Listening to the Wind in the Pines
Medium
hanging scroll; ink on paper
Dimensions
painting only: 76.8 × 32 cm · including mounting: 153.7 × 38.1 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
Japanese Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
Accession Number
1985.89
Tags
About this artwork
A monk sits in contemplation below an overhang covered with pine. The poem, titled "Monk in the Mountains Listening to the Wind in the Pines," refers to two Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhist monks active in the ninth century. It may be translated as follows: Why must the Zen of Rinzai (Linji Yixuan) and Tokusan (Deshan Xuanjian) reside in a single temple for thirty years? Once he's solved his kōan, (the monk) ends his practice and falls asleep in the quietness of the wind among the tall pines. (transl...