Hashimoto Gyōin (橋本凝胤): Abbot of Yakushi-ji
Hashimoto Gyōin (橋本凝胤, 1897–1978) was a Japanese Buddhist monk, scholar, and calligrapher. From 1939 to 1967 he served as abbot of the Yakushi-ji in Nara and at the same time headed the Hossō school – one of the oldest Buddhist traditions in Japan, dating back to the Nara period and having nothing to do with Zen. Anyone who has a calligraphy by Gyōin before them is thus not dealing with Zen bokuseki in the narrow sense, but with the writing of a scholar-monk of the old Nara schools.
Not to Be Confused with Hashimoto Gahō
The family name is occasionally misleading: Hashimoto Gahō was a Nihonga painter of the 19th century and has nothing to do with the abbot of the Yakushi-ji. The characters differ clearly – 凝胤 as against 雅邦.
Scholar, Traveler, Controversial Figure
Gyōin took part in compiling the Taishō Canon, the edition of Chinese Buddhist scriptures that remains authoritative to this day, and undertook extensive travels to China and Tibet. He used his connections in politics and business for Buddhist causes, among them the preservation of the Heijō palace complex in Nara. Throughout his life he adhered to the strict monastic precepts, living without meat and without marriage. His unyielding nature earned him the epithet strange monk of the Shōwa era. His disciple Takada Kōin succeeded him in 1967.
Shoaku Makusa: A Verse as Pictorial Content
Among the phrases that appear on such hanging scrolls is Shoaku Makusa – do no evil. It is the beginning of a verse that summarizes the Buddhist teaching in four lines and has been handed down since the oldest texts. In calligraphy this becomes an image: the characters stand on the surface, and their arrangement, their spacing, and the shift from dense to fading ink turn the formula into something visual. Such scrolls hang not only in the tea room, but also in the living room and in the temple building.
