The calligraphy by Kokan Shiren from Tokiwayama Bunko Foundation will be on display at Japanese Gallery of Tokyo National Museum .
Japanese Linzai Monk Kokan Shiren (1278-1346) is known for writing the first comprehensive history of Buddhism in Japan, called “Genko Shakusho.”
The “Saihokushu,” a collection of Chinese poetry and prose by Kokan Shiren, contains nine poems about plum blossoms, and this work is a transcription of the eighth poem. The poem bears the date “Late autumn, mid-September, 5th year of the Kenmu era,” and the date is known to be 1338. Tokiwayama Bunko has one more calligraphy, without bearing the date, of another plum blossom poem in a similar handwriting, which has been confirmed as the fourth poem in “Saihokushu.” In his collection of poems and prose, Kokan Shiren writes about “plum blossoms” in various ways, suggesting that plum blossoms were a favorite subject for his poetry.
Kokan Shiren was known as a scholarly monk who excelled in poetry and calligraphy. The brushwork in this work, with the poetry section written in cursive script with light ink and the dating part written in semi-cursive script, which may suggest his diligence to calligraphy.
It is now the season for plum blossoms in Japan. We think it will be fun to imagine Kokan’s personality from the handwriting in this “Plum Blossoms.”