Years, Nakahara Nantenbō

Archive Label 2003: Nantembō was ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk at the age of eleven and eventually became a highly respected priest. In his search for enlightenment, he travelled extensively throughout Japan, debating with the most eminent Zen masters of his day. His name, Nantembō, refers to his travelling staff. Like many other Zen priests, Nantembō practiced calligraphy as part of his religious discipline. Here he has elongated the central character Years so that it resembles his walking stick. The humorously exaggerated length of the vertical stroke also underscores his lengthy pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. From upper right, to center left, to lower right and ending with the large central character, the text reads: Snow mountains six; Shao-lin nine; Nantembō seventy-nine YEARS. The Buddha meditated for six years in the snowy mountains of Nepal before attaining enlightenment; the Zen patriarch Bodhidharma spent nine years of meditation in front of a wall at the Shaolin temple in China; Nantembō is still trying to reach enlightenment at age seventy-nine.