannon (Willow Kannon). n.d. Colours on silk; hanging scroll. 129.2 x 61.8 cm. Seal: Jakuch koji. Private collection; Hyogo Prefecture. In Hickman, 1989. Fig 5. FIG. 1b(top right): Willow Kannon. Korean artist; Kory period; c.14th century. From the Yamato Bunkakan. In Hickman, 1989. Fig 52. FIG. 2a (bottom left): Fugen, the Bodhisattva of Universal Virtue. . 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.

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 Jakuch 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 Jakuch 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 Jakuchs 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

Jakuchs artistic genius was finally manifested in his magnum opus, Dshoku sai-e (Jp: ; Pictures of the Colourful Realm of Living Beings), which he had dillegently worked on for almost a decade between 1757 and 1765

Rosenfield. Op cit., p. 332. 21 Ibid., p. 337.
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as a gift to the Shkoku-ji temple- his spiritual and artistic cradle. In his accompanying document of dedication, Jakuch 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 Shkoku-ji in the hope that they will always be utilized as objects of solemn reverence.22

22

In Hickman. Op cit., p. 22.

FIG. 4a-f: Dshoku 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.

FIG. 4g-l: Dshoku 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.

10

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

11

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 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, Jakuch 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 Buddhas teachings,26 and the Bussho (Buddha nature) of all sentient beings. See FIG. 5a. The devotional linchpin27 of the work was a strikingly orthodox triptych of the historical kyamuni Buddha, Bodhisattva Majur, a n d Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, each claimed (by Jakuch) to have been scrupulously copied28 from works by the 13th-century Chinese artist Zhang Sigong, which Jakuch had discovered in the collections of the Tofukuji monastery.xiv See FIG. 5b-d.W hilst 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 Dshoku sai-e, considering that it had long been held at the Daitku-ji temple in Kyoto, close to where Jakuch resided. See FIG. 6.

FIG. 6: Kannon Triptych. Mu Qi, (12001270). China; Southern Song Dynasty. Daitku-ji, Kyoto.

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 Jakuch in Hickman. Op cit., p. 22. 29 Hickman. Op cit., p. 58.
23

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The Shkoku-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 Hokky or Hgen, instead distancing himself from public life with long periods of retreat at the baku Zen temple of Sekihji, 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 Jakuchs all-time favourite subjects, the solitary rooster. Indeed, as many scholars have observed, this subject seems to have some metaphorical significance31 for Jakuch, and cannot be treated as an isolated phenomenon.32 Whilst acknowledging that Jakuch 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 Jakuchs strutting male and submissive female birds strike poses reminiscent of ukiyo-e actor prints.34xvi See FIG. 6a-l.

Ibid., p. 26. 31Ibid., p. 26.
30 32 Matsushima, In [Authour Unkown]. 2006. The Price Collection: Jakuch 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.

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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. 1 7 5 7 1 7 6 6 . c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. FIG. 7c: Rooster on Snow Covered Branch. Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. I b i d . FIG. 7d: Rooster in Snow. Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1 7 5 7 1 7 6 6 . 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. 1 7 5 7 1 7 6 6 . 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. 1 7 5 7 1 7 6 6 . c . 210 x 111 cm. The Imperial Household Agency, Tokyo. FIG. 7k: N a n d i n a a n d R o o s t e r . Hanging scroll; polychrome on silk. 1 7 6 1 1 7 6 5 . 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.

14

Furthermore, many of Jakuch s more meticulous works suggest that he had discovered a unique meditational aid in painting. As Guth notes, for Jakuch 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: ; Sk: buddhnusmrti; 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.

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Despite his staggeringly diverse artistic repertoire, the terrain that seems to have increasingly appealed to Jakuch 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 fastidious36 polychrome works.xvii Whilst residing at temples such as the Sekihji (often on periodical retreat), Jakuch attempted such pieces, which resonated with the intuitive spontaneity of Zen thought.37 See FIG. 9a-d. In these works, Jakuch often rendered his subjects bodies simply with a single stroke, which in some ways appropriated the traditional Ens (Jp: ; 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 ( Ch: Hnshn) and Jittoku (; Ch: Shd)xviii (See FIG. 9a) also demonstrated Jakuch s humorous approach to his art- a feature fully in accord with the methods and practices of Zen.xix

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

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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.

17

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 Sakyamunis 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 (jbutsu)38xxi Perhaps most importantly however, this piece makes an overt autobiographical reference to the years Jakuch 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.

