Calligraphy of a Zen Koan
Sold – no longer available
This piece was a handmade one-of-a-kind work. It cannot be reordered and will never exist in this form again. The page stays online as part of our archive.
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Details about the sold piece
- Height 200 cm
- Width 50 cm
- Item Type Kakemono
- Jikusaki Wood
- Material Honshi Paper
- Period of Creation Shôwa (1926–1989)
- Technique Hand-Painted
- Unique Work Yes
No longer available
Description
With just a few powerfully applied brushstrokes, several large characters fill almost the entire pictorial surface of this kakemono. The flowing, slightly cursive style of the calligraphy reveals a practiced hand and lets the individual characters merge into one another, as though they had been written down in a single, unbroken breath.
In terms of content, this is a koan from Zen Buddhism which essentially states: "To name it is to miss the truth." This paradoxical wisdom serves as a reminder that ultimate reality eludes any linguistic fixation – a thought that, in Zen practice, is meant to encourage meditation and the letting go of rigid concepts, lending the calligraphy a deeper meaning that goes beyond pure aesthetics.
The work was written by hand on paper and dates from the Shôwa period. The hanging scroll has jikusaki made of wood and is an evocative object for anyone with an enthusiasm for Zen philosophy and the art of Japanese calligraphy.
