Lot 2146: MOKUAN (1611-1684) AND SOKUHI (1615-1671) Bokatsu

Bokatsu
Hanging scroll; ink on paper; signed Obaku Mokuan sho and Obaku Sokuhi sho; sealed Hosho gakushi, Shoto no in, Mokuan so, Rinzai nio nisei, Nyoichi no in and Sokuhi; dated Taiso no tsuki bozen futuska [13th of the first month (late 1660s)]

Inscriptions:
Bo (Hitting stick)
Bo no shita musho ni shinobu, ki ni nozonde shio mizu (Beneath a stick, a novice monk bears the pain of training during his quest to attain spiritual enlightenment and does not look up to the teacher)
signed Obaku Mokuan sho and sealed Hosho gakushi, Shoto no in, and Mokuan so

Katsu (Scold)
Senko sakasama ni shite/Mizu gyakuryu su (If a thousand rivers are turned upside-down, that water surges back)
signed Obaku Sokuhi sho and sealed Rinzai nio nisei, nyoichi no in and Sokuhi
35 x 37 1/2in (88.9 x 95.3cm)

Mokuan was a Chinese monk who emigrated to Japan in 1655. He was one of the founders of Manpukuji temple where Zen Buddhism and the practices associated with it flourished and spread throughout Japan. Mokuan was a calligrapher, poet and painter.

Sokuhi, another Chinese monk, arrived in Japan in 1657 and joined Mokuan and Ingen Ryuki (1592-1663), the other founder of Manpukuji. Sokuhi was a talented calligrapher and painter.

It is rare to find a collaboration between these two artists.