18

Jakuch 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 -shoin Hall of the Rokuonji temple in 1759, the renowned Kotohirag shrine on the island of Shikoku in 1764, the Kaihji temple near Sekihji, and the Saifukuji temple in Toyonaka where he was probably resident for several months.39 Similarly, many of his paintings were inscribed by senior baku monks, such as the monk-poet Musen Jzen (or Tangai; 1693-1764) and the Zenrakuji temple priest, Dokuan Sj.40 Praise from such an venerable audience no doubt encouraged Jakuchu personally, as well as enhancing his already established reputation41 professionally.

Perhaps the greatest respect extended to Jakuch by Kyotos 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 Baisa K Ygai ([; 1675-1763]), one of midcentury Kyotos most curiously influential figures42xxiii), for his 1763 wood-block print obituary, the Baisao Gego (See FIG. 11a),xxiv and another of Hoan Joei (1722-1796), the distinguished baku prelate and twenty-third Bishop of the Mampukuji.43 See FIG. 11b. Importantly, the later was rendered as a traditional chinz (formal Zen portrait),xxv illustrative of the worthiness placed on Jakuch by his Buddhist peers by this time, as baku chinz were traditionally reserved for Chinese emigrant craftsmen.44

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.
39

19

FIG. 11a: Page from the Baisa Gego (Woodblock-print). 1763. 27.7 x 17.5cm. National Archives of Japan, Tokyo. In Hickman, Fig 18. FIG. 11b:Portrait of Hoan Jei (17221796). 1797. Ink on silk; hanging scroll. 170.0 x 80.5 cm. Singature: Painted by Old Man BeIt, age eighty-two. Mampukuji, Kyoto Prefecture. In Hickman Fig. 4

In Jakuch s seventy-second year (1788), a disastrous fire erupted in Kyoto, destroying much of the city including the It family store, the Shinenkan (Jakuch s two story studio which he called, The Villa of The Far Away Heart45), as well as many other family owned structures across the Nishiki neighbourhood.xxvi Until this point Jakuch 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 Kyotos finest artists (preceding the prominent Nanga masters Taiga and Buson in the Heian Jimbutsushi and ranked second only to Maruyama kyo46), Jakuch found it especially easy to attract commissions, usually of popular subjects such as stylized carp, cranes, fauna and

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

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other animals.47 Jakuch often signed these pieces Old Man Beit in reference to the market cost of his work, Beit being a measure of rice. Given that his home had been destroyed, Jakuch became resident at the Sekihji 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 Sekihji. 1789. Hanging scroll; ink on paper. H: 71.6 cm; W: 101.8 cm. Kyoto National Museum. FIG. 12b: Jakuch s statues at the Sekihji. Credit: Flickr member Khoitoan.

47

Croissant. Op cit. p. 296.

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Creeping towards his eightieth year, Jakuch 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 mori48 infused into another piece, Lotus Pond, done four years earlier, whilst highlighting Jakuchs 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 moonand if it is so there will surely be no one that sleeps through the night of this world.49

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

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

23

In 1800, Jakuch passed away and funeral services were held at the Sekihji temple, where his remains were interred. In addition, services were performed at the Hozji (the tutelary temple of the It family in Kyoto) as well as the Kokuonji, the proxy temple for the Shkokuji 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 Jakuchs 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: yatana): the eye, ear, nose, tongue, skin and mind; each causally connected to one another in an infinite interconnected web (Sk: prattyasamutpda). The striking, evocative, and often unforgettable artwork of It Jakuch 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 Jakuchs 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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Bibliography

