Kanzan and Jittoku, unknown maker from Japan

Artwork Overview

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Kanzan and Jittoku , 1500s–1600s
Where object was made: Japan
Material/technique: paper; ink
Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 63.2 x 26.3 cm
Mount Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 142 x 37.8 cm
Roller Dimensions (Width x Diameter): 42.6 x 2.4 cm
Credit line: Museum purchase
Accession number: 1971.0091
Not on display
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Label texts

Exhibition Label:
Asian Gallery, Spring 2003, Youmi Efurd
Kanzan (Chinese: Hanshan) and Jittoku (Chinese: Shide) were eighth-century Chinese eccentrics who lived on Cold Mountain. Kanzan was a carefree poet who roamed the hills. He would often visit a Zen temple where a kitchen helper named Jittoku gave him scraps of food. When a great abbot came to visit the temple, the monks were surprised that it was Kanzan, and that it was Jittoku (the kitchen helper) he wished to meet and honor.

In Zen painting, Kanzan is usually depicted holding a scroll, which was supposed to contain the words of the great Daoist mystic Laozi, while Jittoku holds a kitchen broom.

Exhibitions

Teaching Gallery: Japanese Paintings and Buddhism
2012