Hotei gazing up at the Moon, Hanabusa Itchō

Exhibition Label:
Asian Gallery, Spring 2003, Youmi Efurd
In Chinese and Japanese folk mythology, one of the most popular figures was the semi-legendary Chinese monk Hotei (Chinese: Budai). In art he is shown with a walking staff and a sack, from which his name is derived. In Japan, Hotei was popularly believed to be an incarnation of the future Buddha Maitreya. He was also a fat and jolly protector of children and merchants, as well as one of the seven gods of good fortune. In typical Zen fashion, his laugh has come to stand for enlightenment and his bag for emptiness.

Hanabusa Itchō, the son of a Kyoto physician, went to Edo to pursue the study of painting with Kanō Yasunobu (1613-1685), which is reflected in the relaxed ink-play of this painting as seen in the traditional Kanō ink-painting technique.

Archive Label date unknown:
The semi-legendary Buddhist monk, Hotei, is identifiable by his characteristic large rusksack, paunchy stomach (hotei means both "cloth bag" and "round belly"), and the staff lying next to his bag. Originating in the life of a tenth-century Chinese monk, Ch'i-tzu, Hotei's reputation grew to include miraculous events, establishing him as a popular god of various aspects of good fortune. His association with luck is underscored in the scroll's mounting, where the auspicious character for long life is repeated.

Here, Hotei's reverential attitude toward the moon refers to the Zen teaching that warns not to mistake the moon's reflection for the moon itself. The moonlight is only a reflection, just as our minds are only reflections of thoughts, actions, and feelings. When we freely accept and release these reflections, the moon becomes a symbol of life's treasures (sometimes said to be contained in Hotei's bag), which are actions and appreciations rather than possessions.