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McKelway, Matthew P. Ed. 2005. Traditions Unbound: Groundbreaking Painters from 18th Century Kyoto. Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. Moss, Paul. Ed. 1998. Odd Men Out: Unique Works by Individualist Japanese Artists. Sydney L. Moss Ltd, London. Reader, Ian and Tanabe, George J. Jr. 1998. Practically Religious: Wordly Benefits and the Common Religion of Japan. University of Hawaii Press, Honulu. Rosenfield, John M and Cranston, Fumiko E. 1999. Extraordinary Persons: Works by Eccentric, Nonconformist Japanese Artists of the Early Modern Era (1580-1868) in the Collection of Kimiko and John Powers, Vol. 1-3. Richard, Naomi Noble. Ed. Harvard University Press, Massachusetts. Rotondo-McCord, Lisa. 2003. An Enduring Vision: 17th to 20th Century Japanese Painting from the GitterYelen Collection. University of Washington Press, Seattle. Richard, Naomi Noble and Klein, Melanie B.D. 2007. Awakenings: Zen Figure Painting in Medieval Japan. Yale University Press, London. Ryan, P.D. 1998. Buddhism and the Natural World: Towards a Meaningful Myth. Windhorse Publications, Birmingham. Sato, Shozo. 2010. Sumi-e: The Art of Japanese Ink Painting. Tuttle Publishing, Tokyo. Schaap, Robert. Ed. A Brush with Animals; Japanese Paintings, 1700-1950. Hotei Publishing, Boston. Schmithausen, Lambert. 2009. Plants in early Buddhism and the far eastern idea of the Buddha-nature of grasses and trees. Lumbini International Research Institute, Nepal. Schmithausen, Lambert. 1991. Buddhism and Nature. The Insitute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo. Scheid, Bernhard and Teeuwen, Mark. Eds. 2006. The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion. Routledge, London. Sharf, Elizabeth Horton. 1994. baku Zen Portrait Painting: A Revisionist Analysis. UMI Dissertation Services, Michigan. Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art. Ed. 1997. Paradise in Illusions by Japanese Artists in Early Modern Ages. Otsuka Kogeisha Co., Ltd., Tokyo. Sheisha, Shwa. 1980. Nihon bijutsu kaiga zensh. Shueisha, Tky. Stanley- Baker, Joan. 2000. Japanese Art. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London. Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro. 1935. Zen Buddhism and the Japanese love of nature. Kyoto. Swanson, Paul L and Chilson, Clark. 2006. Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions. University of Hawaii Press, Honulu. Tamura, Yoshiro. 2000. Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History. Hunter, Jeffrey. (Trans). Kosei Publishing Co, Tokyo. Tamaru, Noriyoshi and Reid, David. 1996. Religion in Japanese Culture: Where Living Traditions Meet a Changing World. Kodansha International, Tokyo. Takeuchi, Melinda. 1992. Taigas True Views: The Language of Landscape Painting in 18th Century Japan. Stanford University Press, California. Terayama, Tanch. 2003. Zen Brushwork: Focusing the Mind with Calligraphy and Painting. Kodansha International, London.

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Ueno, Kenji. Ed. 1993. Bunch, Kazan, Chinzan: Masterpieces of Painted Albums from the Edo Period. Shinshindo, Tokyo. [Author Unknown]. 2006. The Price Collection: Jakuch and the Age of Imagination. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc, Tokyo National Museum. [Author Unknown]. 1999. The Rise of Modern Japanese Art. Dainippon Kaiga Co., Ltd, Japan. [Author Unknown]. 2005. Jakuch and the Artists in Kyoto. Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art.

Journals Hardacre, Helen. Sources for the Study of Religion and Society in the Late Edo Period. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol. 28, No. 3/4, Local Religion in Tokugawa History (Fall, 2001), pp. 227-260 Published by: Nanzan University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234467 Graham, Patricia J. Lifestyles of Scholar-Painters in Edo Japan. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art Vol. 77, No. 7, Lifestyles of Scholar-Painters in Edo Japan (Sep., 1990), pp. 262-283 Published by: Cleveland Museum of Art Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25161293 Mohr, Michel. Zen Buddhism during the Tokugawa Period: The Challenge to Go beyond Sectarian Consciousness. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies Vol. 21, No. 4 (Dec., 1994), pp. 341-372 Published by: Nanzan University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30234140 Munsterberg, Hugo. Zen and Art. Art Journal, Vol. 20, No. 4 (Summer, 1961), pp. 198-202: College Art Association. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/774379 Online Johnson, Ken. Teeming With Transcendent Life: Works by Ito Jakuchu at National Gallery. [Art Review.] New York Times. March 30, 2012: Stable URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/arts/design/colorful-realm-works-by-ito-Jakuch-atnational-gallery.html?pagewanted=all Accessed: 19/06/2012, 16:49. Stewart, Harold. Modernity and the Three Poisons. Infinite Light, Muryoko Journal of Shin Buddhism. Stable URL: http://www.nembutsu.info/hsrmoder.htm Accessed: 27/06/2012, 10:25.

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Appendix: Endnotes

The idea that Jakuch was an eccentric was promoted by the art historian Tsuji Nobuo, whose influential publication A Lineage of Eccentrics (Kis no keifu, 1970) proposed a genealogy of unorthodox painters in Japans 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 migr Yinyuan Longqi (Jp: Ingen; 1592-1673) and named after the monastery bakusan 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 baku monks from China to perpetuate the line. (Baroni. 2000. p. 181.). vi baku 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 Jakuchs family were originally members of the Hzji Pure Land temple in the Rokkaku-sagaru district of Kyoto. viii Speculated as being the Kan school trained artist oka 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 Jakuch koji (Lay Monk Jakuch ). 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 Jakuch s contemporary, Maruyama kyo (Jp: ; 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 Jakuch 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. (Jakuch, 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: ; 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.
i xvii In his monochrome pieces, Jakuch 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 lifes 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 kensh (seeing into ones 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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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 baku 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 Jakuch s painting: Enlivened by his hand, his paintings are filled with a mysterious spirit. (Hickman. 1989. p. 138.)
xxi

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